Waiting for an online purchase? Now you can click and collect

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/jun/20/online-shopping-click-collect-deliveries

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It is a very modern frustration. Having popped out to pick up some milk, you get home to find a piece of paper on the doormat that lets you know you’ve missed the delivery of the books/DVDs/clothes etc you ordered online.

The answer from retailers, logistics companies and online behemoths such as Amazon has been the evolution of an entire industry around “click and collect” – the ability to order online and pick up your purchases at shops, strategically placed lockers, supermarkets, post offices and other locations.

One of the sector’s more recent arrivals is parcel service Doddle, which has more than 30 outlets – it calls them “stores” – located mainly at urban train stations in places such as London, Brighton, Glasgow, Manchester, Norwich and Southampton. Other players include InPost, a network of more than 1,100 lockers allowing online shoppers and retailers to send, collect and return goods.

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However, the click and collect industry took a bit of a knock this week when it was reported that Tesco and Sainsbury’s have pulled out of a partnership with Transport for London that offered commuters the opportunity to pick up groceries in tube station car parks.

So where can I collect online purchases? The options can appear endless, at least in urban areas. A sample search on Amazon for a north London address throws up 20 possible locations nearby. Outside the main population centres, less so. Parcel delivery and returns firm CollectPlus, which operates via a network of convenience stores and has partnered with scores of brands, says its members are within five miles of 90% of the rural population.

Which retailers use it? The question is increasingly becoming: which large retailers don’t have some sort of click and collect service? Asda uses temperature-controlled lockers and drive-through collections as part of its operation in about 600 locations; Waitrose has lockers in tube stations; Amazon claims to have 10,000 pick-up locations in the UK, including 300 of its own lockers at train stations and in shops, among other places; and eBay offers a service where you can buy from thousands of its sellers and pick up your item at one of more than 650 Argos stores.

How much does it cost? It depends. Doddle has 7,000 members who pay £5 a month for unlimited collections at its stores. Alternatively, you can opt to pay £1.95 a time to collect a parcel.

Amazon’s locker scheme provides a self-service delivery location, with one-day delivery costs of £1.99. CollectPlus says its charges largely depend on the retailer. “We have some inherent costs, and it is then down to the retailer whether they want to pass them on to the consumer in full or in part,” it adds.

Where is the Post Office in this? With 11,500 branches in the UK, the Post Office claims to be the largest click and collect network in the country, with a modernisation push involving later opening hours and Sunday opening.

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What about returns? Surveys have shown that consumers are less likely to return goods bought online compared to those bought on the high street. Tim Robinson, chief executive of Doddle, says that “in the most part” returns are free. If someone has a return for the online retailer Asos, he adds, they don’t need to wrap up the goods as long as they can be identified. In the case of Marks & Spencer, you can return items using an InPost parcel locker after printing off a label provided.

Where next for click and collect? Waitrose has trialled lockers at Gatwick airport so holidaymakers can pick up a bag of groceries when they get off their flight, and there have even been trials by Volvo of delivering to your parked car.

In a recent report, Deloitte predicted click and collect locations in Europe will reach half a million this year – up 20% on 2014. But it highlights the potential risks to retailers: it could encourage more people to “over order” in the knowledge that unwanted goods can be immediately returned and refunded.