Building with bricks and clicks
Greater collaboration between pureplay and bricks and mortar retailers is helping to drive new footfall onto the high street in the lead up to Christmas, according to Doddle.
In a statement sent to Post&Parcel today (23 November), the click & collect company used its own operation as an example.
Since the third quarter (Q3), Doddle has grown its network of locations by over 300%, taking it to 370 locations in time for Black Friday on 24th November.
Significantly, the majority of these new locations have opened as concessions – hosted within Morrisons supermarkets, Debenhams department stores and Cancer Research UK charity shops.
According to Doddle, between 25% and 40% of customers visiting Doddle concessions are new customers to the host retailer – so the click & collect connection is actually driving more footfall to the bricks and mortar stores.
Consumers collecting or returning online shopping from the likes of Amazon, Asos and Missguided at Doddle concessions will also take the time to browse and buy in the shops.
In some locations, Doddle has found as many as 80% of customers collecting or returning go on to make additional purchases in-store.
Tim Robinson, Doddle CEO, said; “UK retailers are becoming far more collaborative and open to partnerships that create better experiences for customers, even if it means sharing those customers.
“Our prediction is that 2018 will be the year we see some major strategic partnerships between pureplays and traditional bricks and mortar retailers resulting in a win-win result that drives both sales and footfall. A revolution for online and in-‐store fulfilment.”
