Company News • 05.04.2017

Click & Collect: the future of online grocery shopping

Smart services and techniques are constantly improving the customer experience

Click & Collect is a smart solution for both busy shoppers and profit-seeking retailers. It solves many of the problems that have prevented online shopping for groceries from taking off, such as costly deliveries and the small range of available products.

E-commerce has made shopping convenient, and smarter services and techniques are constantly improving the customer experience. Today, 75 percent of buyers in Western Europe use the Internet to purchase goods and services. So far, the most common process is to order a product and get it delivered at home. However, that is rarely the most convenient solution. The risk is that the delivery takes place when the customer is not at home, which means that the distributor must either find a new time or leave the goods at the Post office – solutions that can be inconvenient for customers and expensive for distributors. Click & Collect is therefore often a better option for both retailers and customers. With Click & Collect, customers order online and pick up their purchases in lockers, placed at convenient locations such as shops, supermarkets, post offices and public transportation stations.

Supplier
Logo: StrongPoint

StrongPoint

Schießstrasse 35
40549 Düsseldorf
Germany
Photo: Click & Collect: the future of online grocery shopping...
Source: Strongpoint

Maximising the number of deliveries

Andrew Starkey, head of e-Logistics at IMRG, an organisation based in the UK that frequently publishes studies on online retail, says that the click-and-collect increase is about proximity. “Shoppers will only use click-and-collect if the collection location is close to home or on a regularly travelled route. It also requires that the customers can combine the pick-up with other ‘high street’ activity.”

Starkey says that markets with large commuter populations and dense populations, such as France and the UK, will move faster to the click-and-collect solutions than other markets.

“It’s all about maximising the number of deliveries to the largest percent of population through the optimal number of locations,” he explains.

Supply, convenience and price

Already, more than half of customers across Europe use click-and-collect as their preferred delivery option for online orders, according to a Forrester study. However, Click & Collect is not yet that popular for grocery shopping. According to a report from McKinsey and Company, the reason is that customers are not willing to sacrifice the price, quality, or range of products that they have grown accustomed to in the supermarket.

Supply, convenience and price are the most important drivers for e-commerce. Families in Western Europe are often pressed for time, and could, if done the right way, welcome an alternative to pushing a shopping cart around in a crowded supermarket. But they also have a lot of activities to run to and don’t want to tie themselves down to having to be at home for a delivery. Especially since most deliveries work in slots, which means you have to book a whole evening for your weekly groceries.

“Families have less and less time. Often both parents work and weekdays and weekends are filled with activities. There is simply no time for shopping. Or staying at home to wait for a delivery, when the time slot is a range between six and ten in the evening. Some people find that solution convenient, but others don’t. This is where click-and-collect collect comes in. It is the solution for today’s modern families,” says Ove Teigen, Global Product Director Click & Collect at Strongpoint.

The expensive last mile drives the move towards click-and-collect

The McKinsey study points out that Europe’s online-grocery market has been stuck in a vicious cycle: poor supply drives low demand, which in turn justifies the poor supply. Also, retailers are put off by the economics of the business: selling groceries online means taking on additional costs in labour, delivery vehicles and fuel. These costs are typically higher than the fees customers are willing to pay for deliveries, so the retailers have to take these costs today. In countries such as France and the UK, the time it takes to for a truck to move around busy cities combined with fuel cost is very expensive. And in Scandinavia, having truck drivers is a huge personnel cost. In the near future, that cost will have to be charged to the customers.

But according to the McKinsey study, click-and-collect will result in as much as a 30 percent cut in cost, which makes the investment much more viable for retailers.

“A common rule of thumb that almost always applies is that the last mile is the highest cost. That last mile is avoided with the click-and-collect system. So Click & Collect opens up for the possibility for profitable and convenient online shopping in the grocery segment as well,” Teigen says.

Click-and-collect- advantages for the customer

  • Convenience
  • Saves costs
  • Guarantee for safe handling of groceries
  •  Avoid the risk of making your way to a grocery store, only to realise that the product you want to purchase is out of stock

Click-and-collect- advantages for the retailer

  • Many deliveries to the same location. Many consumers pick up their groceries from the same place.
  • Ensures the right environment for the groceries, for example, the right temperature
  • Smart solutions that integrate the retailer storage and logistics centre with what is stored in the lockers.
  • Click & Collect is a great method for encouraging customers to make additional purchases

related articles:

popular articles:

Thumbnail-Photo: Save costs with modern technologies
02.01.2023   #retail #Tech in Retail

Save costs with modern technologies

Turning physical stores into digital assets – 30,000 retail stores worldwide already rely on digital IoT solutions

Retail is at the heart of our lives and societies, as it represents more than 20% of global GDP and 15% of jobs. With consumers changing their shopping habits, stores must now reinvent themselves and leverage new technologies to stay relevant in ...

