Some 36 per cent of UK click-and-collect shoppers experienced issues when ordering products during the Christmas period, according to the JDA/Centiro Christmas Customer Pulse annual report.
The study, carried out by YouGov, found that the biggest complaint (31 per cent) among respondents was the store not having a dedicated area for click-and-collect customers, while 31 per cent said that stores were not appropriately staffed to deal with them. Being made to wait too long or staff not being able to locate the product were other issues for 24 per cent of respondents.
Commenting on the results, 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."
Despite the problems presented, click-and-collect continues to grow in popularity for shoppers due to its convenience. "However, without the effective management of staff, stores and inventory, retailers risk damaging customer relationships," added Shorrock.
Some 41 per cent of UK shoppers used the click-and-collect format in the Christmas period, up from 39 per cent in 2014. One quarter of those said that they planned to use it again in 2016. Avoiding delivery charges and convenience were the main reasons cited for its appeal.
For regular online shopping, 33 per cent said that they experienced problems, and 77 per cent said that they planned to use a different retailer in 2016 due to a poor online Christmas shopping experience.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by John Golden. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
