More than a third of click-and-collect shoppers experience issues

During the festive period, more than a third (36 percent) of click-and-collect shoppers experienced issues with their orders, according to the second annual JDA/Centiro Christmas Customer Pulse report, conducted online by YouGov.

Customers stated a number of issues with their click-and-collect orders including 31 percent who complained that there wasn’t a dedicated area in-store to pick up their purchases, while 31 percent stated long waiting times due to lack of in-store staff, and 24 percent reported staff being unable to, or taking a long time to locate items in-store.

The report also found that overall, online orders impacted retailers over the festive period, with 33 percent of online Christmas shoppers stating that they had experience issues with their purchases, an increase from 31 percent in 2014. Shoppers cited a number of problems including suffering late deliveries, never receiving their goods and missing deliveries.

Due to this poor online shopping experience during the festive period, around three-quarters expressed that they would be likely to shop with an alternative retailer next Christmas as a result.

Jason Shorrock, vice president of retail strategy at JDA, said: “While online retail continues to see unprecedented growth in the UK, Christmas shoppers continued to be plagued with problems concerning their online orders. While issues with home deliveries are nothing new, more worrying for many retailers is that this Christmas exposed cracks in their ‘click and collect’ operations.

“Shoppers are showing a growing preference for ‘click and collect’ as it offers them the convenience they crave and it is vital that retailers get it right. However, without the effective management of staff, stores and inventory, retailers risk damaging customer relationships. Ironically, at a time when the online channel continues to grow, the in-store experience is becoming ever more important. As the survey findings show, today’s online customer has no qualms about taking their business elsewhere if retailers don’t meet their expectations.”

Click-and-collect continues to grow in popularity

Despite the issues over the Christmas period, the report also reveals that a growing number of online Christmas shoppers (41 percent) opted to use click-and-collect services this festive season, compared to 39 percent in 2014. Additionally, of those surveyed that used click-and-collect this Christmas, nearly 1 in 4 said that they would do so again next Christmas.

The reasons for shoppers using click-and-collect includes to avoid delivery charges and that it was more convenient than home delivery. In addition, a quarter of online Christmas shoppers said they chose to shop specifically with a retailer that offered click-and-collect over one that solely offered home delivery.

Image: John Lewis click-and-collect