Pargo, the logistics company that brought click and collect to the South African market, confirms this trend. The company reports having seen increased adoption of its delivery service by both shoppers and e-tailers, leading to a 226% order growth in 2019.
Pargo’s 2019 delivery data suggests its click and collect market share grew to 31%. This implies that on average 1 in 3 online shoppers used its pickup service as their preferred delivery option, up from 1 in 5 shoppers a year earlier and 1 in 20 shoppers back in 2015 when the company was founded.
Click and collect adoption in South Africa has steadily risen over the last 5 years. According to Pargo, today on average 31% of shoppers prefer to collect their orders from a store instead of a traditional courier delivery to their door. This is 6 times higher than the 5% in 2015.
Asked why shoppers prefer to click and collect, 68% of responders indicated that they didn’t have to wait at home for a courier all day as their main reason. Other reasons were ‘a lack of trust in courier and postal services’ and 43% answered that they lived or worked in an area (township, office block or residential estate) that was not accessible to couriers.
Pargo’s network of pick-up points exceeded 2,500 in 2019 – making it the most expansive collection point solution in South Africa, covering 87% of the nation’s postal codes.
South African retailers increasingly view click and collect as a necessary delivery option for South Africans. Among the benefits of offering customers a convenient delivery method with extended collection hours and easy returns, businesses offering the service can access previously untapped audiences of online shoppers.
With 75% of the population living in areas that are more challenging to service by couriers and 37% of collections happening over weekends and in the evenings, Pargo says it’s clear that pick-up points allow online retailers to access more online shoppers by simply integrating click and collect on their check out page
Pargo enhanced its service in 2019 with the introduction of 'instant click and collect'. The service cuts out delivery time completely by making products instantly available for customers at pick-up points once they have confirmed their purchase online. According to the company, thousands of shoppers make use of the service every day.
