Before COVID-19, a restaurant with a large queue forming at its entrance would be lauded for its popularity and for doing well to attract crowds. But in this age of safe distancing, crowds are a big no-no. A restaurant with a large crowd at its door would be deemed irresponsible and can be subject to penalisation depending on the market’s regulations. If this issue has been weighing on your mind, we examine three ways to optimise the way you manage your queue:
1. Eliminate physical queues
Even when your restaurant has maxed its capacity, some diners may be willing to wait at your entrance until a table becomes available. This is when a queue begins to form at your restaurant. Given the circumstances surrounding COVID-19, diners forming a physical queue should be avoided at all costs. Even in instances where restaurants have demarcated queue lines in accordance with safe distancing regulations, or have an overhead queue status display, it can be difficult to avoid crowding.
ChopeQueues, Chope’s proprietary queue management solution, allows diners to receive real-time updates on their queue status on their mobile phone. On top of reducing crowds at your entrance, diners are also free to roam around the vicinity instead of waiting in line, returning only when a table is available. This guarantees that crowds will not form at your entrance as a result of a long queue.
2. Make queues contactless
Since COVID-19 has been known to transmit via surfaces, it should be no surprise that contactless transactions are increasingly preferred. Previously, restaurants may have handed diners a physical queue ticket/number as part of their queue management process. Such a practice needs to be reconsidered in today’s climate.
QR codes have emerged as a common means of creating contactless solutions. Allowing diners to join a queue by scanning a QR code is effective and simple. Restaurants that implement ChopeQueues are automatically assigned a customised QR code. These QR codes are placed prominently at the restaurant’s entrance so that diners can join the queue without any need of physical contact.
3. Digitise your queue
Just as it is advisable to digitise your reservations, it is also beneficial to digitise your queue management in the long run. If you are still handing out queue tickets to unidentified diners, or are writing down phone numbers and calling them back, your restaurant is missing out on opportunities to make sense of the traffic coming through your queue. With automation, you can simplify your queue management processes.
Export your diner database on ChopeCloud easily once you’ve digitised your queues and reservations.
By digitising your queue with a solution such as ChopeQueues, your restaurant unlocks the following benefits:
- Store, organise and analyse diner contact information for future marketing and CRM.
- Automate processes with features such as a one-click callback.
- Ability to analyse the performance of queue management with recorded data points.
Ready to optimise your queue management with ChopeQueues? Get in touch to find out how you can receive a 1-month free subscription.
