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Research finds more speed and convenience are required to satisfy multichannel out-of-town consumers

Around 44% of shoppers purchasing online from do-it-yourself (DIY) and ‘out-of-town’ retail brands are choosing to collect their goods rather than have them delivered according to new research commissioned by retail communications specialist, Quail Digital.

Of those that do collect, convenience was cited as the main motivation for collecting (by 47% of respondents), considerably ahead of cost saving (17%) and not being tied to a delivery time (13%). Among the least important factors was the ability to buy additional items.

Quick, cheap and expedient 

In addition, the traditional male stereotype of disliking shopping seems to be borne out with men rating having goods ready and quick transaction with store staff as their top priorities, although they also rated the ability to ask questions and get advice as important.

According to the gender breakdown in the research, some female shoppers also rated cost saving and not being tied to a specific delivery time as key reasons for choosing to collect their goods.

But when arriving at the collection point, having the goods ready for collection was by far the most important criteria with 67% of respondents rating this as the number one priority.

Flawless execution required

“Click & collect, or click-pay-and-collect, is very popular,” said Tom Downes, Quail Digital chief executive. “But execution needs to be thought through. Our research shows that customers want to pick up their orders quickly and without queuing, and ideally, have their goods loaded into their cars.” 

He added: “If DIY and other out-of-town retailers want to encourage more take up of click & collect they could consider the drive-thru model, where operators have fine-tuned fulfiment of car-bound order taking. With a combination of order points and headsets, store staff are pre-alerted to customer’s arrival, with wireless headset communication maximising the prep time to expedite orders from storage areas and getting them into the hands of the customer efficiently.”

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