54% of European consumers using click-and-collect

More than half of consumers across Europe now use click-and-collect as their preferred delivery option for online orders, says new Forrester research.

Surveying over 15,000 adults from the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Spain, the research found that 54% of consumers prefer click-and-collect over other options when purchasing online.     

However, European consumers are becoming an increasingly expectant bunch. 59% of respondents say they anticipate their online orders being ready for collection from a store within an hour of purchase.

For British, Dutch, and French consumers, using click-and-collect “prevents wasted trips to stores” and removes the risk that the store could be out of stock of the item they want. For German, Italian, and Spanish online buyers, click-and-collect’s convenience comes from avoiding the hassle of having to pay in-store.

Click-and-collect is cited as a great method for encouraging customers to make additional purchases. The research promotes UK fashion retailer River Island for its success in this area, with 25% of click-and-collect customers making additional purchases when collecting from River Island stores. Indeed, 48% of Forrester’s survey respondents stated they would likely be influenced by special deals or discounts in-store.

In recent years, the increasing preference for click-and-collect has led to a number of strategic partnerships being made between retailers and pure-play ecommerce providers. Two years ago, for instance, eBay partnered with Argos to allow customers to collect their online bid wins from any of their 650 stores.

In return, Argos opened ‘test’ stores in a number of Sainsbury’s supermarkets last year, to cater for the increasing desire for click-and-collect.