Consumers Love Click & Collect and it is Here to Stay

A growing trend for some time, Click & Collect, a.k.a. Buy Online & Pickup In-Store (BOPIS), grew substantially during the pandemic.  Because of its convenience, consumers love it and it is here to stay.

How big is Click & Collect?

The growth of Click & Collect is breathtaking. In the United States, in 2020 it grew 106.9% to over $72 billion dollars and it is expected to have sustained double-digit growth for the foreseeable future (source eMarketer).

Why do consumers love Click & Collect?

In its “click and collect consumer” research, Deloitte says that consumers are cocooning. This means that even after the pandemic is gone, “consumers plan to stay closer to home for a variety of reasons, like saving money, staying safe, and exercising lifestyle choices”. Thus, consumers are expected to substantially increase their online shopping activity for both delivery (+41%), and pickup in store (+26%) from pre-pandemic levels.

Initially, consumers explored and adopted Click & Collect as the perceived safer shopping option(#1 ranked factor). However, as time passed, consumers identified other convenience benefits that will remain  as the pandemic subsides. Currently, consumers’ perceive that Click & Collect is cheaper than delivery (from #4 to #1), faster than standard delivery (from #7 to #2), faster than shopping in-store (from #2 to #3) and a quick way to check stock (from #5 to #4).  These convenience factors deprioritized safety  which decreased in importance from #1 to #5. It is easy to see why Click & Collect is here to stay and will continue to grow.

Key Step for as Successful Click & Collect Strategy

For any direct-to-consumer business, it will be very important to offer consumers the convenience to buy online and pickup in-store.  Below are some key steps to ensure success as you expand your sales channels:

  1. Consistent product catalog: If you have a physical store, your point of sale (POS) system is normally the master for your product catalog and inventory. You need to ensure that the key product information, especially your SKUs, are consistent across channels.
  2. Synchronized inventory: In this omnichannel world, you will be selling the same SKUs both in-store and online. You need to make sure that you keep your inventory in synch across all channels and differentiate between carry-out sales (inventory depleted immediately) vs. shipping and pickup sales (inventory committed at the time of sale but depleted until the order is shipped or picked up).
  3. Staff alerts for picking and packing: As soon as a Click & Collect order is placed online, alert in-store staff, so that they can quickly pick and pack the order for the consumer, removing items from the shelf that have already been committed to that customer.
  4. Customer identification: Even if the customer has never purchased , you want to easily identify the consumer (ideally from within your POS system) to complete the pickup process in-store.
  5. Completing a pickup order and adjusting inventory: Once the consumer has picked up their purchase, you will want to mark it as picked up to adjust inventory and avoid duplicate pick-ups.
  6. Customer notifications: To enable a quick pick up, inform the consumer that their Click & Collect order is packed and is ready for pickup through an automated email or text notifcation. Once the order is complete, you will also want to thank the consumer for picking up their order to build loyalty and ensure customer security.
  7. Leverage your existing staff and systems: You have made substantial investments in your eCommerce and POS systems. As much as possible, you will want to leverage these investments to reduce costs and minimize challenges for your staff.

 

Although this may seem daunting, it does not have to be.  At bLoyal, we have the product and experience  in omnichannel click and collect ordering to make things easy, affordable, and to add value to your business quickly.

Ready to take the next step? Great! We are ready to help and would love to empower you to deliver the best Click & Collect experience to your customers. Simply email us at info@bloyal.com and we will be in touch with your shortly.