SmartQueue - A smarter way to wait in a queue
Rutvik Dave is the Co-Founder of SmartQueue, an easy and efficient way to manage a queue. It’s a notification system for people who are waiting in a queue & CRM Tool for the businesses which are implementing Smart Queue.
An insightful and candid conversation - an eChai with Rutvik.
How did you come up with the idea of 'Smart Queue' ?
Like everyone else, I always get frustrated by standing in a long queue, and in India there are queues everywhere. It’s not the waiting that annoys me, but the anxiety of not knowing how long I will have to wait.
So I decided to fix this problem by developing a smart and efficient way to wait in a queue.
What problem are you solving?
Smart Queue is very easy and efficient way to manage a queue. It’s a notification system for people who are waiting in a queue. It will give them automated SMS notifications whenever their status changes or their number turns up. They can also track detailed status in multiple queue from our cloud based application.
And It’s a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tool for the businesses which are implementing Smart Queue. It will collect the data which was being lost till now. And from this data it will provide business intelligence so that business owners can make better decisions.
i.e. How many customers I have served last month?
What is the daily average?
How much time it takes to process a single customer?
How many times this particular customer has visited my business.
Businesses can also send special offers and discounts to their customers to convert them into repeat customers.
How does it work?
It’s very simple,
You give your mobile number to the queue operator. You will receive a confirmation SMS along with a link.
You will receive automated SMS notifications whenever your status changes or your number turns up.
Later you will receive special offers and discounts in your account (and not via SMS).
Apart from this when you click on the link from the first SMS, you will be auto-logged in to your account. Here you will be able to see detailed status of your position and receive special offers and discounts.
What is your target market?
We are currently targeting following types of businesses:
- Restaurants & Hotels
- Service Centers & Repair Shops
- Bakeries & Gift Shops
- Warehouses & Factories
- Hospitals & Doctor Clinics
- Beauty Saloons
- Laundry Services
- Support & Help Desks
- Delivery & Courier Services
- E-Commerce Stores
What is your competitive advantage?
There are following advantages over the existing solutions:
- Value your own privacy, no more yelling your name in public.
- Never miss your turn.
- Enjoy your time out instead of just sitting and starring at the LED screen.
- Now you can check your position in queue any time!
- Know when to leave home or office, if you have taken an appointment or booked a table.
- Standing in a queue is yesterday's news. Be anywhere while waiting in a queue.
- When a queue is long, spend time with your friends and family,
- or visit nearby places. Waiting in a queue doesn't have to be chaotic or boring.
How much time did it take you from conceptualization of 'your venture' to actually launching it in the market ?
It took us 1 month of planning and 4 months of development, a total of 5 months to execute our idea.
Tell us more about your team?
We are a small and talented team of 4 members. Which consists of two co-founders and two full-stack developers.
What is your technology stack?
The front end is developed using HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript (AngularJS).
The middle tier is developed using Microsoft .Net and C# (Web API).
The back end is SQL Server (Entity Framework).
And the complete solution is hosted on Microsoft’s Azure Cloud Infrastructure.
How do you plan to market your product? What are your customer acquisition strategies?
Right now we are chasing leads and meeting them in-person, to show them the value that Smart Queue can provide to their business. Also soon we will launch our reseller program to target a larger customer segment. We are also going to start marketing on popular social media platforms.
What is the revenue model of 'SmartQueue' ?
There are basically three sources from which we will make money:
- Yearly subscriptions
- SMS Packs
- Special Offer Packs
What do you want to achieve from this? What is your larger goal or vision?
I want to make this a nation-wide platform for queue management, tracking status and providing notifications. Whenever you are waiting for something you can track the status at one place - Smart Queue.
What sort of support and feedback are you looking from the community?
We want to solve a bigger problem. And we need support from our community. Very soon we are launching our reseller program, so that together we can achieve our goal of solving a nation wide problem.
We are looking for resellers from different regions of India, who can sell and implement Smart Queue in their city. So if you are interested then please apply for our reseller program here: https://smartqueue.in/reseller.html