Thumbnail-Photo: Automated Storage and Retrieval System by KNAPP...
28.02.2023   #EuroShop #iXtenso videos

Automated Storage and Retrieval System by KNAPP

Interview with Matthias Kurz

For smart stores and 24-7 shopping offers for customers, KNAPP is presenting an Automated Storage and Retrieval System at EuroShop 2023, hall 11 / booth C57. ...

Thumbnail-Photo: Unieuro Italy: Success with digital price tags...
07.03.2023   #Tech in Retail #omnichannel

Unieuro Italy: Success with digital price tags

Distributor of consumer electronics and household appliances uses ESL technology from Delfi

More than 40 Unieuro stores in Italy are now using the Breece System with the cloud-based ESL (electronic shelf labels) solution from Delfi Technologies – a European IT company. ...

Thumbnail-Photo: Hobro Vinhandel digitizes the store with electronic price tags...
09.12.2022   #digitization #Tech in Retail

Hobro Vinhandel digitizes the store with electronic price tags

Danish wine merchant invests in electronic price tags from Delfi Technologies and a new checkout system

The local wine shop in Hobro (Denmark) has existed for more than 10 years. A growth journey is underway, including a full digitizationof the store. Going from writing price tags in hand to a fully digital solution with a complete overview of and ...

Thumbnail-Photo: EuroShop 2023: GLORY with new CASHINFINITYT
24.02.2023   #epos systems #payment systems

EuroShop 2023: GLORY with new CASHINFINITYT

The payment expert will be presenting the new CASHINFINITY™ generation CI-X

At EuroShop from 26 February to 2 March 2023, GLORY will be showcasing solutions that are both future-proof and holistic – technologies that help retailers meet current and future challenges in various areas, from the checkout zone to the back ...

Thumbnail-Photo: EuroShop 2023 – Are autonomous stores the future of retail?...
05.12.2022   #brick and mortar retail #digitization

EuroShop 2023 – Are autonomous stores the future of retail?

Checkout-free stores: Ringing in the changes

The digitalisation of the retail industry, which has been advancing at a rapid pace in recent years, has also led to equipping physical stores with more and more technological intelligence. ...

Thumbnail-Photo: HimmerLand is growing and has digital ambitions...
24.01.2023   #digitization #Tech in Retail

HimmerLand is growing and has digital ambitions

Luxury resort HimmerLand in Denmark uses digital signs to communicate with guests

In North Jutland (Denmark) you will find the luxurious resort HimmerLand, which is known for its golf facilities, spa, different activities and gastronomy. The resort is on a major growth journey, where padel courts, new hotel rooms and a ...

Thumbnail-Photo: Open app, call fitting room, try on
04.01.2023   #online trading #e-commerce

Open app, call fitting room, try on

Amazon sets on the fashion niche with Amazon Style with all-modern technology

Online? Offline? Omnichannel! That's what customers are often calling for these days. Even e-commerce veteran Amazon hears the calls from afar and, after its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores in the grocery sector including self- and seamless ...

Thumbnail-Photo: Green retail technologies from Hanshow
01.03.2023   #sustainability #electronic shelf labels (ESL)

Green retail technologies from Hanshow

Interview with Sally Liang, Head of Hanshow Europe

Improving store operations, reducing waste and saving energy are important goals for many companies and retailers. Hanshow presents many technological solutions at EuroShop 2023 in hall 6 at booth F03 that help achieve those ambitions. ...

Thumbnail-Photo: „YOUnifying Experiences“ with Toshiba
22.02.2023   #omnichannel #customer experience

„YOUnifying Experiences“ with Toshiba

At EuroShop 2023, Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Presents its Suite of Retail Solutions Delivering ‘YOUnifying Experiences’

EuroShop 2023 attendees are invited to visit Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions in Hall 6, Booth C41, from February 26 through March 2, 2023. The company will showcase how retailers can scale and reimagine the shopper experience through Toshiba's ...

Supplier

SALTO Systems GmbH
SALTO Systems GmbH
Schwelmer Str. 245
42389 Wuppertal
ARNEG S.p.A.
ARNEG S.p.A.
Via Venezia, 58
35010 Marsango di Campo San Martino/PD
Delfi Technologies GmbH
Delfi Technologies GmbH
Landgraben 75
24232 Schönkirchen
Axis Communications GmbH
Axis Communications GmbH
Adalperostraße 86
85737 Ismaning
Saint-Gobain Glass Deutschland GmbH
Viktoriaallee 3
52066 Aachen
Zebra Technologies Europe Limited
Zebra Technologies Europe Limited
Mollsfeld 1
40670 Meerbusch
Captana GmbH
Captana GmbH
Bundesstraße 16
77955 Ettenheim
Citizen Systems Europe GmbH
Citizen Systems Europe GmbH
Otto-Hirsch-Brücken 17
70329 Stuttgart
Innovative Technology Ltd.
Innovative Technology Ltd.
Innovative Business Park
OL1 4EQ Oldham
MAGO S.A.
RUSIEC ALEJA KATOWICKA 119/121
05-830 Nadarzyn