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VIRTUAL QUEUE

Run sales and registrations confidently, no matter the demand

Virtual queues are a powerful tool to control your online traffic and treat your visitors fairly. But are they right for you? And what should you be looking for? Get a free guide that includes 9 common use cases, 15 key questions, and an actionable 10-point checklist.

handle high traffic successfully

What is a virtual queue?

how a virtual queue works
how a virtual queue works

A virtual queue—also known as an online queue, digital queue, digital line, or virtual line— is a queue of website or app visitors that exists within a virtual waiting room. Website managers use virtual queuing to control the flow of visitors arriving to a web page or website. For example, visitors to a ticket vendor's website can be placed in a virtual queue when they visit any page on the website, or only when they click to buy tickets for a specific event.

Managing website traffic with a virtual queue lets website managers protect performance bottlenecks, avoid website failure, and treat customers fairly with a first-come, first-served line.

How does a virtual queue work?

A virtual queue in Queue-it's virtual waiting room is a waiting page that is inserted between two web pages. Visitors who exceed your capacity are offloaded to the virtual queue so they don’t take up bandwidth on your infrastructure. At the throughput rate you configure, Queue-it then redirects the visitors who waited in line to your website in a fair, first-in-first-out order.

Why use a virtual queue?

Orange bowling balls headed towards bowling pin

51%

of IT outages are avoidable, say global IT decision makers, with usage spikes being the number two reason behind downtime.

79%

of visitors who face poor website performance won't return to buy

91%

of enterprises report downtime costs of $300,000+ per hour

No business owner likes a website crash. A slow or crashed site or app means lost sales, damaged brand reputation, and high resource costs. When traffic surges suddenly it overwhelms even the world's biggest business. Websites and apps are built with assumptions of how much traffic they normally handle. And making a site scalable on demand is technically challenging and can prove costly.

red ball rolling down green steps
Queue-it's virtual queue page

A virtual queue it a website traffic management solution that gives you full control over the inflow, volume, and pace of visitors to your website. This lets you keep traffic levels where your site performs best and deliver the customer experience your visitors expect.

When can you use a virtual queue?

Product launches & releases
In-demand online ticket sales
Shopping holidays like Black Friday
Influencer & email marketing campaigns
Government applications
University admissions

"Since implementing Queue-it to our digital platforms, we can successfully hold our large-scale digital events without the risk of failure. The Queue-it integration was very simple, and the entire experience worked seamlessly with our native app. The consumer experience was uninterrupted from queue to checkout!"

Laura Poatsy, Mobile Experience Supervisor

Queue-it quote from Laura Poatsy, Mobile Experience Supervisor, Lilly Pulitzer

What is the user experience like?

Branded

To give visitors a seamless journey from queue to checkout, you can customize your visitors’ visual experience by incorporating your brand’s identity into the queue page. Let the images, font, and language all match your brand. With your customizable queue page, you can promote future events, upsell additional products, and embed videos or games as your audience waits to enter your website.

Queue-it's branded queue page
Queue-it pre-queue countdown page

Fair

If you’re running a timed sale, the pre-queue captures early visitors and shows them a countdown to when the sale begins. At sale start, all visitors in the pre-queue are randomized and placed in line, neutralizing bad bots’ speed advantage. During the sale, customers access your site in a transparent and fair first-come, first-served order.

Informed

Psychological studies show that how people feel when they wait in line matters far more than how long they wait. The queue page shows individualized wait information and real-time messages to keep visitors informed. It also gives visitors the option to receive an email when it’s their turn in line.

Queue-it queue page with wait information

Get the ultimate guide for how to choose your virtual queue