Shoppers at Dunelm’s 170 UK superstores can now pick up their click and collect orders without needing to leave their cars.
The homewares retailer has added ‘deliver to car’ to its collection options across the country after piloting technology from JRNI’s experiential relationship management platform.
Customers are texted when their order is ready to collect. Once they arrive in the car park they click on a link in the text, and log details including their car registration, make and model. A staff member then collects the item and delivers it to just outside the car. During the initial trial, more than 2,500 orders were fulfilled each day using this solution.
“Colleagues have found it easy to manage and customers have found it easy to use,” says Grace Henry, in-store service project manager at Dunelm.
In its Christmas trading figures, Dunelm, ranked Elite in RXUK Top500 research, showed that click and collect enabled it to replace 30% of sales lost when its stores were closed during lockdown.
Before lockdown, Dunelm also trialled JRNI virtual queuing enabling shoppers to join a queue for a store by phone or a QR code in order to manage the number of people in store. It also uses JRNI Appointments for its made-to-measure curtains, blinds and shutters.
John Federman, chief executive at JRNI, says: “Anxious customers need reassurance. They should also be able to expect the right experience, at the right time, in the right place. Given the rapidly evolving nature of this pandemic and subsequent national and local restrictions, what this ‘right experience’ looks like can change in the blink of an eye.
“The businesses that will be rewarded with brand loyalty and sustained revenues are those like Dunelm, delivering great experiences in-store when they can, and evolving their online offerings alongside.”
