UK click & collect sales to surge 55.6% by 2022

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jan 29, 2018

Already outpacing growth in the online retail channel, the UK click & collect market is forecast to increase by 55.6% over the next five years, but further progress is likely to be impaired by several factors, said a new study.

According to GlobalData’s latest report, click & collect sales will be worth £9.6bn and account for 13.9% of total online spend in 2022.

Clothing and footwear will be at the forefront of growth in the sector, driving click and collect sales across the UK as online sales continue to grow.

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However, GlobalData predicts that growth will slow as the market matures. Despite their rapid growth, click & collect sales are likely to suffer from shrinking store counts as retailers continue to close unprofitable stores in their battle to survive against the online channel. This will reduce the number of locations where consumers can collect their online purchases.

Additionally, retailers and parcel delivery companies are working to make home deliveries easier and cheaper. Asos and Amazon have already launched subscription-based delivery schemes and more retailers are likely to follow, matching click & collect’s convenient prices.

Parcel carrier Yodel has also recently launched a new collection service, giving consumers the opportunity to have their online returns picked up and delivered back to the retailer.

Charlotte Pearce, Retail Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Click & collect sales will become increasingly threatened as delivery saver schemes become more widely available and retailers continue to extend their choice of fulfilment options.

“Retailers must ensure that their click & collect propositions are competitive in terms of price and/or threshold as well as speed of delivery into stores. This will help to drive footfall into stores and encourage additional spend at the retailer.”

Click & collect user satisfaction fell 11.2 percentage points last year, dropping from 89.6% in 2016 to 78.4% in 2017, said GlobalData. Long queues within stores and complicated collection points may be to blame, while new fulfilment options, such as same-day delivery and third-party pickup, start to emerge as more convenient options for shoppers.

“Retailers which do offer click & collect must invest in their service to reduce pain points in the customer journey, such as long queue times. John Lewis and Zara are examples of two retailers that are trying to improve the process through the use of technology. Not only will these retailers be able to reduce queues within stores, but this will also help to free up valuable staff,” said Pearce.