Hate to Wait Bagel Bucket: Queueing as Marketing

That’s right – Queueing as Marketing. The Hate to Wait Bagel Bucket is ingenious.

In other words, create a service or product around the fact that people don’t like to wait – AND – charge a premium for the service or product. I’m calling that Queueing as Marketing.

Almost all of us hate to wait. If any of us had the option to do something other than wait, I bet we’d all take that option.

But, what if a company were to take advantage of this fact – that people or customers don’t like to wait?

Well, we certainly see evidence of this. For example, Disneyland’s Fastpass is one example.

Here’s another example: Noah’s Bagels is using the fact that some customers are in a hurry and would rather not wait in line for a bagel. So, they created a product to cater to that customer need, which they call “Hate to Wait”.

The steps to the Hate to Wait process are:

1. Grab ‘N’ Go Bagel Bucket
2. Proceed directly to cashier
3. And go

They like the idea so much that Noah’s Bagels and Einstein Bagels even trademarked the term “Hate to Wait”.

Here’s the legal filing for the trademark “Hate to Wait”:

On Wednesday, December 13, 2000, a U.S. federal trademark registration was filed for HATE TO WAIT? by Einstein and Noah Corp., Lakewood, CO 80228. The USPTO has given the HATE TO WAIT? trademark serial number of 76180171. The current federal status of this trademark filing is SECTION 8 & 15-ACCEPTED AND ACKNOWLEDGED. The correspondent listed for HATE TO WAIT? is Leslie P. Kramer of Faegre & Benson LLP, 3200 Wells Fargo Center, 1700 Lincoln Street Denver CO 80203-4532 . The HATE TO WAIT? trademark is filed in the category of Staple Food Products . The description provided to the USPTO for HATE TO WAIT? is Bagels, bagel chips, bread, sandwiches, pasta salad and bakery goods.