Why only reserve the click-and-collect frenzy for Christmas?

A report from The Times this week said that click-and-collect services were likely to account for £3bn worth of retail sales over the coming festive period, and that it would result in as many as three additional trips by consumers onto the high street, providing more opportunities for retailers to sell.

This is significant for two reasons. One, shoppers obviously still like the notion of going to the high street and picking up their goods from a human being. Two, the ‘opportunities to sell’ notion is surely key in any line of business. It as, after all, what any media outlet or outdoor advertising company will tell prospective advertisers – creating more openings in which you can flog more of your product and service is, if we’re being honest, the name of the game.

Jewellery retailers in particular should take heed of this particular report, not least because in so many of the debates being had about the future of the high street jeweller, the point about customers wanting to ‘see and touch’ jewellery before they buy it makes the sector stand out from many other retailers. A pair of size-10 walking boots will be size 10 and probably hill-worthy whether you buy them in-store at Millets, or from Amazon or eBay. An iPad, despite its relatively high price, will be the same every time. Equally clothing – ASOS is not a super-successful outfit because people mistrust the company’s ability to send clothes that fit and look good.

As we know, jewellery is rather different from all that. People want to try it on and get a flavour of how they feel wearing it in a mirror, because it’s too expensive to get it wrong and in the case of it being bought as a gift, the choosing process is more important than in the normal retail process.

Branded goods probably fall slightly outside of the motion I am putting here, but most retailers I speak to say they would much prefer to sell the unbranded stock they have because of the higher margins and the potential for add-on sales. Hey presto: click-and-collect is a friend indeed.

Jewellers need to be aware that having a snazzy website and an online shop is not just an expensive bauble, but actually opens opportunities. In a sense, having the option to click-and-collect allows the customer at one and the same time to commit and to feel like they have not yet committed, simply because of the active role they still must play in coming to your shop to claim their purchase. If they don’t like it when they see it in the flesh, you have them standing in your shop with a plethora of other pieces to show them and convince them to take home with them.

That £3bn click-and-collect figure is of course unlikely to be accounted much for by the jewellery industry but it does at least provide an interesting insight into evolving consumer behaviour – the figure is 40% higher than the over the same period last year. And if they are willing to make three extra trips into town for their online purchases over the Christmas period, then a decent website for the local jeweller may get them doing it more throughout the year, too.