Ok, I’m tapped of ideas so I’m turning for help to my brilliant, creative customer base (generically known as “Abby” for the purposes). 
Dear Abby,
Here’s the situation:
Friday and Saturday mornings at 11, people swarm into the bakery (good thing!). The line is long. Some people have pre-orders to pick up. If they’ve paid already, great, they come to the front of the line, lurk by the register, and as soon as someone has 5 seconds, we find the order and send them on their merry, delicious way.
However, if the customer has not already paid, they wait in the line because the cashier is pretty much constantly ringing up the customers from the huge line, many of whom have just ordered at the case.
So the question is this… is there a way to avoid forcing the pre-order customers to wait in the huge line without being unfair to the people who arrived before they did? Is there some blindingly obvious answer I’m just not seeing?? HELP!
~Pathological People Pleaser in Memphis
I think you find a way for pre-orders to have a clearly designated “spot” to pick up their orders (and line up if there is more than one pre-order customer in the store at a time). Someone other than the cashier is responsible for retrieving their “goodies” for them and the cashier alternates ringing up a pre-order, then a walk-in, then a pre-order and so forth.
Clearly post the policy (nicely worded of course!).
I think most reasonable walk-ins would understand having to wait another 60 seconds while the person that had the forethought to pre-order is taken care of. And if they aren’t reasonable then you weren’t going to be able to make them happy anyway so nothing lost.
Just my 2 cents.
Another thought, if you can afford it, is to add a second cashier for peak times. That person’s top priority would be pre-orders and could help with other stuff when there aren’t any preorder customers in the store.
You don’t need to get another cashier, but you should have a “fast track” line, like airlines have for “gold flyers” that can cut to the front of the line if they’re pre-order customers.
I’m not sure if you want to go this route; but customers who pre-order could be given the option to also pre-pay with their credit card. You can then give them a confirmation number that they have to bring with them when they pick up their orders. There are pros and cons to this, though – if someone loses their confirmation number and they’ve already pre-paid, they are in a bind…but; if there is someone at the bakery who can keep up with the credit card transaction number, perhaps the customer could just show their ID…
Lucy- We already offer the prepay option and those people do come to the front and just pick up their order. Trying to figure out what to do with the folks who pre-ordered but didn’t prepay.
Sally- I’m slightly confused… you think unpaid pre-orders should be able to skip to the front and just ask the people behind them to wait a minute? We can’t have two separate lines unless we have two cashiers, two credit card machines, etc. Just checking to see if I understand.
Thanks for input everyone!
I think that you also need to think about the people who have pre-ordered have been “waiting in line” for 2 days, 2 weeks, ect from the time that they placed their order.
I think that trying to please everyone will never end, but I think that if you do have a posted policy then people will understand you are looking to get everyone served quickly. (You also don’t waste the 5 seconds of time that it takes the individuals behind the case to ask the pre-order person what they can get for them out of the case.)
2 lines of people and ringing up every other customer is not a bad idea. I don’t think that you need another register to do this. Have the preorder individuals line up to the left of the register by the end of the counter.
oh and BTW your Cupcakes are so good!!
Create the “Muddy Fastpass”. When a pre- ordering customer comes in the bakery,they can grab a fast pass. At chosen intervals,say,every third purchase,the cashier can call for the fast pass. At that time some “fastpassers” get to check out. Say no more than four. Then it’s back to the early birds. I think the majority of customers would recognize that a little pre-planning gave the person with a fast pass an advantage but would not feel taken advantage of because the cashier could reward him for coming in early by returning to the the earlybird after a couple of cash register rings. It worked for Disney. I’m just saying!
Clearly y’all are fabulous and we love you! But I’ve been in there on a saturday when it’s crazy and felt terrible for y’all. Could you not make pre payment with the pre-orders mandatory? I’m sure you’ve gotten people place orders and not come pick up their goodies. Once everyone got used to the mandatory payment I think everyone would be happier. Preorders do not have to wait in line and therefore the line gets shorter for people who just walked in! If not, don’t feel so guilty about people waiting in line, they clearly chose to not pre pay and the line is the consequence.
My suggestion: When your customers are initially placing their pre-order, strongly encourage them to prepay in order to avoid waiting in a long line. That way, they have some forewarning and can make the choice themselves. Another suggestion would be to open a few minutes earlier just for preorder customers so they can get their goodies more quickly. Just some thoughts. Good luck with it!
I just picked up some cupcakes that I had ordered and it went perfectly. Why? Because last night when I called to confirm my order, the lovely lady on the phone let me know that I could pay in advance and just pick them up. Otherwise, I’d have to wait in line which could be long since I needed my cupcakes at 11am. Husband ran in, got ‘em and left. Perfect.
I think that is all you need to do. And, I know you care deeply about the feelings of your customers, but like someone else said, you can’t please everyone. People need to learn a little patience!
I agree that customers making pre-orders should be encouraged to pre-pay or else be prepared to possibly stand in line to pay. I’m working on my patience
but must admit that the appearance of people “cutting” in line is a giant turnoff to me. After all, we’re all buying the same products, paying the same prices, supporting the same business. As I see it, the benefit of pre-ordering is the guarantee that customers will be able to buy exactly what they want, without the danger of that item or items selling out. I don’t think that cutting in line should also be part of the guarantee.
Thanks for all you do and for your positive influence in Memphis!
Also, at the risk of beating a dead horse (so to speak), pre-payment with pre-orders would be consistent with your pre-payment policy for special orders.
I would like to echo the sentiments of several people on here, advise people when they do pre-order that if they pay ahead of time they can go to the front and be able to grab their order more quickly. Otherwise, I don’t think it’s fair to have some sort of skipping policy. I had no idea that if you pre-pay you can go up to the front but will definitely utilize that in the future! I would say, just make people aware that if they don’t pre-pay (maybe even have the option if they can’t pay over the phone they can come in sometime before their order is up to pay when they’re getting their daily fix?) they’ll have to wait in line. They’d have to do the same thing if they were purchasing something out of the case, and they’re purchasing the pre-order so….either way, Muddy’s treats are worth it! That seems both fair and much less complicated than having a separate line or additional cashier. I’d personally prefer someone baking goodies than ringing people up!
I am leaning towards the “for fastest service, please pre-pay all pre-orders and special orders” side. Even if they are paying by check, they can mail or drop the check off a day or so before they come in for their order. Otherwise, they’ll have to stand in line. I think that’s fair to everyone!
Wow y’all! Thank you SO MUCH for the insights and help!
Per your suggestions, we have begun not only offering people the option to prepay, but explaining why they may wish to.
The percentage of orders that are now prepaid has gone from 20% to 75%! It’s made the line a bit less harrowing for those who just wanted to pick up their order and go and the people who are waiting for the pre-orders are a bit more mellow and acknowledge that we did, after all, warn them!
THANKS SO MUCH!