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Don’t keep click and collect customers waiting at peak

DeliveryX

Over the Black Friday many customers this year combined the online and the physical, using retailers’ websites to order goods which they could then pick up instore.
But despite this some retailers failed to ensure the experience was good enough for their shoppers, with disappointed customers turning to social media as a result.

Research by parcel locker company SwipBox , revealed a spike in complaints on social media over the Black Friday period from shoppers who felt like the click and collect service had let them down. Most common complaints included orders not arriving, not enough staff to help or unhelpful service when they were served. Such occurrences made shoppers question why they had bothered with the click and collect service and hadn’t just bought instore instead.

The research showed that customers were most likely to complain during the two peaks of lunchtime (12pm to 2pm) and evening (5pm to 9pm) suggesting that more needed to be done by retailers to meet peak collection periods.

But such complaints are more than just customers venting. Four out of ten posts from customers about their experience of click and collect included a warning that they would not use the service or shop with the retailer again as a result.

Additional research commissioned by SwipBox suggests that more than half of consumers now worry they will be kept waiting to pick up goods at collection points this Christmas.

Henrik Moos, founder of SwipBox, said retailers needed to do more to improve the service they offered. “There is no doubt that Click and Collect has a future in E-commerce, however right now, the retailer get all the benefits on the delivery side at the cost of convenience of the customers and that is not good enough,” he said.

“Retailers must urgently address the poor experience that customers are having in stores when collecting their Christmas shopping. In today’s competitive world of e-commerce, the delivery experience must be aligned with the ease of online shopping in order to sustain customer loyalty,” he said.


Image credit: Fotolia

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