Why click and collect is essential to your omnichannel strategy

Today's connected customer interacts physically and digitally, shopping whenever, wherever, and however. As customers head into an increasingly “digital-first” era, customer loyalty will hinge on a brand’s ability to deliver an omnichannel experience that seamlessly connects physical and eCommerce channels.

Click and collect, also known as Buy Online, Pick Up in Store (BOPIS), is essential to building an omnichannel strategy that drives customer loyalty and increases revenue. Barclays reports that 34% of retailers offering click and collect see an increase in sales. In this blog post, we'll show you why click-and-collect is essential to your omnichannel strategy.

Customers demand same-day delivery

Thanks to Amazon's 2-hour delivery window, same-day delivery has become a critical factor in gaining customer loyalty. 61% of consumers say that a two-hour delivery option would increase their loyalty.

Integrating click and collect in your omnichannel strategy allows you to offer same-day delivery and meet customer’s expectations for instant gratification. Customers make a purchase online and opt to pick up their items the same day in-store, from a locker or curbside.  When incorporating click and collect same-day delivery into your omnichannel strategy, here're a few things to keep in mind:

• Reduce wait times at pickup points by enabling customers to select a convenient pickup time window and notify them when their order is ready for pickup. With Localz collection for retail, you can automatically alert customers when their collection is ready.
  
  
• Provide customers with timely communication throughout the transaction and make the collection process fast and hassle-free with real-time messaging solutions. 
  
  
• Leverage location-based solutions to inform staff when customers are on their way to collect their orders and when they’ve arrived at the pickup point. This ensures items are ready for retrieval and reduces wait times. 

Click and collect allows you to leverage physical store space

As stores remain a focal point of digital transactions, click and collect provides you with the unique opportunity to leverage your physical store networks to enhance your omnichannel strategy. 

Fulfillment: Stores double as e-fulfillment centers that hold inventory for click and collect delivery. This allows you to take advantage of local store inventory to fill online orders while minimizing shipping costs.  

More pickup locations: Leveraging stores as click and collect points move order fulfillment closer to customers and allow you to provide more convenient locations for customers to pick up their online orders.

Gives e-commerce brands an offline presence: Pure play e-commerce brands can enhance their omnichannel fulfillment strategy by partnering with retail stores so customers can pick up items ordered online at local shops or lockers. This gives e-commerce brands an offline presence and relieves shoppers from waiting for packages.  

Shoppers spend more in-store: Click and collect drives more footfall to stores and provides an opportunity for you to make more sales. Over eight in ten shoppers buy additional items in-store when using click and collect.  When shoppers come to the store to pick up items ordered online, they can see and touch other goods and make impulse purchases. 

Contactless collection: With COVID-19 restrictions and social distancing rules still in place, click and collect enables you to leverage your store as pick-up locations and ensure contactless collection. With curbside pick-up, you can provide contactless collection as customers pick up their orders outside the store without leaving their vehicles. 

Overcome objections to shopping online 

Click and collect can help you eliminate objections that cause customers to abandon their shopping carts.

Customers can handle products: Click and collect gives customers the ability to see a product before taking it home. This increases their trust in buying from your online store. 

Lowered returns rate: Click and collect gives you a chance to reduce return rates by making sure that customers are happy with their order before leaving the store.

Fear of missing a delivery: Customers who work long hours can easily miss their delivery. Click and collect offers the convenience of online shopping without the fear of missed deliveries. Customers can pick up their purchases at their convenience.   

Reduces last-mile delivery costs: Last-mile delivery accounts for about 41% of overall supply chain costs and erodes profits. However, with click and collect, you get to reduce delivery costs. 

Zero delivery costs: Integrating click and collect in your omnichannel strategy allows you to offer customers free delivery and maintain profitability while reducing your last-mile delivery costs. You don't have to deliver parcels to customers using your delivery vehicles or a third-party logistics service.

Stores double as e-fulfillment centers: With click and collect, stores double as e-fulfillment centers that pick, pack and dispatch online orders. This costs less than delivering to customers from a fulfillment center. Target slashed about 90% of its delivery costs when customers ordered online and picked up at a store.

Consolidated residential deliveries: Click and collect enables you to leverage lockers to make multiple consolidated residential deliveries at a single location for pick up. This lowers costs as delivery is made to fewer locations.

Click and collect is here to stay 

With customers demanding connected experiences, click and collect is the new black and key to the success of your omni-channel strategy. When selecting technology to help you with your omni-channel process, include click and collect solutions. These solutions will help you optimize your omni-channel process and deliver a seamless shopping experience to your customers.