M&S gets into gear for drive-up click and collect

M&S has launched drive-up collection at its store in Camberley, Surrey, enabling shoppers to collect their goods without leaving the car.

The retailer is also trying out contactless in-store collection at Hempstead Valley, Kent, and Longbridge in Birmingham, as well as at Camberley.

Drive-up shoppers receive a ‘ready to collect’ email with a booking link and provide their vehicle registration number using a chatbot on text, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. The chatbot confirms the time and specified collection location. The customer presses a link on their phone letting staff know they are there and their shopping is brought to the car.

The process is similar for contactless collection where the customer picks up their items from an allocated shelf.

M&S head of digital operations Neil Phillips said: “Great digital technology in our stores is really important for offering our customers a great experience and for connecting the online and in-store journey. 

“These trials with Doddle offer market-leading solutions for click and collect, a proposition that will only grow over the coming years as the trend towards online shopping continues to accelerate. We’ll be listening carefully to our customers’ feedback.”

Doddle chief technology officer Gary O’Connor said: “We are delighted to be working with M&S to trial new click-and-collect technology. Online shopping has rapidly accelerated and we’re confident that our digital in-store collections and drive-up solution will benefit M&S and their customers with an even more convenient way to receive their purchases.”

As M&S adapts to a post-pandemic environment it aims to build its online operations and make its store estate more relevant to shoppers. The retailer sees improved click-and-collect as key.

Before lockdown in March, approximately 70% of online M&S orders were collected in clothing and home stores. That fell to a low of 15% when clothing space was closed during lockdown and has since recovered to around 50%.

M&S is also making click and collect faster and more efficient by increasing the use of in-store picking and packing for online orders. There are now 239 stores fulfilling online orders –153 more than before the pandemic – and M&S said “it has the long-term potential to help improve the customer proposition and balance stock between stores and online”.