Camberwell retail manager designs app which allows businesses to manage customers during coronavirus pandemic

The days of queuing may be over – or should that be tutting, then sighing loudly, then wishing you had brought a book to read.

A retail programme manager has devised an app for the long tails of customers lining up to buy their stuff – so no more water bottles, pillows, blankets, phone chargers and extension cords when you want to buy a can of baked beans.

Sabrina Benjamin, from Camberwell, has worked in shops for more than 10 years, on projects valued at up to £150million. So she knows how hard lockdown has hit the sector.

A report by ITV suggests some people queued for up to three hours just to get a haircut at the beginning of this month.

So Sabrina, pictured top, desperate to protect the industry she loves, created an app called Q Manager (by To Be U) which she developed while isolated at home for three months. And it also supports the NHS’s Track and Trace programme.

Sabrina hopes it will help all businesses retain their customers – not just shops – without people being put off by long queues.

It might cut down the risk of infections as well as the likelihood of being held up by little old ladies getting out copper coins to pay for their purchases.

Features of the app include:

• Multi service booking in advance or on the day
• Live booking portal to manage your queue
• A list of upcoming bookings
• List of places that you booked
• Ability to see bookings made over the last 21 days

Sabrina said: “Q Manager (by To Be U) is a simple, flexible, and affordable tool that allows businesses to manage the inbound and outbound flow of customers in real time.

“It holds historical booking details so you have all the information you need to support the NHS Track and Trace if you ever need to.

“The greatest thing that you can give people is time, and the reality is, people are tired of wasting hours in long queues. Queue management apps are the future.”