With stage 4 lockdown now in force in Victoria, there is considerable more attention on click and collect given that it is noted in the lockdown provisions.
Click and collect is where a shopper purchases online and collects the purchase curbside or at a designated contactless collection point from the business.
Click and collect operates through websites, like Shopify, that are connected to the POS software of a business, thereby managing inventory through one dataset, eliminating duplicate work and ensuring accurate stock on hand data.
The even safer solution in stage 4 is home delivery whereby people purchase online and have the goods delivered, contactless, to their delivery point.
Smart newsagents have been offering online purchases, including click and collect, for years. I have been talking abut it for years here, at conferences and at workshops.
I first offered click and collect in my own newsagencies in 2015. It quickly became an important offer in each business, helping to attract folks who otherwise might not have shopped with the business, usually from another state but also locally when it comes to click and collect.
Click and collect allows someone to purchase at midnight, securing what they want, paying for it and having it ready for quick and safe collection the next day. It’s smart in that online shoppers have their wallets open when. online. It’s a race to the cash in many respects and offering click and collect, or delivery, is key to winning that business as convenience is paramount.
Today, I know of many newsagents operating click and collect through POS software connected Shopify sites. While some have WooCommerce (WordPress) sites and Magento sites, they are small in number, Shopify is the main game in town for many excellent reasons. Note: my view on Shopify is not personally commercial in that I use and have used all 3.
In this corona impacted 2020, having a click and collect offer is good disaster planning, it can provide the business a framework through which ti can continue to trade, which matters as the stage 4 regulations are showing.
The big challenge for newsagents is suppliers. Not all, but certainly plenty, make data feeds to online challenging. Suppliers need to be more organised with images, data feeds and more. There are others, like TheLott, that block online altogether.
Whether you like it or not, click and collect is here to stay. It is a core offering of any engaged retail business today. Start by talking to your software company. For anyone interested, I created an online questionnaire for retailers from my POS software company to help them work through their needs. Once you fill this in, it sends you your responses, for your own records and consideration.