Click and Collect More Popular than Ever, but Survey Suggests There’s Still Room for Improvement
Working with Sapio Research we recently conducted a survey of over 2000 consumers around the UK, revealing the click and collect expectations of consumers across four key retail sectors - fashion, homeware and electronics and grocery.
According to the survey’s findings click and collect is a very popular option for many, with 24% of consumers purchasing groceries via click and collect at least weekly, this is almost a 20% increase on the fashion, homeware and electronics sectors. And with a 25% percent growth on last year, it would appear grocery shoppers are turning to click and collect for a more convenient, faster shopping experience.
When it came to the appeal of click and collect, convenience and not having to wait for delivery were the two key benefits across every sector. Yet despite this consumer favour towards click and collect, the stats also show that consumers agree there is a need to improve wait times in-store and communication with staff. The feedback highlighted that retailers in the fashion and homeware sector need to improve on their customer wait times, with an average of 42% of consumers saying that they were disappointed with the speed of collection when it comes to click and collect. Homeware and electrical shoppers are faced with the longest wait, waiting for an average time of nearly 7 minutes, while clothing and fashion consumers are having to wait 6.5 minutes.
Customers identified that their in-store experience could be improved by friendlier, better informed staff and less waiting time. 41% said that they felt overall customer experience could be improved if staff were provided with headsets to assist them to deliver better service levels, more than believed smartphones or tablets would improve the level of service they’d receive.
Tom Downes, CEO, Quail Digital, comments, “The report has shown click and collect is more popular than ever, and growing in every segment. The challenge for retailers is to deliver the service efficiently in a way that meets customer expectation. The survey shows that a 3 minute wait from arrival to pick up might be viewed as the right sort of target to beat, whether in-store or in drive thru.”
He concludes, “Click and collect across the retail environment clearly shows no signs of slowing and it is those retailers that embrace it, invest in its potential and deliver a service that rivals its competitors that will thrive well into the future.”
