Click & Collect Not Clicking Yet

Fewer than half of retailers responding to an OrderDynamics survey provide shoppers with access to basic inventory visibility.

Of the 2,000+ worldwide retailers participating in Omni-2000 Research: Global, only a surprising 38.1 percent show basic inventory visibility on product pages. A strict like-for-like, year-over-year comparison finds a 30.7-percent decrease in active online inventory visibility. This is a concerning drop in an industry experiencing so much change.

Passive inventory visibility is a factor in this drop. Unlike active inventory visibility, a passive approach signals only when a good is out of stock.

Based on data collected from retailers in a variety of sectors across the United States, UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, and Austria, the report reveals:

• 37.6 percent of retailers offer click & collect today.
• 34.8 percent of Buy Online Pickup In Store (BOPIS) retailers commit to having orders ready within 24 hours.
• 72.6 percent of omni-channel retailers offer Buy Online, Return In Store (BORIS).
• 11.4 percent of omni-channel merchants have a site optimized for mobile commerce.

For the second year in a row, the UK is the leading country in click & collect (see chart), with 64 percent of retailers offering the service. Consistent with 2017 Omni-1000 results, the United States lags, ranking lowest of the countries assessed, with only 27.5 percent of retailer respondents providing BOPIS. More than 69 percent of consumers acknowledge having tried omni-channel retailing and would like to see more of it.

As such, retailers are missing an opportunity for promotion. Further, only 57.1 percent of retailers offering the service advertise it on their website’s home page.