Modern retailers are facing many challenges, not least the increased real time expectations of customers. With so many choices and dwindling patience driven by a super-fast digital age, product availability and delivery are becoming the most important influencers in purchasing decisions.
As growing numbers of consumers switch to e-commerce, retailers are under pressure to fulfil an omnichannel approach that delivers a consistently good shopping experience across all channels. However, with bricks and mortar stores struggling to pull in the crowds, the only way to survive is to innovate and differentiate through the way you do things in-store.
Whilst people and products are at the heart of this issue, storage and organisation are two incredibly important concepts to get right if you want to tackle these modern challenges of retail.
The Rise of Click and Collect
Despite the fact more of us are shopping online, delivery remains a tricky subject. If you’re not at home during the day and your employer won’t allow deliveries to your workplace, how can you take receipt of the goods you have ordered? This is where Click and Collect, a relatively new phenomenon, comes into play.
According to new research from OC&C Strategy Consultants, the UK market for click and collect and home delivery of online purchases will double by 2025 – to the point where click and collect will account for 10% of all sales. This will leave retailers needing a strong and secure solution for the short term storage of items for collection.
Those with the best solutions for click and collect are likely to pave the way as there is reluctance amongst consumers to take up the service, as confirmed in a recent report by Deloitte in which 26% of UK shoppers said they would like to use click and collect services but only 8% were currently doing so.
What then is the reason for this lack of uptake and what can retailers do about it?
Disorganised Storerooms
The biggest problem for many retail stores is that they are just not geared to be a parcel collection point. Customers are having to wait in long queues whilst store employees find items from poorly organised stockrooms. There is, however, light at the end of the tunnel as 39% of UK consumers believe click and collect would improve if storerooms were better organised – as reported in a study by Cybertill.
Modern Retail Storage
This is where Rackline can help. We provide bespoke storage solutions for retail environments, catering for your precise needs, from the installation of powered mobile shelving with pin access for added security at collection points, to supplying shelving and racking to better organise your stockroom and warehouse areas.
We understand that modern retail storage is not just about the shelving and hanging space your customers can see, but more importantly those vital store room areas that they can’t.
Taking steps now to improve your capacity for click and collect will help you to deliver on an omnichannel level and keep the ever-changing needs of the modern shopper at the heart of your service. Even if you don’t want to offer collection services for online orders, improving the organisation of your storeroom areas can lead to a quicker, more streamlined service for customers and staff. And remember, those who come to collect orders will often browse whilst they wait and may end up making further purchases.
Speak to Rackline today on 01782 770 144 to arrange a free design consultation or to find out more about our products.
