I have worked in a department store now for almost 3 and a half years but only recently have I noticed something very interesting about how people queue to be served. Over the past month or so as the store has become quieter after Christmas, I have noticed that people seem to herd together to queue. The pay point can be deserted for long periods of time and then several customers seem to all come at once, causing them to have to stand and wait rather than coming when there are no other customers at the pay point. I always think of queues as something to avoid, I personally hate waiting around standing in a queue to wait to pay for things. But do I subconsciously rush to join the queue when other people go? Does everyone? Because it happens every single time as i have observed at work, I can stand around for up to 30 minutes sometimes at the tills serving no one then as soon as one customer comes over they are subsequently joined by a queue of others. Its really interesting to see that people kind or herd together like sheep towards something you would think people would try to avoid. Do people feel they have to get there as soon as possible to avoid getting stuck in an even longer queue? But it is interesting to see that within a space of seconds there can go from being no one around to a formed queue of impertinent customers moaning about having to wait around. Some customers seem to get very irritated and moan about having to wait in a queue which could really been easily avoided if people didn't herd together all at one time. Once the queue clears it can be dead again for ages before it happens again. Its strange to think that people wander around and possibly don't go to pay until they see a queue forming when surely it would be more appealing to get served right away at a free pay point with no queue. I do not believe people are aware that they do this but once I noticed it, it becomes almost laughable as it happens all the time. It would be interesting to know if there is more psychology behind this or if it is just sheer coincident so if any one else has noticed this or has any insights please let me know!
I've noticed this as well. I used to work in a shoe shop and found that people tended to avoid the till, until somebody else was there first. I wondered if seeing that others are finishing their shop, it may remind people that they have other things to do or that they are taking longer in the shop than they had anticipated. It's bizarre behaviour and I always try to avoid a queue. Sometimes in stores where the staff are not at the till until a customer is waiting, I find myself feeling guilty that I'm keeping that person from other work (silly, I know) and so I would avoid the checkout then... That's irrational even to me though!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting point though, I'll probably notice it all the time now
Yeah, good point about people feeling awkward if the shop assistant is doing other work at the time, i usually tend to hover around or go to a different till if thats the case when I'm shopping. It is very strange behaviour tho, im glad you agree and I'm not just crazy noticing it! :)
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