One of the major advantages that online retailers have had over brick-and-mortar retailers is that shoppers don’t have to wait in line. Sure, they have to wait a while to get their packages, but they can move on with life in the meantime. Waiting in line is one of the most frustrating parts of the shopping experience, and long lines will cause customers to abandon their purchases and walk out.
We know that brick-and-mortar retailers are not going anywhere any time soon, as many of the big online retailers are opening store fronts in order to remain competitive in the current retail climate. Savvy stores are taking a tip from their online counterparts and allowing people to pre-purchase items and pick them up, getting in and out quickly and skipping the checkout line altogether. This rising trend is called “fast-laning,” and retailers looking to avoid losses due to long waits without having to hire more cashiers would do well to look into it.
What Is Fast-Laning?
At TimeTrade survey of 61 innovative retail leaders found that fully 75 percent of retailers believe they lose customers to wait-related issues, and 70 percent say their customers will only wait for five minutes before abandoning their purchase. “Today’s instant-gratification consumer expects great service and fast delivery,” the survey notes.
In a study we did last year for a major grocery store chain, we found that on average, shoppers spent 16% of their in-store time waiting and paying at checkout, but only added 0.6% of items to their basket during this time. This means that long checkout lines aren’t great for the retailers in terms of a sales perspective especially when you add in those customers who will abandon their shopping trip instead of waiting in line.
Retailers from tech-savvy startups to big chains are introducing fast-laning to satisfy these restless customers, allowing them to order and pay ahead of time, so they can just walk in and pick up purchases: decreasing the rushed shoppers time in stores and still making a sale.
Fast-Laning and Food Service
Back in 2011, the San Francisco-based fast-casual restaurant The Melt raised eyebrows when it raised $10 million in venture funding for its high-tech approach to grilled cheese sandwiches that downtown workers order and pay for through an app. Many a joke was made at the time, but four years later, the company has opened twelve new locations and expanded its menu.
Seeing the advantages of shorter lines and happier customers, several chain fast-casual eateries have followed suit. Chipotle lets customers find a nearby location, order ahead, and pay from its iTunes and Android apps. The Starbucks app, which is even available on Apple Watch, has all of those functionalities, and it’s integrated with My Starbucks Rewards, so frequent users earn points redeemable for free food and drinks.
Fast-food chains are fast-laning, too. App-based ordering and payment are now available from Taco Bell, Subway, Domino’s and Pizza Hut, and KFC is running a trial app in the UK.
Fast-Laning and Big-Box Retailers
This retail trend has caught on at department stores and big-box stores that have lost revenue to online retailers like Amazon. Best Buy allows customers to order online and pick up items in stores or warehouses, and a designated friend or family member can also pick it up. Macy’s waives shipping fees for in-store pickups. The Container Store even brings online orders out to customers’ cars with its Drive Up and Pickup Service.
Now that many brick-and-mortar retailers have developed these ways of fighting back against Amazon, the online retail giant has had to address its own weakness: making customers wait overnight for their purchases. Amazon Prime members in fourteen metro areas can now get free same-day delivery on orders over $35 when the order is placed by noon. Customers in six cities can get free two-hour delivery or one-hour delivery for $7.99 on thousands of items with Prime Now. These services will likely expand in the future.
Fast-Laning Is the Future
As technology enables people to easily speed up their shopping experience, consumers will come to expect a fast-laning option from all retailers. TrendWatching has identified fast-laning as one of the top-ten retail trends for 2015, explaining, “In 2015, more consumers – accustomed to total control – will expect those brands that they give a lot of money to, and therefore often spend a lot of time with, to provide an optional FAST LANE through on-site wait times.”
The retail-trend-spotting service acknowledges that fast-laning risks drawing attention to how bad the current level of service is and creating resentment among slow-lane customers, but TrendWatcing believes that “winning brands will design FAST-LANING solutions that benefit all customers, even if that’s in part by removing the most time-sensitive customers from the ‘slow’ lanes.”
Are long wait times negatively affecting your business? Would implementing a fast-laning option add to your sales? Set up a consultation with Eye Faster to discuss whether now is the time to upgrade your company’s service options to make your customers happier.