Supermarket Paging Solutions

Service levels are key to long term customer retention in Supermarkets

With prices going through the roof on most sectors of business, its so important to ensure that the service levels in supermarkets does not start to fall below par. Customers really are very 'picky' these days and through poor service of extended delays for what the customer sees as bad just frustrates the customers and they choose another supermarket. That's all bad news and completely avoidable. Whether service is lackluster in the supermarket itself, or in the supermarket restaurant the result will be the same. While some supermarkets these days are offering a type of 'food market' with different types of food on offer to consume the service overall is generally very poor in reality. And we checked through staff visits. And when a customer has a question and is in the supermarket, generally there is no way to contact staff except via a long walk, then a wait for staff that know the answer. And there is no doubt that there are many other areas that could be improved dramatically, all contributing to keeping customers long term.

Below are some of the instant ways to improve service and efficiency levels that make a tremendous difference to supermarket customers and help separate the good companies who will keep customers for many years. It is not impossible to solve these issues but the right equipment to improve communications is essential, and that is the key to success.

Supermarket restaurants and eatery markets - improving customer service levels

After recently visiting a supermarket and looking carefully at the services on offer it was immediately obvious that the systems in place were far from what a customer might expect from a large supermarket.

The Restaurant: After buying food in the restaurant, they asked for a table number. The table number was on a plaque and easy to see from the order point. Table 16. After waiting for the food, it was served to the table, but the server said that the numbers were a 'pain' because customers keep on moving them around! Needless to say that causes major problems when food has to be delivered with chaos in busy times.

The Eatery Market: In the case of the eatery markets, these are pretty common these days but getting things right can make a massive difference to the service quality. After having tried to buy on previous occasions the problems that are typical were:

• Only one order point for around 10 food types
• No real defined section to sit for particular market food type
• No way of calling the customer back when the food is ready
• No way of determining which table the customer was seated at
• An overall very slow service and when busy very difficult to even understand when food would be ready as a customer

Conclusions: Overall these sort of problems that directly affect the customer whether in the supermarket restaurant or the eatery market are pretty much common place in many establishments. It was noticed that the restaurant had tried a number of systems (like fixed table numbers and other technology systems) that staff were really not happy with mainly because they did not work, so imagine how customers might find service like that? It's a sure fire way of ensuring the customer does not return. Ever.  

And for the eatery market things could have been so different. Presentation was great, but the service and system implemented created chaos and unsure  as to whether the customer would ever get the food! It got worse as they were more busy.

The restaurant fix could have been a number of solutions that cost small change for supermarkets (literally from around £400 for a complete system). The customer pagers could have been applied so that customers collect their own food when it is ready. Just a press of a button and customers will collect and hand back the pager. And if more control is needed (like managing wait times for customers) the LRS Connect would have been perfect (with little difference of the cost) showing which customers are 'overdue' for their food, and creating urgency in the staff to get the food prepared on time. Lastly, for this particular application a table tracker system could identify the EXACT table where customers are seated and food could be delivered fast, piping hot, and without those 'where is the customer seated' issues highlighted.

And similarly, a simple customer paging system with LRS connect could actually be used for the whole market because you would know how long customers have been waiting and the software could show the order. The system even can collect key metrics for later analysis. Alternatively, table tracker would be the 'ultimate' solution if taking food to table is a necessity, but that did not seem to be relevant in this case as customers were 'standing around' waiting for food.

Other options that could seriously improve service might be call buttons on a table (for restaurants that have table service) so customers could easily call for placing extra orders or if there was some sort of problem. Either way, the service levels and efficiency of staff are improved. Keep customers instead of shedding them continuously... there are many choices these days for your customers and poor service will ensure they take them.

Improving customer service in the supermarket 

One of the issues that might be prominent when shopping in most supermarkets is the sheer lack of communication when you have a problem as a customer. There are many solutions available today by way of call buttons that go to a headset that staff wear, however, those sort of systems are relatively expensive and once you have them costs can be higher than many might imagine. But there is a different way of ensuring customers can easily notify staff in a large supermarket with LRS Pronto call buttons. Simply place the call buttons around the supermarket, maybe with a back plate that advises customers how to use them - its easy!). Then give staff a pager (you only need a few) and when customers have a query or question, staff can attend and immediately help the customer. And if you have a team of staff that could attend there is good news. When the first staff member arrives, they can cancel the call button and that automatically tells other staff that the call has been handled. These particular customer call buttons will cover a typical supermarket easily. This is probably the lowest cost and most easy to use solution on the market today and should be considered if you need to take customer service up to the next level. Customers will thank you for it and other supermarkets without the call buttons will remain with a far less quality of service. Retaining customers could not be easier!

Supermarket theft is on the increase - how to combat it

Over recent times the theft from supermarkets has grown and grown. And many supermarket operators no longer even confront the thieves. But common sense should prevail as allowing the theft of products from a supermarket will undoubtedly raise the profile dramatically to thieves who quickly learn which operators don't confront them.

One way to try and tackle this growing problem is to use walkie-talkie radios for staff to staff communications. Security staff are nothing without good communication and those two-way radios are the perfect answer. They also protect the security employees in case of attack or other threats.

No matter what communications you need for supermarket or grocery types of business we have you covered, and our pricing is generally commensurate with that of supplying large organisations. Our typical KPI figures are 100% and we can provide them! We look forward to discussing your needs moving forward.

  

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