Click-and-collect as a retail service model

Click-and-collect is a service promise: customers order remotely and receive goods at a collection point. Quality depends on whether the order is ready, complete and easy to hand over at the promised time. A pick-up option at checkout is only one part of the design.

Define the service

Decide which products qualify, where stock will be picked, which collection windows can be offered and how customers will know the order is ready. A collection point might be a store desk, car bay or locker. Each needs suitable staffing, space and access.

A clear service description answers four questions: Can I collect the items I want? When may I come? Where exactly do I go? What happens if an item is unavailable? An order confirmation should not be mistaken for a message that the goods are ready.

Retailers commonly send an order confirmation immediately, then a separate ready-for-collection message once picking is complete. Treating the two as the same message is a frequent source of customer frustration.

The pick-up method depends on the selected store: a car bay, a temperature-controlled locker or a service desk. Collection hours, slots and any faster options vary by location. Coles, for example, publishes help pages on placing a Click & Collect order, pick-up instructions and substitutions.

Decide whether to cap the number of items in an order or to restrict cancellations and changes once an order is placed. Publish any such conditions before the customer confirms. Conditions of this kind differ between retailers and say nothing about how well a service performs.

Plan for exceptions

Online stock may differ from what a picker finds. Decide whether to offer a substitute, remove an item or ask the customer to choose. Where possible, tell the customer about a change before handover.

Substitution rules need to be explicit: whether a customer may allow or decline substitutes; whether that choice applies to individual items or the whole order; and how the price of an unavailable item is handled. The service description should make clear that customers are not charged for items not supplied, without implying a suitable substitute will always be found.

Late arrivals, uncollected orders and returns also need clear owners and customer instructions. Set a holding period and a way to get help. Check eligibility separately for products needing special handling or subject to collection restrictions.

Measure reliability and cost

For a proposed service review, record the share of orders ready by the promised window, the share supplied as ordered, handover waiting time, cancellations and customer contacts. Examine results by location and time of day. A network average can hide a pick-up point with limited space or staff capacity.

Compare fulfilled-order value with picking, packing, storage, handover and exception-handling costs. Include any effect on walk-in service when staff and stock serve both groups. More collection orders may add little new retailer revenue if customers have moved an existing shop to online ordering.

A limited trial should have a defined range, collection points, promised windows and success measures. Review orders against those promises before extending the offer. The decision is whether collection is reliable and worthwhile for a particular customer task, not how many stores display a pick-up option.

Performance Metrics for Click-and-Collect Reliability