The average Brit now spends one year, two weeks and a day of their lives stuck in shop queues, according to new research by Box Technologies and Intel. This also finds that UK shoppers deem nine minutes long enough to make them reconsider a purchase and are put off by queues more than seven people deep.

Eighty three per cent deem fast moving queues as an essential part of the customer experience. However, three quarters say stores should be doing more to reduce lines at the tills in busy periods. Despite innovations such as self-service tills and fast track self-scanning devices, supermarkets were deemed to have the most work to do, followed by fashion outlets and DIY stores.

Raj Parmar, head of mobile solutions at Box Technologies, says: “Today’s shopper increasingly expects service to be instantaneous and, as a predominant cause of abandoned purchases, retailers can’t afford to ignore the cost - both to revenues and the impact on brand loyalty - of lengthy queues in-store. Armed with mobile PoS devices, store staff are empowered to speed up the process, by taking the full functionality of a till to where the customer wants to shop and pay."

The shoppers polled as part of the research identified other ways in which retailers might improve the customer experience during peak periods. Twenty four per cent said they should offer extra loyalty points for those enduring long queues, while 21 per cent felt rewarding customers with additional promotions, such as a free cup of coffee, would improve experiences in-store. One in ten suggested a fast track queue for VIP customers during busy trading periods.

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