When attending an exciting event, the last thing your guests want to do is wait in a long line for the cloakroom just to drop off a coat before they can enter the premises. Unfortunately, long queues are very common at large events, convention centres, music venues, and places where many people arrive and leave at the same time. Operating with traditional cloakrooms could lead to issues like overcrowding and stolen items, but what is the alternative?
Cloakroom lockers enabled by smart technology are becoming an increasingly popular solution to accommodate these management challenges and to revolutionise the cloakroom experience as a whole – both for managers and their visitors.
In this blog, we will look at the challenges that managers face when operating a traditional cloakroom, how a smart locker solution can be implemented to solve these challenges, and how cloakroom lockers can provide great benefits for the business.
- What are the Challenges of using a Traditional Cloakroom?
- 5 Reasons Why You Need Cloakroom Lockers
- How Cloakroom Lockers can Benefit Business
- Conclusion
What are the Challenges of using a Traditional Cloakroom?
The typical challenges of maintaining a traditional cloakroom are managing long queues and storing all personal belongings safely. Did you know that Brits spend an average of 6 years of their lives waiting in line? Should we use the British terminology of queuing here? Or maybe make a joke about it? Brits are known for their love of a queue.:
To keep the cloakroom area organised, efficient, and safe, event managers will need to consider these challenges when setting up the area:
Limited staff for large visitor numbers
Overcrowding in the cloakroom is usually caused by the incapacity to accommodate the crowd pressure. With a traditional cloakroom setup, everything is done manually, and if a hundred visitors enter the building at the same time, it might be hard to keep up. This could cause long queues and frustrated visitors, who might bring their items inside instead, causing a mess and an increase in lost and forgotten items.
Customer service vs service efficiency
A study by McKinsey shows that 71% of consumers expect personalised interactions from companies, while 76% get frustrated if this service isn’t delivered. You want to ensure high-quality customer service, but if visitors are stuck in line because the staff is chatting to customers as they slowly get out their cards to pay, it inevitably causes irritation. It’s a balance, but if the queue is long and the guests are late to their event, a chat is probably the last thing they need.
Lack of space to keep the cloakroom properly organised
Having many workers in the cloakroom can make the drop-off process faster but might also cause disorganisation. Additionally, if the cloakroom floor is simply too small to properly accommodate the volume of visitors, even the most organised manager will lose their grip.
Security risks from busy staff and mess
Many cloakrooms store clothing on hangers and other items on open shelf spaces, which poses a significant risk of theft if proper security measures are not implemented. The security risks only increase during peak times, especially with possible organisation issues and the stress of keeping up with queues.
Lost cloakroom keys/tickets
This is another potential security issue: stolen cloakroom keys and paper tickets allow thieves to easily pick up other people’s belongings. Besides theft, lost keys/fobs would add extra cost to replace and searching through the whole storage room when visitors lose their tickets is highly inefficient.
5 Reasons Why You Need Cloakroom Lockers
Consider cloakroom lockers if any of the challenges above sound familiar to you. Rather than using standard traditional lockers, smart locker technology is a forward-thinking and cost-effective cloakroom solution that improves efficiency and enhances the overall visitor experience at your venue.
Cloakroom lockers at National Portrait Gallery in Australia
Here are our top 5 reasons why you should consider purchasing cloakroom lockers for your venue:
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Increased convenience
Unlike traditional lockers where you need keys, electronic storage lockers enable guests to operate everything from their own smartphones. A simple tap on the screen can lock and unlock their personal locker. Their items are accessible at any time without ever having to wait for a member of staff.
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Secure storage
Cloakroom lockers provide secure storage spaces for guests to store their items, whether these are large coats, small bags, notepads or other personal belongings. By eliminating the need for keys and tickets, visitors can enjoy their day knowing that their items are always kept safe and secure.
