Click & Collect: a guide (and how to integrate it into your e-commerce)

The Click & Collect delivery service (that is, pickup in store or at a pickup point other than the customer's home) can rightfully be counted among the most interesting and rapidly expanding e-commerce trends of 2023 among online shops, especially those with physical stores.

According to Statista's forecasts, Click & Collect turnover in Europe and the UK is expected to reach 45.1 billion euros by 2023, almost doubling from the estimated 26.7 billion euros in 2022.

In this article we'll explore how Click & Collect deliveries work and the best strategies currently used by some of the market's biggest brands.

We'll also talk about the benefits of this service, which can prove particularly profitable for achieving an optimized checkout process that's even more flexible and practical, able to improve the customer experience and increase conversions.

Here's the full table of contents. If you like, you can jump straight to the topic that interests you most.

• Click & Collect: what it is and how it works

• Benefits of adopting Click & Collect

• Winning examples of Click and Collect strategies

• How do I integrate Click & Collect into my e-commerce? Sendcloud + InPost

Click & Collect: what it is and how it works

Click & Collect (whose literal meaning is "click and collect") is a multichannel sales strategy that offers users the ability to buy online and collect the order at a physical store or a pickup point set up by the service.

It's one of the most advanced omnichannel sales systems because it lets every kind of digital store (from independent shops focused on the Italian market to brands that want to sell abroad) combine the strengths of physical and online channels.

This allows:

• the customer: to access the vast online catalog and buy at any time (24/7) in a more sustainable way;

• the company: to keep control over logistics processes, saving on shipping costs compared to home delivery.

Growth of Click and Collect turnover in selected European countries from 2013 to 2023 in billions of euros. (Source: Statista 2023)

How does Click & Collect work?

The process is quite simple:

1. just indicate at least one physical pickup point (for example, a store, a locker, etc.) at checkout, among your online store's delivery options.

2. If pickup at one of your stores is chosen, the store will check the availability of the goods at that location and send it the order to prepare.

3. If the item isn't present at the physical point, the store will notify the warehouse to start the shipment.

4. The customer will receive tracking notifications throughout the shipping process and, when the parcel is ready for pickup, will get the notice to go collect it.

5. The customer can conveniently collect the order (within a set number of days) during their daily movements.

To adopt this process in your shop, you can integrate in a few clicks a software to manage e-commerce shipments that also offers a sophisticated multi-carrier strategy.

Sendcloud, for example, provides e-commerce stores with a whole catalog of carriers and delivery options to choose from for every type of shipment (Click & Collect included), saving time and money on shipping operations.

Before understanding how you can integrate the Click & Collect option into your logistics process, though, let's understand why it's so advantageous for both retailers and consumers.

Types of delivery points

Here are the types of Click & Collect delivery and pickup points you can use for your business.

Lockers

Lockers are automated cabinets that are generally placed at everyday businesses (supermarkets, tobacconists, gas stations, etc.).

These out-of-home delivery points are among the most used and appreciated by e-commerce users thanks to the 24/7 pickup availability, the security of the service (they're often equipped with security cameras and their own lighting), and the convenience of their strategic, easily reachable location.

Poste Italiane offices / Punto Poste network

The Punto Poste network is made up of more than 13,000 pickup points (consisting of a variety of businesses) and 350 lockers across Italy and lets people collect online purchases, ship returns, and send prepaid parcels in total security.

Other pickup points

Tobacconists, cafés, stationery shops, newsstands, and shops affiliated with specialized postal or logistics services can be used as extremely practical local pickup points for users.

InPost

InPost is the ideal solution for merchants who want to offer their customers a simple, secure, and functional pickup experience, thanks to the vast network of lockers and pickup points distributed across Italy and Europe.

Born in Poland more than twenty years ago, InPost has now become the most important global operator when it comes to lockers, with 4,000 in Italy alone and more than 16,500 worldwide.

This operator is today one of the most affordable and sustainable delivery options on the market and gives consumers a secure pickup (and return) service, with no waiting and always available.

Also, its lockers have compartments in three different sizes (small, medium, large) depending on the dimensions of the items you sell.

Here's why to choose to rely on InPost:

• adding the InPost delivery option helps reduce the cart abandonment rate at checkout by 40%;

• InPost lockers lead to a 20% increase in businesses' sales after the first 4 months of use;

• if you ship more than 100 parcels a month, the shop saves on shipping and return costs (compared to other methods).

(Data taken from the InPost website).

Benefits of adopting Click & Collect

According to a 2022 Nielsen analysis, Click & Collect options have become extremely popular in France and the United States, a country where a 147% increase in orders of this type was recorded.

Why do a growing number of online shoppers choose not to receive parcels at home? Let's analyze in detail all the pros and conveniences offered by this innovation.

