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Many retail stores are trying to relax the currently stricter crown measures on their own. Wherever regulations allow, they use their actually closed stores as collection points for products ordered online or by phone.
The Douglas perfume chain also announced that it was not only offering the collection service, but also wanted to keep some branches open. After all, inventory allows it to be called a pharmacy, he said. The Ver.di union in Hesse spoke of a “shameful undermining of the blockade.”
However, DIY stores or bookstores, department stores or electronics stores also look for loopholes: the Karstadt Kaufhof Gallery, for example, promises »Christmas gifts to the end«. Customers can reserve products online on short notice and then receive them contactless at branch pick-up stations.
The electronics chains Media Markt and Saturn currently use their branches as collection stations. A company spokesperson reported that there was a similar offer in the first lock and that customers were happy to use it. Furnishing specialist Butlers offers something similar.
Many booksellers, from the industry giant Thalia to the bookstore next door, are also trying to circumvent the financial consequences of the closure with offers to pick up. “Collection offers are particularly important for small bookstores,” says Thomas Koch of the German Book Trade Association. They benefited from close contact with their regular customers.
Fashion stores profit little
Hardware chains such as Obi, Bauhaus or Hornbach offer customers the ability to reserve the materials and products they need online and then collect them at the branches. Trade associations had fought for this collection solution, even if, based on industry assessments, several consumers could have used the last two days of sales before the hard close to buy their last gifts.
According to the Textile Trade Association (BTE), pickup offers referred to in Click & Collect jargon are currently less common in the fashion industry. There are some mid-size fashion stores that offer this service, said BTE spokesman Axel Augustin. “But we are a long way from saving the season.” It is often not worth keeping the store open. Because in view of the problem of fit, fashion is not as suitable as books or electronics.
Germany’s largest shoe retailer, Deichmann, offers its customers the opportunity to pick up shoes ordered online at branches during normal business hours. But at the closing, the company stopped the offering. Branches are closed, a spokesperson said.
Collection service prohibited in many federal states
However, there is a catch: collecting is allowed in most federal states, but by no means in all federal states. According to a list by the e-commerce association bevh, Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Saxony generally prohibit harvesting in their Corona regulations. In Thuringia, it is only allowed for bookstores.
For retailers, Click & Collect is an attempt to reduce the financial damage caused by blocking. “Retailers may not be very interested in it, but a little is better than none,” says retail expert Gerrit Heinemann of the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences.
For him, one thing is certain: “Above all, Click & Collect will help the big retailers, not the small ones that need it most.” The prerequisite for this is a working electronic merchandise management system that can reliably tell the customer whether the item is still in stock in the store or not. But many small merchants would not accept it. And if there are errors in the ordering process, customer problems are inevitable.
“For many small distributors, it would make more sense if they accepted orders by phone or fax and then delivered them themselves. Customers would greatly appreciate this service, after all it saves them trips and queues ”, estimates Heinemann.
