Click and collect emerging as revenue driver for casual dining sector

While home delivery is the food service trend of the moment, click and collect –

the practice of ordering food online and collecting it from a restaurant – is also

emerging as another revenue opportunity for town centre restaurants, according

to the latest GO Technology report from Zonal.

Of the 5,000 UK adults surveyed by CGA, one

in five (22%) have used click and collect.

Despite being a modest figure relative to

delivery, which more than half (58%) of GO Technology

respondents have embraced, click and collect is still in

its relative infancy in the branded restaurant sector, but

as operators adopt it, more consumers are likely to use

the service.

However, for it to be successful, location is everything

with large proportions of click and collect consumers

based in city centres (28%) or town centres (30%), where

the distance needed to travel to restaurants is often low.

Unsurprisingly, it is less popular with consumers located in

suburban and rural areas.

This suggests that click and collect is a convenient way

for consumers to pick up a meal when there’s no time to

prepare food (35%) or as an alternative to a traditional

takeaway (40%) when travelling home from work or a day

out shopping. And it seems busy parents are fond of click

and collect with more than half (56%) using the service.

“Our GO Technology research shows that convenience

is key when it comes to click and collect and it’s most

appealing to those who are looking to grab something

appetising for the family on their way home.

“This is where click and collect wins over delivery, as

you don’t run the risk of arriving home after the delivery

person. But, in order to deliver a seamless experience,

integrated technology is vital to customer satisfaction,”

said Zonal Marketing Technologies Commercial Director,

David Charlton.

For those operators that do embrace click and collect

the rewards are there for the taking as the demographic

alignment with delivery consumers is 90%, but the

margins tend to be more favourable on click and collect.

Also, click and collect consumers are more loyal to the

brands they like (48%) compared to the all-consumer

average (36%), so repeat visits are to be won if a

customer’s experiences good.

With an average of 9.7 brands in their repertoires, click

and collect users have plenty of other places to go if their

experience isn’t good.

That puts pressure on operators to nail the basics, like

getting orders right and having them ready on time –

the top two frustrations of click and collect users. The

integration of ordering and operational systems can

solve these problems and ensure a smooth click and

collect service.

Charlton added: “Having the right technology

infrastructure in place is key to click and collect success.

With click and collect customers also more likely to engage

directly with brands, rather than third party providers,

operators need to make sure that it’s easy for them to

access the service through their own websites and apps,

which in turn help to build sales and loyalty.”

Because click and collect consumers tend to be

early adopters, it has the potential to become more

mainstream over the next few years, with a fifth (22%)

of consumers who have not yet used click and collect

finding the idea appealing.

Karl Chessell, CGA Business Unit Director, Retail and

Food, concluded: “With visits to restaurants, pubs and bars

largely flat, click and collect offers an opportunity to add

incremental sales, build brand loyalty and recover some of

the margin that is lost on third party delivery.

“Smartphones have made it easier than ever for

consumers to order their food, and our GO Technology

survey shows there is a worthwhile market to be won. But

click and collectors’ expectations are high, and there is a

heavy responsibility on brands to