Home delivery firm ParcelHero has urged retailers to suspend their Click & Collect fees this Christmas, stressing that offering free collection services will drive footfall to stores in December.
It argues in-store Click & Collect is a key tool to encourage shoppers back to the High Street, so charging for the service is a false economy. The courier price comparison site called Click & Collect fees “pure penny-pinching”.
To Click & Collect at House of Fraser customers will be charged £4.99. While, many UK retailers place a minimum spend on collection services:
- John Lewis: £2.50 (free for orders over £30)
- Urban Outfitters: £2 (free for orders over £30)
- New Look: £1.99 (free for orders over £19.99)
- The White Company: £3.50 (free for orders over £50)
“Retailers large and small are guilty of missing the bigger picture by charging their customers extra to pick up items they have pre-ordered online,” said David Jinks, ParcelHero’s head of consumer research.
“They are losing out on vital footfall and any impulse buys customers may make on their way to the collection point. Some retailers’ Click & Collect charges can be quite significant, while others are so minimal that they beg the question, why bother?
“Retailers who continue to charge for pickups in their own stores are misguided. Our High Streets need as much encouragement as possible, particularly with consumer confidence so low. Continuing to charge customers for the “privilege” of visiting stores to pick up an item they have already ordered seems at best arrogant and, at worst, downright foolhardy.”
Argos, Currys, Harvey Nichols, M&S, Pets at Home, Selfridges and Zara are some of the retailers offering free Buy Online, Pick Up in Store (BOPUS) options.
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