Sopra Steria and Salesforce bring social distancing app to UK

A host of retailers, restaurants and pharmacies are in talks with digital transformation specialists Sopra Steria and CRM platform provider Salesforce about signing up to a new ‘shop by appointment’ app.

Q@Home, an online booking system which allows people to pre-book a time slot to visit a participating shop, restaurant, pharmacy or physical location has been developed in response to the strict social distancing guidelines imposed on the retail and hospitality sectors.

The app is currently live in 450 Coop Liguria stores in Italy and a major retailer in France has just agreed to implement the app. In Italy alone more than 60,000 people have already signed up. 

Sopra Steria and Salesforce are currently trialling Q@Home with UK retailers, hospitality businesses, pharmacies, post offices and healthcare organisations looking to meet demand and adhere to changing social distancing guidelines post-lockdown. Both companies are already in talks with two leading major supermarkets, a luxury retailer, a national pharmacy chain and a healthcare provider. 

The technology will allow shops, restaurants, post offices, pharmacies and healthcare organisations to manage customer-flow, minimise lost sales, and offer new ways of capturing customer data to enable more efficient store operations by linking customer demand to staffing and stock levels required at different times of the day. The new app can also bring benefits to key workers on shifts and those with children or adult dependents who are struggling to find time to queue for essential services and shopping. 

Adam Trott, Head of Retail and Hospitality at Sopra Steria commented “In the new normal Covid-19 world the need to comply with social distancing guidelines whilst introducing certainty for customers with queue management is going to help enhance the customer experience and reduce lost sales.” 

“For key workers operating on shifts or people with young children, queuing and following guidelines is proving difficult during the Covid-19 pandemic. This issue will be exacerbated when physical stores, restaurants and pharmacies re-open when lockdown measures are relaxed.”

“We know this is an incredibly challenging time for many retailers, pharmacies and hospitality service providers and our high streets are going to look very different for some time. What we are offering is a simple, affordable solution which will help them manage customer flow, make sure they can adhere to social distancing guidelines and improve their operations to meet customer demand post lockdown.” 

“This is already active in Italy, the first European country to be hit with the virus, and there is an opportunity to learn from what they are doing to get the high street economy going again.”