December queues

As if the High Street wasn’t struggling enough, December brings with it a paradox for stores looking to capitalise on the busiest shopping month of the year. Stores hope to benefit from an influx of shoppers; meanwhile shoppers undergo a harrowing afternoon wrestling for presents in hot, overcrowded stores and then queue for what seems like hours to pay for things. Not really the best advert for the High Street shopping experience – why would a shopper come back? 

Queuing for three times as long isn’t going to endear me to any retailer – a walk past Neal’s Yard yesterday morning illustrated the point – a queue of 20 people at 11am waiting to buy their Christmas cheese, people were even queuing for Christmas booze outside Gerry’s on Old Compton Street!

Almost queuing out of the door at Gerry's

So given that retailers have embraced technology to take the sales transaction online, why not use technology to aid the in store experience as well?

I’d like a queue app. Let me know how long the queues are through the day, so I can time it right and when I’m in store let me know which checkout has the shortest queue. If Gatwick Airport can manage it (eventually), surely the big retailers can. They could even go one step further and use extra shop assistants to take transactions on foot for those waiting in the queue with smaller basket items – a small change that could make the purchase process a lot more efficient, and the whole experience a bit more pleasurable, that way I may be encouraged back again, rather than spending even more money on Amazon next year.