Measuring customers benefits of click and collect

Purpose: Click and collect (or grocery pickup) represents a growing part of the channel strategy of traditional off-line retailers. The aim of this study is to understand how customers develop their perceptions toward this new channel. In other words, what are the key factors explaining the long-term value creation for each “click and collect” system depending on consumers’ profiles? Design/methodology/approach: On the basis of a quantitative survey of 479 respondents, this research uses confirmatory analyses based on the partial least square path modeling. Findings: Based on the structural model, the study finds that the customers’ relations, website and pickup station are the most important factors creating value for customers whatever the internet grocery shopping model. The global conceptual model has been implemented under many variations to test the age effect and the kind of click and collect model. It is made evident that customers’ benefits vary regarding the kind of click and collect model and the age of customers. Research limitations/implications: This research allows a better understanding of the performance of the click and collect system by looking at the key factors that maximize the customers’ value and those that decrease it. Results precisely show variations of those factors according to the customer’s profile and the click and collect model. Originality/value: This quantitative paper studies customer behaviors toward their usual retailer and their relationship with them. To do so, segmented approaches of the causal model are retained to provide specific recommendations.