What Is Click And Collect?

Date First Published: 13th September 2023

Topic: Computer Networking

Subtopic: Network Services

Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty: Easy

Difficulty Level: 3/10

CONTENTS

Are Registry Cleaners Recommended?

Learn about what click and collect is in this article.

Click and collect is a method of selling products online where a customer buys or orders goods from the store's website and picks them up in the store. Click and collect is a hybrid method of shopping as it provides both an online and physical shopping experience. This ecommerce model is becoming more and more available in stores, particularly supermarkets.

Types Of Click and Collect

The three most common types of click and collect are:

In-store click and collect - The customer buys or orders goods online and collects them at a physical store. This method is sometimes known as 'buy online, pickup in store'.
Curbside pickup - The customer buys or orders goods online and then drive to the store. A staff member directly hands the goods to the vehicle, which is useful for customers who do not want to enter a physical store.
Third-party click and collect - The customer buys or orders goods online and pick up their orders at a collection point run by third-party providers.

Advantages and Disadvantages Of Click And Collect

The advantages of click and collect are:

Customers do not have to wait for items to be delivered. Instead, they can order the item online and then go to the store and pick up their item. This is much faster and can lead to higher customer satisfaction as items can be damaged when delivered.
It is less expensive for retailers as there are no shipping costs.
It is more flexible than home delivery. Customers can collect it at a time and date that suits them, unlike home delivery, which is often delivered at a fixed date and time and can be delayed. Customers also do not have to worry about parcels being left outside their door whilst they are away from home.

The disadvantages of click and collect are:

It still requires customers to travel to the physical store, so there are travel costs for the customer.
When arriving at the store, customers often have to wait in long queues to collect their items, unlike home delivery.
It requires more store resources for retailers, like staff to handle the orders to customers, increasing business costs.