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Study on Retail Click and Collect Consumer Preferences: More customers buy online and pick up in store, make impulse purchases on-site

17.05.2017
According to a recent study, click and collect is becoming increasingly more popular. In order to meet customers' needs and expectations, retailers seeks for ways to make click and collect more efficient. Key compenent in efficiency is automation. Thus there is a need for automated parcel delivery options, including automated parcel terminal, on the market.

Read more about the study below.

Durham, N.C., May 15, 2017 – During the 2016 holiday season, nearly a third of shoppers purchased products online and subsequently picked them up at a store. This practice – known as “click and collect” or “buy online pick up in store” (BOPUS) – is the subject of a new study. The “2017 Click and Collect Retail Consumer Preference Study” reveals consumers’ preferences and behaviors when it comes to this practice.

As part of the study, more than 530 consumers were randomly selected from across the United States to report on their click-and-collect experiences. Among other things, the study was designed to understand the prevalence of consumers’ use of click and collect. Furthermore, participants also shared what’s important to them during a click-and-collect experience.

Key Findings

  • More than 70 per cent of respondents identified themselves as experienced click-and-collect shoppers (i.e., had used this option in the previous 12 months).
  • When asked to select the most important attribute of a click-and-collect experience, respondents replied with the following:
    • Quick in-and-out experience – 56 per cent
    • No waiting in line – 22 per cent
    • Ease of locating pickup location – 14 per cent
    • Dedicated pickup counter – 9 per cent
    • Designated parking spots – 5 per cent
  • Saving on shipping charges was the key driver (76 per cent) when selecting click and collect. However, needing the item that day (54 per cent) and proximity to another store the respondents were going to (50 per cent) were also important.
  • Speed was once again the consistent theme, as 83 per cent expected to hear back within 24 hours after placing an order online that their item is ready for pickup. Nearly 60 per cent expected to hear within the first four hours.
  • When asked where they preferred to pick up their purchases, 56 per cent indicated inside at the front of the store, 21 per cent preferred curbside pickup, and only eight per cent selected the back of the store.
  • Eighty per cent expected to be able to pick up their item in under 10 minutes from the time they enter the store, with 27 per cent expecting it to be less than four minutes.
  • Of note to retailers, 49 per cent of respondents said they were likely to purchase an additional item some of the time when picking up their online order.
  • When asked to rate specific attributes of an excellent click-and-collect experience, respondents gave their highest marks to the following:
  1. Filling the order accurately and in time
  2. Items ready at the pickup counter
  3. Store associates know how to process orders quickly
  4. Clear signage for pickup location
  5. Dedicated pickup counter
“Currently, a small portion of total purchases are completed through click and collect, but it is growing in use, with 49 per cent of Americans trying it for the first time in 2016,” said Haroon Abbu, Ph.D., who led this research. “Implementing click and collect makes sense for retailers, as they are providing a service that is increasing in popularity, and that can help drive more impulse purchases when customers pick up their items. However, retailers should focus on creating a winning in-store experience by enabling what matters most to click-and-collect consumers: speed, convenience and timely communication.”

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Tarmo Tamm

Chief Sales Officer


E-mail: [email protected]