Click and Collect is adding a new dimension to eCommerce websites for local businesses. Major brands have been increasingly adopting this technology and benefiting from it. As well as guaranteeing the product is held for your customer at your location, saving the a potential wasted journey, it also increases the likely hood of further spend due to captive foot fall.
Will you be using click-and-collect this year?[endclip]
Click-and-collect does what it says. In the checkout of your eCommerce website you offer delivery options and one of these can give the option to the customer to purchase the item and collect it from your store location. Click and collect services show consideration for customer experience.
So how do other eCommerce retailers use click-and-collect delivery services?
A top example of click-and-collect done right is Argos.
Argos have a widely used click-and-reserve service and they make their customers first aware of click and collect option on the product pages and give options in the checkout.
John Lewis
John Lewis lists its delivery options at the bottom of the homepage, but you need to scroll down quite far to find it.
The free click & collect service is at the top of the list, which highlights its popularity among shoppers. John Lewis also reported today (5th January 2015) that 56% of all on-line sales were click and collect - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30672179
Click & collect is also mentioned on each of the category pages, with collection available from both John Lewis and selected Waitrose stores.
Homebase
Homebase also lists its delivery options low down on the homepage, with the top option being reserve & collect.
However this appears to be the usual homepage template so I don’t think Homebase is doing anything out of the ordinary here.
It doesn’t make any mention of delivery options on the category pages.
B&Q
Again B&Q mentions click & collect on its homepage but it appears to be part of the standard template rather than any particular effort to promote it over Christmas.
Matalan
Matalan has a standard click & collect promo at the top of its homepage, but a warning that deliveries are taking longer than normal appears lower down the page.
Debenhams
All of Debenhams’ various fulfillment options are displayed prominently on its homepage...
...but lower down the page there’s an update warning customers that some standard deliveries are running late.
Waterstones
Click & collect is mentioned on the homepage, but it looks like a fairly standard template.
Evans Cycles
Evans Cycles has a homepage banner linking to its Christmas order dates.
This is really useful for shoppers as they can make a considered purchase without worrying whether the bike will arrive on time.
One of the slides in the carousel also links to the various delivery options, which includes a free click & collect option.
New Look
New Look has adopted the same approach as Evans Cycles.
It lists the final Christmas order date for each of its UK stores which is useful but could have been improved by using a postcode look up tool rather than making shoppers trawl through a giant list.
Summary
Click and collect could be the saviour of the high street. It allows shops to compete with online only stores and satisfies the customer experience of physical 'shopping'. It can also increase revenue by up-selling, cross selling and touch point sales due to increased customer population in your store.
Plus, more general footfall in the high street can surely only benefit all stores in the vicinity?