Breakfast briefing: Retail news on click and collect, shoplifting and Liberty

Click-and-collect orders to jump 49% over Christmas

The number of click-and-collect orders are forecast to surge by 49% over this year’s Christmas period.

This represents a rise of 5.7 million consumers, according to Barclays research.

The report also noted that the UK is leading the way in its uptake of click-and-collect, compared to the US, France or Germany.

The report also found retailers are more upbeat about Christmas this year, with 70% feeling more confident compared to 2013. The survey also showed 43% of retailers have invested in a click-and-collect delivery option. Most of them said they see the service as a permanent fixture within the delivery market and 38% said they expect usage to soar more than any other delivery option over the next four years.

Irish retailers warned to be beware of Christmas shoplifting

Retailers in Ireland have been warned to be more vigilant during the Christmas period as stores across the country are increasingly being targeted by shoplifters and organised gangs.

Companies have been urged by the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) to take steps that include having robust stock controls so shrinkage can be quickly noticed. ISME said €9m a week is lost to shoplifting during the festive period and estimates that two-thirds of retail outlets in Ireland will be targeted by thieves in that time.

Alcohol, electronic goods, phones, cosmetics, clothing and food products are the most common items targeted by thieves, causing huge financial damage to retailers up and down the country, the ISME research found. The association has also noticed a significant rise in theft of luxury items, including designer-labelled clothing, expensive cosmetics and toys.

Liberty taps SapientNitro for omnichannel strategy

Luxury department store Liberty has appointed SapientNitro to create an omnichannel single customer view, The Drum reported. The retailer said it wants to introduce a ‘functional and fun’ approach to omnichannel marketing. A strategy for a new website is to be signed off in the coming weeks which will attempt to communicate the quirky and quintessentially British values of the store more clearly online, Liberty said.