Is Click and Collect proving a flop?

[lane-ends]

When this first came out I had quite a few buyers use this. In recent times there has been almost none. Have buyers lost faith in picking up from Woolies?

[the4masters2013]

As a seller, I opted out as soon as it turned up. I find new buyers (only some, not all!) have trouble organising their paypay address with the correct details without having to add to their confusion. And mine also...!

Ebay can be a bit daunting at times for new buyers and sellers... been there, done the confusion bit!!!

The majority of buyers just don't want another lot of issues, like waiting for a code, Aussie Post stating the item has been delivered but no-one at Woolies knows or cares where it is.

I feel Ebay is also concerned about the lack of click and collect usage when I did a survey for them.

[jellybirddesigns]

I opted out right away as anything that inserts itself as another layer of handling between myself and the buyer is not a good thing.

I think a lot of sellers like myself have simply removed the option, so there are less opportunities for the buyer to select C&C.

[digital*ghost]

I think a lot of buyers would have initially been under the impression that it would be faster, that they could buy and go and collect as quickly as they can with any other retail store's C&C kind of service, which is usually a couple of business days at most.

Once they all realised that the items were still being posted from point A only to go to point A-1, then they had to wait for collection notice to get it to point B, the only customers who would have favoured it would be those who - for whatever reason - found it more convenient than getting a package delivered to their home, or work. 

[chameleon54]

According to the blurb that was published when C & C was introduced, it would allow people who could not easily get to the PO during work hours, to collect thier parcel from Woolies instead. in theory it actually sounds like a pretty good idea really.

The only problem is the staff at Woolies have a care factor of zero about ebay parcels. It just adds another very unreliable link in the already slightly dodgy delivery service chain. And we all know who gets put through the wringer and does the run around when a buyer doesnt recieve their parcel. Clue -  it aint Woolies or Ebay !!!!

[character_parties_aus]

Biggest issue I have with this other than the fact that eBay are sending my customers into the store of a comppetitor that is and driving sales off their own platform, is that people on several occassions think I am Big W or Woolworths and are sending me messages to that effect, i.e. my friend is collecting the parcel here is a copy of her ID and so on.  As the type of people who do that are generally...not the most intelligent...it takes a lot of effort to make them understand I am not Big W and can't help them, whilst being polite...and often to do with an item that cost $6 or $7 and I just want to send it and forget about it. Thanks eBay for once again increasing our workload.  Not a fan but unfortunately it has to be tolerated. We see a few sales going to Big W no idea if it is a flop but certainy hope it is.

I would like to know what happens if BIG W / Wollies lose a parcel marked as delivered though. What's the policy around that?

[4green2000]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

According to the blurb that was published when C & C was introduced, it would allow people who could not easily get to the PO during work hours, to collect thier parcel from Woolies instead. in theory it actually sounds like a pretty good idea really.

The only problem is the staff at Woolies have a care factor of zero about ebay parcels. It just adds another very unreliable link in the already slightly dodgy delivery service chain. And we all know who gets put through the wringer and does the run around when a buyer doesnt recieve their parcel. Clue -  it aint Woolies or Ebay !!!!

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100% correct from my experience... ..i wont select C&C ever again as its never gone smooth for me the few times i tried it.

[springyzone]

Biggest issue I have with this other than the fact that eBay are sending my customers into the store of a comppetitor that is and driving sales off their own platform, is that people on several occassions think I am Big W or Woolworths and are sending me messages to that effect, i.e. my friend is collecting the parcel here is a copy of her ID and so on.  As the type of people who do that are generally...not the most intelligent...it takes a lot of effort to make them understand I am not Big W and can't help them, whilst being polite...and often to do with an item that cost $6 or $7 and I just want to send it and forget about it. Thanks eBay for once again increasing our workload.  Not a fan but unfortunately it has to be tolerated. We see a few sales going to Big W no idea if it is a flop but certainy hope it is

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It's easy to jump to conclusions about customers, I've done it myself at times, but the thing to remember is that not every buyer is a regular on ebay or knows a lot about how it all works.

I know the first time I ever saw this click & collect on an ad, I also assumed the seller must be affliliated in some way with BigW.

It's  what I would call a natural conclusion, especially as it isn't on every ad, just on some. Plus a lot of sellers now are selling new stuff on a semi professional basis ie they don't come across as home sellers.

So even though a buyer may realise you are not BigW, they may assume a business association between the two of you.

Personally, what i found most confusing at the start was I wanted to buy something and did a double take to see the click & collect feature. It came across almost as the preferred feature because the font etc sticls out in the ad.

There is a BigW within walking distance of me but I really prefer things home delivered and it took me a while of re-reading and double checking to see that home delivery was also an option at no extra cost. I found it an odd option but I guess it might suit those who work long hours & aren't home during the day.

I can understand it all being a little bit confusing for new buyers though.

I wouldn't like to be a seller relying on click & collect if something goes wrong as trying to pinpoint where the problem/liability lies could be tricky sometimes.

[toothless_hogg]

When it was new I would typically see 1-2 items per day heading to a click & collect location, now it's 0-2 per week.

Something that may have caused a decline in usage is the expansion of Australia Post's parcel locker program. While Click & Collect has declined the use of parcel lockers has increased steadily during the same period, at least for what I've been selling.

[lyndal1838]

I am not a fan of Click and Collect from BigW/Woolworths athough I have used it.  When it was in it's infancy eBay was promoting it heavily with a 20% Discount Code when you bought from sellers who used it.

As it was coming up to Christmas I made full use of the promotion and bought a number of DVD sets from reliable sellers who I had bought from before,

The sellers posted very promptly and according to the ebay fantasy dates all items should have arrived at my local BigW with days to spare so we could collect them when we did the weekend shopping.

Needless to say, only one arrived by the due date and was collected with no problems, apart from a very long wait for the staff to find it.

The other parcels arrived well into the next week but with plenty of time for us to collect the following weekend.

Every day I kept getting emails from ebay to "remind" me that my items were ready for collection and not to leave it too long or they woud be returned to the sellers.  I was all too well aware that they were waiting for me  but could not get them till the weekend.  After the 4th day I started getting 2 emails a day from ebay.   I was so glad that the weekend arrived and the 3 items were collect....ebay was driving me insane with the constant reminders.

Having said that...if there is another 20% or higher promotion between now and Christmas I would probably use it again....I have a few more DVD sets that I want for Christmas gifts.