The lead up to the Christmas season remains the defining moment of the year for UK retailers. As customer behaviour becomes increasingly omnichannel, the ability to offer flexible delivery and collection options is no longer a nice-to-have but a core strategic requirement. In my conversations with retail leaders across the UK, one message consistently comes through: delivery is now a critical part of the customer experience – not just a logistics function.
Among the available fulfilment options for omnichannel retailers, click and collect stands out as one of the most powerful levers retailers can use to drive both customer satisfaction and commercial performance.
And we’ve seen this first-hand.
Click & Collect: Simple on the Surface, Complex Behind the Scenes
At its core, click and collect allows a customer to buy online and pick up in-store or at a partner location. The journey is straightforward:
⁃ Select click and collect at checkout
⁃ Choose a preferred store or collection point
⁃ Receive confirmation (often with a QR code)
⁃ Collect at a time that suits them
But while the customer experience is delightfully simple, the operational layer beneath is anything but. Omnichannel retailers must synchronise inventory in real time, fulfil accurately at store level, and maintain flawless reliability across systems.
When it works, it feels effortless to the customer.
When it doesn’t, the impact on stores, supply chain teams, and NPS is immediate.
Extending Flexibility Through PUDO and Hybrid Models
One of the most underestimated benefits of click and collect is its ability to generate store footfall. Unlike home delivery, click and collect in-store guarantees the customer walks through your doors.
Take a common example: a customer buys a fragrance gift online and sends a click and collect voucher to the recipient. When that recipient visits the store, they’re surrounded by your product range, supported by your staff, and primed for an incremental purchase – whether that’s an upsell, an exchange for a different size, or a second item entirely.
We’ve seen enterprise retailers lean heavily into this dynamic, using click and collect not as a convenience feature but as a revenue-driving in-store traffic generator.
Scurri customer The Perfume Shop, for instance – one of the UK’s most successful omnichannel retailers – has leveraged click and collect alongside advanced delivery options to keep customers engaged across channels.
Their Trustpilot reviews routinely highlight delivery and collection as frictionless experiences, something their Supply Chain Director credits to the consistency and speed of the Scurri platform.
Flexibility Through Third-Party Collection Points
Click and collect doesn’t have to begin and end with your own estate.
Many leading retailers are now blending in-store collection with PUDO (Pick Up, Drop Off) networks, including third-party lockers and partner stores. This delivers:
• Extended reach for customers who live or work beyond your store footprint
• Reduced congestion at busy stores during Peak
• 24/7 fulfilment flexibility through automated lockers
• Lower delivery costs and better first-time delivery success
Retailers integrating PUDO into their delivery mix see stronger checkout conversion and greater customer satisfaction – particularly during the Christmas season when convenience becomes the decisive factor.
Click & Collect in Context: The Pandemic Peak and Beyond
Click and collect saw unprecedented adoption during the pandemic. And while usage has since normalised, some retailers misinterpret this as decline.
The reality is very different.
Click and collect has stabilised into its long-term role as a foundational omnichannel service, not a temporary trend. Customers now expect multiple delivery options – home delivery, ship from store, click and collect, PUDO – and the winners are retailers who treat these as a flexible ecosystem, not siloed functions.
This shift is happening across the most advanced omnichannel retail organisations we work with.
Real-World Proof: How The Perfume Shop Uses Click & Collect as Part of a Wider Omnichannel Engine
The Perfume Shop (TPS) is a powerful example of how innovation in fulfilment – including click and collect – can transform operations and customer experience simultaneously.
• 24% reduction in extra Peak headcount
• 18% of orders now fulfilled via ship-from-store
• 10% increase in sellable inventory
• 99.2% of shipments out on time
Click and collect plays a key role in this broader omnichannel strategy. With Scurri powering delivery options at checkout, TPS gives customers a seamless set of choices—from home delivery to in-store collection—while keeping the experience fully aligned with their brand.
As their Supply Chain Director put it, “It’s clear from our reviews that delivery frequently exceeds our customers’ expectations – and Scurri plays a big role in that.”
What Enterprise Retailers Should Take from This
From our work with major UK omnichannel retailers, including The Perfume Shop, several truths have become clear:
• Click and collect is a revenue generator, not a cost centre
• Click and collect strengthens brand engagement where it matters most – in-store
• The option enhances loyalty by giving customers greater control
• Its real power appears when paired with ship-from-store and PUDO
• Peak performance depends on reliability, not just capacity
And ultimately:
Click and collect is only as strong as the technology underpinning it.
As I often say to retail leaders: your delivery options are now part of your brand. They’re a direct reflection of operational excellence, customer focus, and innovation capability.
Conclusion: Click & Collect Is Here to Stay - And Evolving Faster Than Ever
Click and collect has moved beyond being a convenience feature. It’s a strategic lever for enterprise retailers who want to:
• Increase in-store footfall
• Improve margin performance
• Reduce delivery costs
• Expand fulfilment capacity
• Provide customers with meaningful choice
• Win Peak without adding unsustainable headcount
As The Perfume Shop’s success shows, retailers who invest in resilient systems, real-time inventory capabilities, and flexible fulfilment options are the ones who will win both customer loyalty and operational advantage.
This Christmas – and every Peak to come – click and collect will remain a critical part of the retail delivery experience.
For more information about retailers who have used click and collect with Scurri, explore The Perfume Shop case study below.