In our first Christmas Trend article, we covered the factors that are driving global consumers back to in-store shopping. As we have all witnessed, the functions offered by physical shops have changed dramatically, due largely to the COVID-19 pandemic. As consumers were forced to shop online during the early days of the pandemic, many chose to leverage Click & Collect and/or pick-up at kerbside options. Of course, these services were there years ago, but the pandemic accelerated shopper adoption.

How will omnichannel solutions such as Click & Collect and pick-up at kerbside impact Christmas shopping? Did concerns over health and safety spur the growing popularity of these services, and what is the outlook for continued use, particularly during the upcoming festive season?

During the pandemic, omnichannel retail, which encompasses e-commerce, Click & Collect, pick-up at kerbside and more, has enjoyed significant success in many parts of the world; however, its gains were not spread equally from region to region, or even from one country to its nearest neighbours.

Our study found that 35% of North American shoppers will use Click & Collect solutions this festive season, while 36% will use pick-up at kerbside. These are moderate gains over Christmas 2020 – an increase of 2% and 4% respectively – which probably means most shoppers who would consider using these solutions may already be doing so.

These numbers are also far higher than those reported by shoppers in Europe and Latin America. Twenty-one percent of European consumers said they plan to use Click & Collect this festive season, while 19% said the same for pick-up at kerbside. In Latin America, those numbers were 30% and 8% respectively.

This may be due, at least in part, to the fact that Latin American and European “high streets”, where most chain retailers are located on the continent, do not have the same extensive car parks as big-box North American outlets, presenting challenges for kerbside pickup. Likewise, though e-commerce has surged in Latin America because of the pandemic, many shoppers in the region still do not have access to credit cards and do their shopping with cash, putting yet another dent in the potential for Click & Collect and/or pick-up at kerbside growth in Latin America.

However, both services remain less popular than buy online, deliver to home solutions. More than half of North American consumers (52%) say they plan on having online purchases delivered to their homes this year. Sixty-three percent of European shoppers said the same, as did 67% of LATAM consumers.

Meanwhile, in APAC, retailers report being optimistic about the future of brick-and-mortar shops, largely as a result of the growth of e-commerce and their increasing role in last-mile delivery networks. According to Inside Retail, about 70% expect omnichannel services to become regular offerings, with more online orders being fulfilled and delivered from physical shops.

Even though omnichannel adoption may not be equal across the world, the message for retailers is. This festive season, your shoppers will want to buy from a variety of channels, and you will need to carefully consider optimising your shops, supply chains and stock accordingly.

In our first instalment of this blog series, we discussed that as vaccination rates rise in many countries, newly emboldened shoppers are eager to return to stores – but this does not mean that concerns over in-store safety have evaporated. Far from it, as our survey found. Nor has the desire for positive in-store experiences dampened the desire for speed and convenience.

For North American consumers, our survey found that convenience and health and safety were almost equally important when it comes to using Click & Collect and/or pick-up at kerbside:

However, as our previous instalment uncovered, European shoppers are much less concerned when it comes to health and safety, potentially because many retail locations in Europe currently require masks and proof of vaccination, and are still enforcing occupancy limits. Instead, consumers in Europe are much more interested in speed and convenience:

For North American retailers, it is clear that providing a convenient pick-up experience with minimal contact and transmission risk will be a must this festive season. For those in Europe, speed and convenience will win the day. Optimise accordingly.

There may not be any seismic changes when it comes to omnichannel this season, but our survey revealed that Click & Collect, pick-up at kerbside and other omnichannel options are very much here to stay. Their adoption may have been accelerated by the pandemic, but the consumers who prefer them are not going to stop using these services if or when COVID-19 abates.

They are simply part of the new reality for retailers, and those that optimise their stores and processes, train their associates and invest in innovative inventory and loss prevention solutions in the name of improved omnichannel experiences will prosper this festive season and beyond.

To help you make the most of the 2021 festive season, we have compiled a wealth of resources to:

• Schedule smartly: download our global guide to the 2021 festive season's busiest shopping days.
• Understand your store traffic and how to optimise your locations for in-store and omnichannel shopping: get your copy of our 2021 Christmas Guide to In-Store Success.
• Protect your merchandise and your bottom line: review our 2021 Loss Prevention Checklist.

Make sure you read the rest of our 2021 Global Christmas Retail series. If you missed the first instalment on the new realities of in-store shopping, you can view it here, and make sure you read the third and final instalment that covers when today's consumers plan to start their Christmas shopping  – and why that matters for retailers.

Also, please follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter, using #SensormaticHolidays2021 for the latest updates and information concerning the season.