ICA Stop has been operating in Täby since 1980. In 2022, they underwent a major transformation with the goal of becoming the best store in the Nordic region. In addition to everyday grocery shopping, they offer a market hall experience with the finest ingredients. They also run a restaurant that provides everything from lunches and wine tastings to a glass of champagne and oysters for Friday shopping. As part of the renovation, they took the opportunity to conduct a thorough review of their customer offering, product range, and overall concept.
THE CHALLENGE
When ICA Stop remodeled their store in 2022, they installed a long deli counter for manual service of meat, deli products, and cheese. Alongside this, they also have a separate fish counter.
On Fridays and weekends, there is a high demand at the manual counter, with over 200 customers needing service per day. During peak hours, the wait time can be up to 10 minutes.
Long wait times can create a stressful experience for customers. Additionally, they may feel like they are in the way while waiting for their turn around the deli counters.
THE SOLUTION
ICA store owner Andreas Paulsson wanted to find a simple queuing system and contacted Flowby. After a brief demonstration, we decided to test the solution live in the store.
It was easy for ICA Stop to get started with Flowby, partly because Flowby has a transparent and simple pricing model. With Flowby, there is no unnecessary back-and-forth communication with quotes, nor any need for hardware purchases or installations.
Flowby created an account and sent over a queue sign with a QR code that customers scan to join the queue. Andreas also set up an external TV screen to display which number is currently being served and how many customers are in line.
The staff uses a tablet, which was already available in the store, to manage the queues. Since the solution is so intuitive, no staff training was needed. They simply log in, select the queue, see how many customers are waiting, and press “Next Customer” to serve them in order.
After a few days of testing, it became clear that some customers found it difficult to scan the QR code. To address this, a tablet was installed, allowing customers to either scan the QR code to join the queue or manually take a queue number.
A separate queue for the fish counter was also added, as it made it easier for staff to serve customers since the counters are not connected.
FEATURES USED
Digital Queue – Customers scan a QR code with their mobile phones to join the queue.
SMS Notifications – Customers who join the digital queue receive an SMS when it’s their turn.
Kiosk – Customers can choose to take a manual queue number via a tablet.
Status Screen – An external TV screen displays the current number being served and the number of customers in line.
THE RESULTS
Flowby helps ICA Stop efficiently manage its queues for the deli and fish counters while providing staff with an easy-to-use tool.
Customers feel that their time is used more effectively, as they can continue shopping while waiting in line and track their queue position on their mobile phones.
Affordable and Simple...
“A cost-effective and modern system that is super easy to install and use.”
— Andreas Paulsson, ICA Store Owner, ICA Stop Täby
Want to learn more about Flowby? Contact us today at +46 8-519 424 09 or send an email to [email protected]
Flowby is a modern and flexible software company with the goal of simplifying and optimizing time management for both consumers and employees, ultimately creating opportunities for increased sales in stores.