The QLess Blog

It’s 7a.m. and you’re waiting in a long line of other caffeine-deprived folks just trying to snag your extra-tall caramel latte and get to work on time. Then the door opens and you watch with incredulity as some newcomer walks in, strolls straight up to the the counter and gets served immediately. Sounds unfair right? 

If you’re the operator of one of the many businesses that now offers online and mobile pre-orders, you should know that this is how many of your customers could be feeling right now. 

Pre-ordering apps have quickly become popular in food and coffee establishments, but the roll-out hasn’t been totally smooth. 

QLess has been recognized with another top-shelf award in the struggle against lifelong line-waiting. I’m referring, of course, to our latest Gold Stevie Award for stellar consumer services at the 16th annual American Business Awards.

 This past winter was an absolute disaster for Americans who had to get on airplanes. A January storm grounded nearly 2,000 flights and more than 5,000 more were delayed. A month later a nor'easter caused more than 2,500 planes to remain on the ground – including half of the flights scheduled to depart from Newark, one of the country’s busiest airports. In total, tens of thousands of flights were delayed by bad weather, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stuck in airports wondering how (or if) they would reach their destinations.

And every single one of those people had to get in a line to get even the most basic information.