Omni-channel has reached the consumer and the availability as well as the use of classic omni-channel features has skyrocketed in recent years. Not without reason. Deloitte reports that omni-channel users in 2015 were willing to spend 75% more on Christmas sales than other consumers and Forrester Research, that in 2015 42 percent of online shoppers had already used click & collect. A good reason to take a closer look at recent studies and question given numbers on the example of click & collect.

Still much potential for click & collect

A recent study by Deloitte shows a slightly different picture. On the one hand it confirms the high interest in click & collect, but on the other hand also reveals untapped potential. Many consumers are still reluctant to actually use click & collect. According to the study, 26% of consumers in the UK would like to use click & collect, but only 8% currently do. In the US the ratio is a little better (25 to 15 percent) and the German market is lagging behind somewhat, but has a relatively high rate for current usage of click & collect services.

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As it turns out the reluctance of consumers is not without reason. Many retailers do not have their omni-channel processes straightened out and according to recent studies about 30 to 40% of orders run into problems such as

• ordered and already paid goods are not in stock at pickup in store
• wrong items are delivered for pick-up in store
• the pick-up counter in the store is not recognizable for customers or part of the regular checkout line
• long queues at the pick-up counter
• no employee is responsible for or able to solve problems with click & collect orders in the store.

So the problem often can be attributed to failures in the implementation and deployment of omni-channel processes. Those problems often only get revealed on peak times and so unsurprisingly 60% of customers in the US reported problems with click & collect orders on Cyber ​​Monday in 2015.

Customer expectations for click & collect

It is worth to take a look at the reasons for using click & collect. Avoiding shipping costs, convenience and rapid availability of the products are the most common answers here.

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This shows the importance of coordination with other omni-channel processes such as Same Day Delivery or displaying current stock levels on the website. So whether certain services support each other or could easily be substituted has to be planned carefully and individually.