Click & Collect in the UK to grow to £10bn in 2023

The UK Click & Collect market is set to rise by 48.5% over the next five years to reach £9.8bn by 2023, but growth will slow as the fulfilment method matures and services offered by retailers are optimised.

According to new research from GlobalData, taken from its Click & Collect in the UK 2018 – 2023 report, the clothing & footwear sector is by far the largest within the Click & Collect channel, accounting for 59.9% of spend in 2018.

However while the method is popular, customer satisfaction is lower than that of home delivery. “Although 79.9% of click & collect users were satisfied with Click & Collect services in 2018, this is significantly lower than for home delivery, which stands at 89.5%," said GlobalData retail analyst Emily Salter.

“Retailers continue to introduce measures to meet rising consumer expectations for home delivery, such as offering same day services – led by online pureplays such as Amazon and ASOS. Next is one of the few multichannel retailers currently offering a click & collect proposition to rival the speed and cost of home delivery, through recently introducing free one hour collection in selected stores,” Salter added.

Offering Click & Collect can be of significant value to retailers as it drives footfall into stores where customers often buy additional items. According to GlobalData survey data, taken from its 2018 E-retail survey of 10,000 online shoppers, 39.2% of customers bought an additional item while collecting their last order.

However the percentage of customers buying extra items varies sector by sector with food & grocery items being the sector that more customers purchase an extra item from, due to the low prices and essential nature of many products, and presence in a range of stores.

One of the factors likely to slow the growth of Click & Collect is the closure of many high street stores, Salter said: “A number of factors will inhibit growth of the click & collect channel, including store closures. The growing number of retailers closing stores and implementing CVAs will reduce the availability of collection points, increasing usage of alternative delivery options.

"Additionally, delivery saver schemes encourage customers to predominantly use home delivery as express deliveries are included in the vast majority of schemes, driving up usage of express home delivery.”