Omnichannel retailing is about providing a seamless consumer shopping experience across every platform. Consumers are now using all channels to research products, find the best prices and make their purchases in the way that’s most convenient to them. Recent results from Argos proves that its click-and-collect initiative, allowing consumers to reserve a product online and collect in-store, is the key to growing sales.
Argos was the first retailer to really push the click-and-collect concept and recent results show the impact it is making on the business. Online sales now account for 43% of revenues, forecast to grow to 50% in the next 2 years, with nearly one in three purchasers using click-and-collect.
John Lewis and Next are amongst other retailers to benefit from offering this integrated service, with analysts suggesting that in future, many retailers should turn their shops into showrooms and distribution points for their online operations.
Click-and-connect is an opportunity for retailers to improve their customers’ shopping experience, creating a truly integrated digital and in-store consumer experience. However according to a recent report from ExperienceLab, click-and-connect is currently offered by less than half of the top 50 UK retailing brands.
As the use of smartphones and online continues to increase, along with consumers becoming more confident in using these technologies to shop, an omnichannel offering will become an increasingly critical service for any large retailer.
Key findings and recommendations for retailers from Click and Collect: Customer Experience Report 2013:
- Develop an omnichannel customer experience
- Deliver a customer-centric shopping experience
- Promote click-and-collect
- Offer alternative collection points
- Speed up delivery times
- Make it a free service and promote its advantages
- Make the collect experience as intuitive as possible
- Make returns simple and free of charge
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