As we move further and further away from the epicenter of the pandemic of 2020, it’s becoming clearer which changes the pandemic caused that will be here to stay long into the future. On this morning’s Business Beat, Jeff discusses click and collect, a distinct consumer behavior in which customers make their purchases online and go to the store to pick them up.
As U.S. click and collect sales nearly doubled in 2020, this business trend is here to stay.
Listen to the Business Beat, below, to learn more about the staying power of click and collect:
“If you’re thinking of starting a business or are focused on wanting to be at the leading edge of how business will be conducted in the future with your current business, give careful consideration to the changing consumer habits that are reshaping the way business is done, and then make sure you’re ready to conduct business accordingly.”
– Jeff Sloan
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Good morning, Paul.
As we move further and further away from the epicenter of the pandemic of 2020, it’s becoming clearer which changes the pandemic caused that will be here to stay long into the future. Certainly, we all know that e-commerce has arrived as a mainstay in the way consumers make their purchases, and one form of e-commerce known as click and collect is now predicted to be part of the new normal, as well.
Click and collect is a distinct consumer behavior in which they make their purchases online. It could be a meal ordered from a restaurant, or it could be, say, a purchase from a local retail store, but instead of having it shipped or delivered, the consumer goes to the establishment and picks the item up him or herself.
So, the transaction happens online, and the pickup happens at the physical location, sort of a hybrid between buying online and buying locally at a store. And during the pandemic, this behavior skyrocketed.
In fact, U.S. click and collect sales more than doubled in 2020, said Ethan Cramer-Flood, eMarketer senior forecasting writer, predicts that click and collect will sustain double digit growth rates.
Of course, the pandemic drove this activity out of necessity since many consumers either couldn’t dine in at a given restaurant because it was closed to in-person dining or out of safety concern because people simply didn’t want to go into an establishment to make a purchase out of fear of increased risk of exposure.
But if you think about it, the reason it’s here to stay is because it just makes good sense. It’s a convenient way to transact the purchase. Doing it online via desktop or mobile and driving locally and picking up your own purchase means you get it when you want it with no added shipping or delivery fees.
The bottom line? If you’re thinking of starting a business or are focused on wanting to be at the leading edge of how business will be conducted in the future with your current business, give careful consideration to the changing consumer habits that are reshaping the way business is done, and then make sure you’re ready to conduct business accordingly.
I’m Jeff Sloan, founder and CEO of StartupNation.com, and that’s today’s Business Beat on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, WJR.
