Consumers want to use click-and-collect (WMT)

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More than half of US consumers report using click-and-collect services, which is when a customer orders a product online and picks it up in-store, according to a survey from ICSC. And 61% of click-and-collect users take advantage of such offerings frequently, with 47% using them more now than a year ago.

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Almost half of respondents (48%) would use click-and-collect even if online delivery would get them the product faster or if same-day delivery was guaranteed. This finding, emailed to Business Insider Intelligence by ICSC, suggests that many consumers see value in click-and-collect beyond speed. This is backed up by the fact that 85% of shoppers are willing to wait one day for an in-stock product to be ready for pickup, and 70% will wait two days for an out-of-stock product.

Speed is only consumers’ second-most cited reason (40%) for using click-and-collect, as it provides other important values too:

• The most popular reason consumers use click-and-collect is because there are no delivery fees. Almost half (49%) of respondents cited this as their top reason for using click-and-collect. This means that BOPIS may have particular appeal to price-conscious consumers. Retailers should work to offer deals on pickup orders — whether they’re similar to Walmart’s pickup discounts, which can directly lower items’ prices, or some other kind of promotion — as they could drive further sales and loyalty. And merchants should be able to afford these discounts since BOPIS helps them save on last-mile delivery.
• One-third of respondents picked the guarantee that a product would be in-store when they make the trip, allowing them to better plan shopping visits. BOPIS guarantees that a product will be ready for pickup at a set time, and that confidence can be attractive to consumers. Additionally, it enables consumers to only go to a store when a product they need will be there. And considering 94% of consumers plan to make an additional purchase when picking up orders, it appears that BOPIS can be the catalyst for a larger visit, making it even more valuable to retailers.