Waiting for Checkout: Toward an Understanding of Customers’ Perceptions

Abstract

Waiting in line to check out of a store or from a service provider is a necessary but undesirable experience for consumers. It remains a serious problem for retailers and service providers even though scanning technology and self-checkout systems have been increasingly introduced. Prior studies on this problem have emphasized that wait time leads to negative customer evaluation of service delivery. However, the accumulation of empirical research on this problem is not extensive. Thus, this study aims to develop useful measurements for investigating customers’ perceptions of waiting and service management.