Consumer engagement company Velocity Worldwide has launched a new digital appointment system to help shopping malls and retail stores reduce queues this Christmas.
The retail sector worldwide has been badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with brick and mortar stores losing most of their footfall back in March and many not recovering significantly. The current lockdown came at a terrible time for many local stores that were just starting to re-open on government advice and were forced to close again.
Customer engagement firm Velocity Worldwide has warned that Northern Ireland's retail sector is not prepared yet to recover from the pandemic, and urges that brick and mortar stores here must scale up their digital capabilities now. Many of Northern Ireland's independent stores are not computerised and could suffer this Christmas.
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Velocity Worldwide conducted a survey of over 2,000 UK consumers and found that the vast majority of shoppers listed their top priority as feeling safe when shopping, and if they don't feel safe then they prefer to simply shop online. The pandemic has caused many consumers to shop online for the first time, but some would prefer to shop in person if the store could ensure their safety.
The survey also found that 52 percent were willing to visit a store more frequently if they could pre-book their shopping trips. This may become essential as many stores have to limit the number of people inside at a time and maintain distance between staff, leading to long queue times that waste people's time.
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Velocity has launched a new product named Darius-Q which is designed to help shopping malls and retail stores allow customers to pre-book shopping appointments, reducing queue times and helping stores regulate capacity. The system will also help stores with track and trace systems as it records everyone who was in a store at a given time.
Enda McShane, CEO, Velocity Worldwide, said: "This Christmas is going to make or break a lot of retailers, and in order to reclaim lost footfall, shopping centres, supermarkets and retail brands need to take the uncertainty out of the physical shopping experience. Queues are set to be one of the biggest barriers and by offering customers the option to reserve and plan their shopping trip in advance, they will provide the security that many shoppers want in order to visit physical stores."
Source: Written based on press release
