Click & collect: a new place dedicated to omnichannel service
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Just because we are socially distancing, it does not mean we cannot dream up new ways of keeping in touch with consumers. Click & collect is one of the agile solutions that facilitate the shopping experience, and that perfectly encapsulates the ability of our shopping centers to adapt to the current circumstances.
"The Collect & Go solution will continue to gain popularity, in response to new consumer expectations for diverse formats and experiences."
The porosity between in-store and online shopping is nothing new. Retail has always adapted to meet consumer needs and their new shopping habits. Click & collect is a service that has really taken off during the COVID-19 crisis. After consulting the list of participating brands in their local shopping center, customers have two options for placing an order: Call & Collect for the ones who want to talk to a sales assistant by calling the store directly, or Click & Go for digital shoppers who can place their orders online, on the brands’ websites. In both cases, purchases are then collected from one of the previously selected pick-up location.
At Espaço Guimarães (Portugal), for example, four outdoor and underground car parks pick-up locations have been installed. Pick-up date and time are agreed with customers, and the purchases are delivered directly from their car, saving both delivery cost and time.
At Emporia (Sweden), a new service is available: fitting rooms for customers in all pick-up locations. So on receiving their purchases, they have the option to try on any new clothes and then to keep or return them immediatly. In the current circumstances, the retail sector has had to face a considerable logistical challenge, always with the goal of making the customer pathway as fluid as possible.
In France, Denmark and Sweden, many stores have taken steps to improve their customers’ shopping convenience and to maintain a vital human connection through the physical sales outlet. Klépierre expects that even after the pandemic, the Collect & Go solution will continue to gain popularity, in response to new consumer expectations for diverse formats and experiences and to retail’s needs to adapt, so the shopping experience will continue to mutate under both influences of physical and online offerings.