Reserve-and-collect essentially gives consumers peace of mind as they know that the product they need is already waiting for them in-store, so it means they won’t waste time or suffer the disappointment of finding that an item is out of stock.

Do you reserve products online before collecting them in store? How often?

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Successful examples

Click-and-collect services have proven to be a very successful sales channel for a number of high profile retailers, including these three…

Halfords

Halfords introduced a click-and-collect service three years ago and now 86% of all its sales are for in-store collection.

It’s a free service and for large purchases like a bike, which may require some care and customisation advice from shop staff, you can see why people may want to collect their product in-store.

Also, although standard delivery is only £2.99 it costs £6.99 if you want a Saturday delivery slot.

New Look 

New Look’s recently expanded click-and-collect service was credited as a key reason for its 79% jump in Q2 online sales.

It offers the service for free on orders of more than £19.99, which is far more appealing than paying £3.95 for standard delivery.

Argos

Argos is the UK’s third most successful ecommerce site and achieves 42% of total sales online. The retailer’s ‘check and reserve’ service accounted for 31% of total online sales in Q4 2012.