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How to beat the online retailers, with "click to collect"

by Jim Connolly

Maybe the biggest threat to traditional stores, has been the advent of Internet shopping. In this article, I’m going to show you an extremely powerful way to gain a great competitive advantage over online retailers.

Let’s face it, online shopping has a number of great advantages. Thanks to sites like Amazon.com, we can now buy almost anything without leaving our chair. 

However, there are 2 huge disadvantages to buying online:

  1. You place a huge amount of trust in the online retailer. You have no guarantee that they will send you what you asked for or when it will arrive. (Let alone what condition it will be in, when it finally reaches you!)
  2. In many cases, you need to be present to sign for the package when it’s delivered. As I myself recently discovered, this can be extremely inconvenient. The delivery was 2 days late and I needed to make sure someone was in all day, both days!

Click to collect

Store owners are able to benefit from those online shopping disadvantages, thanks to something known as click to collect.

Click to collect is the term given to the process of ordering something online, which you collect from a traditional store. 

Clearly, this offers massive advantages over online shopping. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • The customer can pick their goods up at a time that suits them. This makes it extremely convenient.
  • The customer has the peace of mind of knowing they are dealing with a “real” retailer. Peace of mind is one of the most important elements of marketing.
  • The goods are in great condition when they pick them up from you, so they know they will get exactly what they ordered.

Setting up a click to collect facility

If you already have a website, where people can buy direct from your online store, the process is simple. You just need to let your online shoppers know that they are very welcome to pick up their order, from your store. Remember to tell them about the advantages of using your click to collect service.

If you haven’t already got an online store, there are many web design providers, who specialize in building relatively inexpensive online stores. They can start from as little as a few hundred dollars.

The best way to find the right web designer for your needs, is to ask people you know, who have an online store they are happy with, who they hired. Alternatively, visit some of the online stores you like the look of. Then, scroll to the bottom of the site’s home page. Often, there will be a link to the person or company who designed the site.

In summary

By allowing customers to order from you online and collect from your store, you give yourself a massive advantage over the “online only” retailers. You provide a level of convenience and trust, which the online providers simply can’t match.

I hope you found this useful. Remember to check out all the other free retail marketing resources we have available for you here on the CTS Wholesale website.

To find out how CTS Wholesale can help your retail business, simply click here.