Click & Collect: How To Adapt For Collection

In the current climate, no one knows what might happen next. This has been a crazy year for hospitality with many twists and turns, and as the tier system comes into play in the UK, businesses are rightfully concerned about how they can adapt should we go into another lockdown.

Further lockdowns aren’t the outcome that many of us want, but it might be necessary in order to protect the health of the most vulnerable in society. As a result, the onus is falling on pub and restaurant owners to think of new measures to stay in business as another lockdown looms.

We’re looking at one of the most popular ideas on how to keep business flowing in lockdown - Click & Collect.

What Is Click & Collect?

Yoello offers Click & Collect on the mobile platform, which enables customers to click to order their food and then collect it. It really does what it says on the tin - it is simply a system whereby businesses can sell their food and drinks online, and the customer can collect their order from various stations or from the business venue itself. 

With the new waves of lockdown coming into play all across the UK, businesses are looking to have a Click & Collect system up their sleeve should they have to close for a few weeks again.

Why is Click & Collect So Effective?

Click & Collect has many benefits, here are just a handful:

• It keeps us all safe

The most important benefit is that Click & Collect enables us to stay safe and to keep our staff safe too. It allows businesses to abide by the law, and ensures that the spread of coronavirus is minimised in line with government rules.

• It enables businesses to trade

Lockdowns are tough if you’re a hospitality business, and Click & Collect allows businesses to continue trading despite the lockdowns. They may not be able to make what they’re used to pre-lockdown, but it allows a steady cash flow to keep business afloat.

• It offers a way to offload stock

For many businesses who have been trading again, they were lulled into a false sense of security and have been re-ordering stock like they used to. This will mean that lots of venues will have excess stock available that they need to offload in order to make money. These perishable goods need to be sold, and Click & Collect means that businesses won’t make a loss on their investments in perishable goods.

• It benefits the customer

Another great benefit of Click & Collect is that the customer is still able to support your brand and access their favourite food and drink from your restaurant. In these lockdown times, ordering food from a favourite cafe or restaurant can go a really long way, so supporting your customers with Click & Collect will put you in their good books.

What are the best ways to offer Click & Collect?

Offering Click & Collect will be essential for businesses if we go into another lockdown, however there are some tips and tricks to follow to ensure that your collections process runs smoothly:

• Deliver clear messaging

Ensure that people know what they can expect from your collection service. As with a delivery service, it is helpful if you offer contact with the customer from the moment the order is placed to when they can come and pick it up. This ensures that there is no confusion with how and when they can come to your venue.

• Offer staggered pick up times

One of the major issues with collections is that you run the risk of bringing too many people together at one time, thereby breaking the law and putting safety at risk. Offering staggered pick up times that are very strict is the only way to ensure that this doesn’t happen. Communicate with your customer to tell them how important it is that they stick to their time slot.

• Offer staggered locations

Similarly, if you’re taking more orders than you are allowed to have collected, you may want to consider offering different collection points. This may be a carpark, front of building, back of building etc. Ensuring that you use all available space and set up different collection stations will mean that you are able to offer a better, more seamless Click & Collect service.

• Encourage paying online before coming to collect in store

The biggest challenge to Click & Collect is trying to do too much at once. If you have customers trying to pay, collect, chat to you and order more food and drinks on arrival then your staff are going to be overwhelmed. Set out clear procedures on how ordering online should be done and follow through with them. Collecting in store or at a station is only for collecting, people shouldn’t be trying to order or pay at these points.

• Ensure your Click & Collect functions on mobile

The majority of customers using Click & Collect are trying to order on mobile, so using a mobile friendly system is essential. Ensuring that the ordering platform that you’re using functions on mobile is really important if you want your customer to have a good collection experience.

Are you looking for a mobile ordering partner to assist you with Click & Collect? Yoello are the experts in mobile ordering systems. Contact us now to get your Click & Collect system set up.