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Reduced waiting time
No need to wait in a 40-minute queue for staff to put jackets on hangers; with a smart locker solution, you can allow visitors to reserve and pay for their cloakroom lockers online in the privacy of their own house: upon arrival, guests can simply go to their assigned locker, drop off their items, tap to lock it, and head on in. This streamlines the process and creates a less congested cloakroom area.
Additionally, cashless payments are becoming more and more common as it is both safer and faster, and a recent survey found that 81% of people prefer cashless payment for these reasons.
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Branding opportunities
Many locker solutions can be customised in various ways to fit your personal branding, making sure that the lockers are a stylish addition to the cloakroom furniture. The large space on each locker door also presents a unique opportunity for events and conference centres to promote their brand and/or sponsors in a place where most attendees will see it.
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Enhanced visitor experience
Having a streamlined cloakroom process results in an overall easier and better experience for visitors, who no longer must wait in line or worry about losing their cloakroom ticket.
Here’s how to use a cloakroom locker
How Cloakroom Lockers can Benefit Business
By simply taking out the hitches and common frustrations from the process of renting a cloakroom space, you will make your visitors’ lives much easier.
Vpod Rental Public Lockers are a great storage solution for events, convention centres, tourist attractions, public spaces, and any other venues that wish to provide their customers with a safe space to store personal belongings during their stay; however, this is not the only benefit our cloakroom lockers can present to your business:
Reduced operational costs
By employing self-service and keyless smart lockers, you eliminate the need to manually organise your cloakroom, saving headcount costs and lost key/access card replacements.
Less queuing = more spending
Bad queue management can leave visitors waiting for hours and for venues that host big conventions, exhibitions or musical events where a lot of sales come from food and merchandise, having long waiting times at the entrance can have a significant impact on revenue.
As an example, research shows that the average festival goer spends £88/day, which means you can earn £88000 for a whole day from just 1000 guests. With smart lockers, visitors can book their cloakroom lockers in advance online so you can optimise your revenue by reducing queuing times, allowing more time for visitors at the event.
Repurpose staff
The FOH staff, who might have otherwise been confined to managing and cleaning up the cloakroom, can instead focus on true concierge-style customer service, making sure that visitors get a great experience at your venue and services.
Additional revenue stream
With cloakroom lockers, you can create revenue for your organisation by having full control of rental fees. With Vpod’s electronic cloakroom lockers, managers can change the price of renting from the online locker management platform at any time. Adjust prices according to locker size, planned events, or time of day – the timeline of ROI is entirely all up to you and what suits your business and clientele.
Vpod’s Rental Public Lockers have several features that make them a great cloakroom storage solution. These include:
- Ability to set your own rules
- Users reserve in advance or pay cashless on-site
- Customisable units through in-house manufacturing (choice of material, colour, unit size etc.)
- Industry-standard quality, durability, and safety
- Secure access with a QR code, PIN code, or RFID
- Real-time tracking provides information on locker usage
- Remote management from one centralised locker management software
- User-friendly and accessible through email and smartphone
Vpod Smart Solutions’ cloakroom lockers provide a convenient and secure way for large venues to offer storage rental services to their visitors. With customisable sizes and advanced security features, our product is ideal for sites that wish to streamline their rental processes and provide a superior customer experience.
Conclusion
Event venues and conference centres know the struggle of properly managing an efficient traditional cloakroom. Long queues, lost tickets, and the risk of theft are just a few of the challenges that managers often face; however, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Cloakroom lockers are a convenient, modern solution to the persistent cloakroom challenges. By automating the process of renting a temporary storage space and enabling pre-reservation, queues are dramatically reduced, allowing visitors to enjoy a more convenient and enjoyable time at the venue.
The top 5 reasons to consider cloakroom lockers are:
- Increased convenience
- Secure storage
- Reduced waiting time
- Branding opportunities
- Enhanced visitor experience
Vpod Smart Solutions combine smart technology and innovative design to provide the best and most efficient modern solutions that fit the needs of our clients, and our cloakroom locker solution is no exception.
