Growing by 55.6% over the next five years the click and collect market is expected to be worth £9.6 billion by 2022, according to GlobalData.
The company’s latest report says that the delivery method will account for 13.9% of total online spend in 2022 with much of the growth driven by clothing and footwear which in itself will account for 61.2% of online spend.
The report: ‘Click & Collect in the UK, 2017-2022’ warns, however, that click and collect will be impacted by a number of factors. The closure of unprofitable stores will reduce the number of physical locations whilst the continued growth of delivery saver schemes will also make click and collect a less compelling option.
“Click & collect sales will become increasingly threatened as delivery saver schemes become more widely available and retailers continue to extend their choice of fulfilment options,” says Charlotte Pearce, retail analyst at GlobalData,
But she said done correctly it can boost business. “Retailers must ensure that their click & collect propositions are competitive in terms of price and/or threshold as well as speed of delivery into stores. This will help to drive footfall into stores and encourage additional spend at the retailer,” she said.
However satisfaction remains a key bugbear. GlobalData’s report also states that click & collect user satisfaction fell 11.2 percentage points from 89.6% in 2016 to 78.4% in 2017. “Retailers which do offer click & collect must invest in their service to reduce pain points in the customer journey, such as long queue times. John Lewis and Zara are examples of two retailers that are trying to improve the process through the use of technology. Not only will these retailers be able to reduce queues within stores, but this will also help to free up valuable staff.”
