Like most people I think that click and collect provides an excellent way of picking things up when you want to rather than having to stay at home waiting for a van to arrive.  But have you noticed how big retailers are missing a trick when you collect your products?
Look at the click and collect area of most major retailers and it tends to be hidden in a  corner. Very plain compared to the rest of the store and often uninspiring when you are waiting to collect your products.  Needless to say this does not enhance the collecting experience.

Shoppers do more than click and collect

According to research by Conlumino 75% of click and collect shoppers will buy additional products while collecting their parcels. Drinks and snacks were bought by 20% of customers and 10% had a meal. Given that nearly 80 million items are collected in this way that’s a very large amount of potential extra income.
So why don’t retailers capitalise on the click and collect area and use signage to suggest what else in the store they may try during their visit?  After all they are a captive audience if they have to queue.
Retailers can make their click and collect area better than their competitors in a number of ways. In addition to making it a more interesting and colourful area they could promote products that are new or exclusive to the store, offer competitions and feature items only available on line.  If the queues do get very long why not keep shoppers happy by handing out free sweets. In a 15 minute brainstorm we could come up with dozens of other ideas.

Encourage greater use of click and collect

Why not offer a free cup of coffee on the website if a shopper selects the click and collect option. This reduces the retailers costs and gets shoppers into their restaurant where many will add other products such as cakes or food to their “free” coffee.
Have you seen any outstanding click and collect areas that feature any of the above points or do you have some even better ideas?