Click and...WAIT FOR IT...Collect?

Imagine.

CLICK........

A sexy website. A great brand. A superb product range. Half a dozen clicks and a few minutes later you’ve bought exactly what you want. You print your order confirmation or save your email. You just need to go and collect it. That’s all. Just collect it. Just. What a service! Top marks for Customer Experience; 100%.

WAIT FOR IT.........

You drive. You hit traffic. You try to park. No space. You enter the store glad that you’ve bought from a great brand with a sexy website and a superb product range because the service will be the same in-store. Won’t it?

Where do you go? No idea. Down to 90%. You try to find someone who can help you. No-one about. Down to 80%. You are directed to the main till bank. ...OK.... You look around for some sign that they know you are there to collect what you’ve already bought. There is none. 80%. You ask at the till and are told to join the back of the queue. Surely not? 70%. There are 5 people in front of you, all with stuff to buy. 60%. There is only one person serving. 50%. You wait 10 minutes to reach the front. 40%. You hand over your order confirmation and they disappear for 5 minutes. 30%. You’re frustrated. The traffic is their fault; the parking is their fault. 20%. They finally return with your order.

COLLECT. Let’s hope it’s what you ordered....!

Net Promoter Score – low. Customer Delight Index – low. Any other customer satisfaction metric – low. Result – you will tell between 9 and 15 other people about your experience. You may be one of the 13% that will tell more than 20*.

Now imagine.

You’ve CLICKED.

What day suits you to collect? Wednesday afternoon. You’re free, the traffic will be lighter and the parking will be easier. Through online booking, you tell the store that you will be in then. Seamless.

You arrive in store. Clear signage directs you to a specific area designed just for you. A kiosk with branded messaging allows you to let them know you have arrived and confirming what you are there to collect. You receive an instant text message telling you that they will be ready for you in 10 minutes and inviting you to browse the store. Your service number is included. There’s even a link showing you, real-time, where you are up to. The area is calm and ordered.

You pick up a couple of items just as you receive a text telling you to go to the service desk. Your service number is clearly displayed on a screen as you enter confirming that you are next. You go to the counter where you are personally greeted by a friendly member of staff, you produce your identification and you are handed your order. You pay for the items you have picked up en route and you leave. Just before you exit the area completely you leave your feedback on the touch-screen – smiley face. Customer Experience still 100%. Still seamless.

COLLECT. PLUS.

Customer satisfaction metric – high. Sales – increased. Result – you will probably tell between 4 and 6 other people about your experience. Customer loyalty can be worth up to 10 times as much as a single purchase*.

The technology to deliver this seamless Click and Collect experience is here and now. Retailers need to take a firm hold of their online to offline strategy and implement this kind of technology now rather than waiting until their entire store of the future is capable of being delivered. Many a Retailer has gone out of business by not responding to the needs of their customers quickly enough and as the saying goes, “he who hesitates is lost.”

* Source: The White House Office of Consumer Affairs, Washington DC.