Retailers are betting heavily on digitalisation in the coming year. However, they are still struggling with the costs involved in an omni-channel strategy, which means they prefer to invest in Click & Collect rather than same-day delivery, according to research by PwC.
In the study CEO Viewpoint 2017: The Transformation of Retail, PwC asked 351 retailers in the US, Mexico, Germany, the UK, China and Japan about their plans for digitalisation. Some 70 per cent of the retailers said they were investing in digital technologies, with omni-channel fulfilment being the main focus.
CEOs still struggle with the fulfilment costs of omni-channel, though, with returns processing running into trouble. 74 per cent of ceo's indicate that returns are depressing profits to some extent.
Service level highest priority
The survey shows that retailers are especially struggling with service levels. Retailers note an increase in the number of times an item is out of stock. Some 25 per cent of respondents therefore see improving service levels as their top priority, followed by inventory management and rising costs.
Read also:Infographic: trends in online returns
Expensive fulfilment options are scaled back
51 per cent of retailers report that it already offers the option to pick up orders in shops (Click & collect) or plans to do so in the next 12 months, an increase of 4 per cent compared to last year. Interestingly, fulfilment options that involve more cost and time are actually scaled back. In 2016, 43 per cent of retailers said they (wanted to) use same-day delivery, while a year later the figure is 33 per cent. In addition, 27 per cent of retailers want to start delivering in a specific time slot, compared to 48 per cent a year earlier.
Click & collect not popular in the Netherlands
The question remains whether Dutch retailers feel the same way. Dutch consumers prefer to have their orders delivered to their homes. Research by Forrester Research previously showed that 70 per cent of Dutch consumers never use a collection point. In the rest of Europe, the figure is 46 per cent.
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