Value-led mixed goods retailer Wilko has been able to open its stores throughout the pandemic and while stores have remained popular, its online offer went into the pandemic already fortified by a multichannel restructuring and investment in 2014. This was a bold move at the time, given the company’s value focus but one that has clearly paid off.
Delivery, payment, tracking and store options are all on the retailer’s home page, followed by promotional and seasonal content. Customers can shop by popular categories directly from the home page, which includes a ‘we think you’ll love’ product recommendation section. Items can be saved to a wishlist or basket and can be updated when products come back in stock.
Its home page includes a ‘love Wilko on Instagram’ section which uses customers’ own images from Instagram to help sell products. Wilko also operates across social channels and runs the Wilko Life blog, which includes how-to guides and inspiration articles.
Customers can rate products by stars, as well as scoring on value, quality and ease of use. They can browse via various filters – from traditional measures such as brand, price and ratings as highlighted in our research, to additional special features such as guarantee lengths as well as design or material. Wilko has offered click and collect for some time but at the time of writing, this service was suspended, presumably because customers are already visiting stores so can buy in person rather than put extra stress on the store network. Instead, Wilko directs customers to its standard five working days delivery service, free when customers spend £100 or more, or its premium next-day service. It takes a few clicks to find help and support online but Wilko operates both phone and email communications, although it does warn that there may be up to a seven-day wait for a reply via email at the time of writing.
