Five and a half minute limit

Research released today by Barclays and Barclaycard has looked at the issue of queues from the point of view of shoppers and retailers. The consumer research – among 2,000 shoppers – asked how long they are prepared to queue, and the queues in which type of retailers annoy them most – five and a half minutes on average, and food and drink outlets, being the answers.

But retailers were also surveyed as part of the project, with questions such as whether they had shifted till positions in order to hide queues. A third of retailers admitted that they have.

Of course, Barclays and Barclaycard haven’t gone to the expense of conducting this research purely to increase the sum of public knowledge on consumers’ levels of patience. They are keen to understand the opportunities and barriers to the adoption of contactless payment by both shoppers and retailers.

It’s always been a chicken and egg problem. Retailers won’t invest until there is consumer demand, and consumers don’t demand to use something that’s not yet widely installed.

What this research does show is that retailers are waiting for a tipping point of one-third of customers using contactless cards before they are prepared to install the technology themselves.

A few braver high street names – specifically the Co-operative and Boots – are now dipping their toe in the water to help stimulate contactless payment demand. But it will take more early retail adopters before contactless payment reaches consumer critical mass and goes mainstream.