Benefits for retailers

The main benefits of Click and Collect for store managers are:

• Lower shipping costs: this delivery method simplifies last-mile logistics and can avoid, in some cases, resorting to carriers, thus letting you reduce (sometimes even eliminate) the costs associated with deliveries.

• Elimination of return/exchange costs: the buyer can make the return or exchange directly in the store, cutting the cost of returns logistics.

• Generating store traffic: by moving delivery to the physical store, the brand can develop its clientele, improve in-person relationships, and have staff carry out upselling and cross-selling techniques.

• Building the company image: consumers are increasingly attentive to the impact of their choices. Offering a green delivery alternative like Click & Collect fosters the perception that your e-commerce is sustainable and mindful of the well-being of the environment and people.

• Customer loyalty and greater customer retention: the practicality and flexibility of being able to collect items whenever you want without having to wait for the courier at home can lead to greater customer loyalty, as they'll return for the convenience of buying from your shop.

• Better customer experience: offering more delivery options means offering a more complete and personalized customer service than competitors. A satisfied customer is more likely to buy again and recommend your service/product to others, which can help increase your e-commerce sales.

In essence, this service lets even small stores compete with the big online platforms thanks to an asset the internet giants don't have: the chance to establish a positive personal relationship with customers and give them an exceptional shopping experience.

Benefits for buyers

Those who buy online choosing Click & Collect do so to get the following advantages:

• Savings on delivery costs (and greater speed): a Statista study shows that 47% of buyers use Click & Collect to save on shipping costs. This method, in fact, eliminates the steps that usually slow down delivery times, also because the product might already be available in the store's stock.

• Greater confidence in buying online: those less familiar with online shopping prefer to go to the store to avoid any problems related to home deliveries (delays, missed courier deliveries, fear of receiving the wrong or damaged order, etc.).

• Flexibility of the pickup option: if the consumer is always out, they'll hardly be able to receive the item at home. With Click & Collect they can collect the parcel at any time, avoiding queues and wasted time.

• The ability to try the product in store and possibly make a return or exchange simply and quickly.

• A green delivery experience: from an environmental-impact standpoint, Click & Collect at a single logistics point is more sustainable than door-to-door delivery because it saves fuel for transport vehicles, reduces city traffic, and therefore emits less fine particulate matter and noise pollution.

Winning examples of Click and Collect strategies

According to the results of a recent survey, it seems that, over the course of 2022, more than half of Millennial and Gen Z consumers in the United States chose Click and Collect as their preferred delivery type for their online purchases.

The fact that Click & Collect is a new market standard and not just a passing trend is also demonstrated by the fact that many large companies are investing more and more in integrating this strategy into their e-commerce checkout.

• Amazon: thanks to lockers placed in numerous corners of the city, it lets you collect and return products at any time.

• Asos: ships clothing to the customer's nearest physical store within three working days.

• eBay: associates a unique code with each pickup point to make correct parcel handling easier.

• H&M: lets you ship to the nearest store in 2-4 days and collect within 7 days of delivery for €4.99 (free for H&M Members on purchases over €30). The H&M site also offers delivery to Punto Poste and lockers across Italy at the same shipping price.

• Sephora: for all customers, delivery to one of the company's Beauty Stores via Click & Collect is completely free, with no minimum spend.

• Ikea: for €9.90, all customers can collect items bought online at a physical store within 7 days of the order.

In addition to adopting Click & Collect, the sector's biggest players very often invest in entire shipping automation systems.

Sendcloud, for example, is a shipping platform that lets you simplify and optimize the whole logistics system in a few clicks: from choosing the most convenient transport method among more than 25 carriers, to being able to create custom automation rules and automate return processes simply and quickly.

Book a free 15-minute demo to discover how Sendcloud works and whether it's right for you.

How do I integrate Click & Collect into my e-commerce? Sendcloud + InPost

To integrate Click & Collect into your e-commerce easily and effectively, rely on the out-of-home delivery leader InPost in partnership with Sendcloud, the most complete and advanced software for automating your shipments.

You just need to create an account and try the InPost integration (configurable in 5 minutes without a credit card).

The InPost integration with Sendcloud will let you:

• Connect all your sales channels (Amazon, eBay, Shopify, WooCommerce) to InPost with no limits.

• Manage the shipments, tracking, and returns of your orders in a single integrated platform or with the Sendcloud API integration;

• Manage InPost and 50+ other domestic and international carriers in a single interface with Sendcloud.

What are you waiting for? Create an account and try the InPost integration with Sendcloud free for 14 days.

Want to discover other useful guides and tips for your e-commerce? Start by taking a look at our articles on e-commerce marketing strategies. For example, discover how to do social commerce to build a community of loyal customers.