Argos is one example, reporting growth in use of its Check and Reserve service around the time of the strikes, and providing an example for other multichannel retailers of how to minimise the disruption caused by postal strikes.
In the last week of October, the volume of customers using Check and Reserve was up by 100% year on year. Now, the service has been growing anyway, as we reported earlier in the year, but the strikes have clearly had an effect.
Argos has seen growth in Check and Reserve orders over the past six months or so anyway, but this growth was at around 50%, so the effects of the strike on orders are clear to see.
Some Check and Reserve categories grew more than others; orders of small consumer electricals like iPods doubled during the last week of the Royal Mail strikes compared with earlier in the month, there were four times as many laptop reservations, while DAB radio orders grew 140% year on year.
As it happens, Argos wasn't as inconvenienced as some other retailers by the strikes, as it has an in-house delivery network, and only relies on Royal Mail for around 1% of deliveries.
Still, customer concerns about delivery resulting from the news coverage seems to have affected online retailers, whether they used a courier or not. Argos, like others, chose to add clear messages to the site to reassure customers about delivery, and also pointed customers towards the multichannel option.
Check & Reserve is the biggest multichannel growth area for Argos, and seems to be paying off, something other multichannel retailers should take note of.
