So, how should we use smart lockers for Click and Collect?
Covid-19 changed the world’s consumption patterns. Overall over, Click & Collect systems have been implemented to serve this new demand efficiently. But, do we use smart lockers for Click & Collect?
This article will outline trends in retail Click & Collect to determine if these shifts are right for your business.
Why is having Click and Collect a necessity?
Over the last two years, retailers have been faced with a challenge that we’ve never felt before. Without being able to interact directly with people due to Covid, retailers looked for a new way to deliver goods and keep sales going.
Many contactless ways of delivering orders were tested by business verticals. Delivery at the door grew immensely. Glovo, Uber and Bolt were lifesavers during confinement delivering food, goods like groceries and even Covid-19 tests. But, this wasn’t really a contactless thing, nor a Click & Collect. The risk of infection was still there, even with all the safety procedures taken.
This contactless interaction needed to be automatized, as there was a general need to remove people from the Click & Collect equation. One of the systems tested to do so was smart lockers.
But, with the pandemic almost over, why is Click and Collect still preferable?
We all have busy lives in general. Being a good manager of your time or not, we all complain about the time we lose in traffic, drinking coffee, wandering at the mall, and scrolling pointlessly on Instagram. Not to mention, we absolutely hate to wait in line to buy something.
Think about it, it’s hilarious that you need to wait, have a dreadful time paying for something, but we do it all the time with groceries, takeaway restaurants, commodities stores, and pharmacies. Everywhere we go, especially if you are in a big city, we are faced with lines.
The point of having a Click & Collect is to give your customers a more efficient way of shopping, where there’s no need to wait in lines or to have contact with things they don’t want at all.
Do clients like Click and Collect
The answer is yes. We’ve conducted studies with a client of ours who did an excellent job implementing smart lockers for Click & Collect, automatizing the desk system that they had.
A whopping 80% of the clients treasure a fast pick-up system where they can retrieve a parcel in less than 10 seconds. 51% of this universe states that the solution is easy and convenient to use. 30% treasure that it’s a free-to-use solution.
The adoption rate is so high that the average fill rate of the lockers is over 85%.
What are the Benefits to My Company?
The answer lies within the numbers. To run a Click & Collect, you need 2-3 people to handle it properly” one at the counter, another to feed the other to the counter, and depending on the size of this operation, you might need a third to help at the counter or bring the parcels.
Now let’s talk time. The person at the counter is not producing all the time as there aren’t always people at the Click & Collect counter. The second job is one of the less time-efficient positions in the world, bringing parcels to the counter. You always have to be moving around multiple times and it represents a huge waste of time.
Smart lockers for Click & Collect represent time and resource efficiency. With a smart locker, you don’t need 2 or 3 people. As a matter of fact, you can have only one person managing the whole operation. There’s no need to be at the counter since the counter is automatic and it’s the smart locker for Click & Collect. Therefore, it just needs someone to feed the parcels into the locker.
With bloq.it OS that’s a very easy job to do with a tablet or any screen the employee can control the present and upcoming parcels and load them in an efficient manner into the smart locker for Click & Collect.
Overall, if you count the time saved, it translates in less workforce required. hTat means less salaries and less taxes by adopting a smart locker for Click and Collect, translating up to 90% cost saving in the overall operation.
Ways to Implement Click & Collect
As we are trying to cover all aspects briefly in this article, let me share some opinions on what I think the strategy should be.
My experience from working directly with many big retailers on improving their Click & Collect activities is that you should force your client to use the new system. Do not deceive them, but instead tell them why you are forcing them to do so.
This is an effective and proven way to educate your customer that this service exists. By making them experience the new feature, you’ll bypass their buying habits and show them one option that can be more efficient for them and cheaper for you.
With this sorted, let’s talk strategy.
Develop a Strategy and Vision
Click & Collect is the reality of the present, but this trend is predicted to keep growing and gaining importance over the next 15 years. If you are going to plan and strategize, you better have a vision for the future.
- In Store
In store Click & Collect is the most common example that we see in retail, especially if we are talking about groceries. Unfortunately, to the present day, it is still extensively done with a counter system far from efficient.
Nevertheless, you can implement it. The strategy will boost your cross-selling effect and it’s particularly good for electronics retail.
- Out of Store – Click and Collect
Right now, in Portugal, we are seeing some experiments on this front. Having Click & Collect Systems out of the store. Auchan is pioneering this with Click & Collect points, which is a small counter with one person that hands you over what you buy.
The same company is also trying deliveries to highly condensed office jobs areas. They do this with smart lockers. In these specific cases, smart lockers are used as a stretch of the physical presence of the company, facilitating the delivery to the client at their work doorstep.
I think one strategy doesn’t invalidate the other. Your company just needs to clarify the intent and eventually combine both of them.
Let’s talk about methods.
Smart Lockers for Click and Collect – The method.
From everything that we’ve talked about previously to having a counter, Click & Collect is just expensive. Plus, it takes more time to the company and to the client in a process that the purpose is convenient and fast for both parties.
Smart lockers for Click & Collect are the most effective way to run the operation of delivery or product picking. Let’s go over where you can put them and how?
First and foremost, don’t just buy a locker on the internet please. Make sure the software is flexible and it’s able to integrate with the tech structure that you already have.
In my opinion, if you are a retailer, the first phase is to implement smart lockers in-house. This way the client still enters the store and you can get live feedback from the usage. If something goes wrong, you have staff to help. This is particularly helpful when customers are still getting accustomed to the technology.
Secondly, if you have interest in stretching your influence outside doors, you can think of using smart lockers for Click & Collect in city areas where office jobs are very concentrated. That’s a proven method and you’ll secure new clients.
Why Use Bloq.it Smart Lockers for Click and Collect ?
What you don’t want to do is buy some random lockers on the internet like you were Amazon shopping. You’ll end up buying lockers without software flexibility that takes away the possibility to integrate in your app. These also are not smart at all since they don’t collect any KPI’s of their usage.
Bloq.it software solutions are the perfect fit for retailers who want to adopt smart lockers for Click & Collect. Our software allows you to have a manual and a digital flow, meaning that your clients don’t need to instal an APP, plus:
—> You’ll have a dashboard that collects KPI’s for the whole operation, gain control of the locker remotely and grants an easy way to track what’s happening with it
—> We grant 24/7 support in case you need it, plus, we onboard you in our software for free
—> You can personalize the flow and the software according to your and your customers’ liking
—> They are modular so you don’t need to buy everything at once
—> We have very diverse solutions, including refrigeration
In Summary
The need for Click & Collect was impulsed by the pandemic times that we had, and with the busy lifestyle that we have, it’s a more convenient reality for everyone. They allow your customer to pick stuff up without having to choose them at the store or having to wait in line for 10 minutes.
You can implement a traditional Click & Collect counter, but that’s a half solution. It will not secure convenience nor the efficiency of your staff operation.
By using smart lockers, you’ll end up with an autonomous solution that will require less people to run it, and a very appreciated solution by the customers:
Reduced avg. user journey from 8 minutes on average to under 10 seconds
Reduced the cost per item by up to 90%
97% of their customers stated they preferred this to typical Click & Collect
Hey I’m Bruno, from Bloq.it. If you want to discuss this smart lockers use cases or propose another one, I’m delighted to hear. Click here and let’s schedule a quick chat!