eBay have today launched a trial with Argos to deliver Click & Collect for the first time.
The online marketplace, which enjoys 18m UK visitors a month, will enable shoppers to purchase products from around 50 eBay merchants and pick them up at Argos stores throughout the UK.
Speaking at a press conference in County Hall this morning, President of eBay Marketplaces, Devin Wenig said the launch was ‘a great moment for retail.‘
“The bar is higher than ever and consumers want it all. We are starting to understand that customers are at the heart of everything,” he said.
According to eConsultancy, 40 per cent of UK shoppers used some form of Click & Collect service over Christmas 2012.
John Walden, Managing Director, Argos commented: “With the continuing growth of online shopping, customers increasingly expect faster, cheaper and more convenient fulfillment of their orders. Having pioneered Click &Collect in 2000, it now accounts for around a third of our business and continues to grow.”
He explained that Argos is moving to a ‘fast and free‘ delivery service but remained cautious on the outlook of consumer spending habits in the UK.
“Unless real wages improve we‘re not sure we will see a real improvement,” he added.
Ebay also announced that it plans to test a one-hour delivery service in 2014 – enabling consumers to have goods sent to their device via their smartphone in a one hour window.
Anna Wright, Marketing Manager, Northern Europe at Vocollect said the launch underlines the growing popularity of Click & Collect.
“Retailers need to recognise that the success of click and collect can only be sustained if their warehouses or distribution centres are able to deliver the right goods at the right time. If this can‘t be achieved, the goods will have to be returned and any profit advantage will be reduced or lost altogether.
Argos, who announced sales of £3.9bn in the financial year to February 2013, employ some 30,000 people in the UK.
