How to make your Click&Collect strategy effective ?

The concept is simple: reserve a product online (click) before going to the store to pick it up (collect). Integrating this shopping experience into your sales strategy can be a real asset to meet the needs of a generation of consumer. 

Dans la logique du cross canal ou de l’omnicanal, les clients veulent bénéficier de tout ce qu’ils ont à portée de main pour faire leurs achats et désirent alors créer leurs propres passerelles entre le magasin physique et internet, sur le web ou le mobile. Le Click & Collect se définit alors comme une alliance entre le e-commerce et les commerces de proximité pour satisfaire le client.

Using cross channel or omnichannel methods, customers want to benefit from everything they have at hand to make their purchases and want to create their own gateways between physical stores and the internet, web or mobile. Click & Collect is defined as an alliance between e-commerce and local shops to satisfy the customer. 

What is it ? 

The customer orders online and then picks up the order in the store. But he can't pick up his order wherever he wants. This is what differentiates Click & Collect from in-store pick-up. 

§  In-store pickup allows the customer to order online and choose where to pick up their order (relay point, physical store, etc.). On the company's side, there are therefore stock movements after the customer's order: to make sure that the product is available where the customer wants it. The customer pays online and only has to go and pick up their order within the deadline. 

§  Click & Collect only makes visible to the customer where the product is available. There is no movement of stock after the order to satisfy the customer. One could consider this method of purchase as an online reservation. The customer views where the product is located, "reserves" it (click) and pays in-store (collect). 

The Click & Collect process takes place in a very short time. The company must therefore know in real timewhat it has in stock to satisfy the customer. 

Set up an efficient Click & Collect service

The effective implementation of a Click & Collect service allows to optimize omnichannel strategy. It allows you to personalize the customer's journey so that they have a unique experience adapted to their desires and availability. It also allows to multiply customer's distribution choices: home delivery, relay point, Drive, Click & Collect, etc.

The company must be able to manage stocks and sales in real time. It must ensure visibility on the availability of products in store and real-time synchronization of inventory information between the e-commerce site (what the customer sees) and the inventory (what the store sees). 

The key is to be able to quickly respond to the customer's request. The implementation of a new service must not disrupt the customer's purchasing path, the risk being creating confusion and disrupting other distribution channels.