Business

Click-and-collect economy 'worth £1.34bn in Northern Ireland' says Barclays report

The click-and-collect economy is worth over £1.34 billion in Northern Ireland according to a report from Barclays
The click-and-collect economy is worth over £1.34 billion in Northern Ireland according to a report from Barclays The click-and-collect economy is worth over £1.34 billion in Northern Ireland according to a report from Barclays

CLICK-and-collect shopping will be worth £1.34 billion in Northern Ireland this year, according to a new report by Barclays Corporate Banking.

Its latest thought leadership study ‘What’s in store for retail?’, which looks at the rise of hybrid shopping (it covers both physical and digital interactions) found that click-and-collect now accounts for 39.2 per cent of sales for retailers who offer the service in Northern Ireland, up from 27.3 per cent a year ago.

The popularity of the service - where goods are bought online, but picked up from a physical store - grew during the pandemic.

But unlike pure online sales, which peaked during that period, it has continued to grow as lockdown restrictions eased, indicating that it is a consumer behaviour which is likely here to stay.

Barclays says the click-and-collect economy also underpins 3,600 jobs across the industry in Northern Ireland, which equates to 3 per cent of the region’s overall retail workforce.

And almost a third physical stores in Northern Ireland (31.1 per cent) are now used as click-and-collect locations.

But the report says materials are currently placing a strain on retailers’ profitability in the north, and consumers here are looking to cut 32.5 per cent off their retail outgoings in the months ahead as the rising cost of living begins to take hold.

Adrian Doran, head of corporate banking for Barclays in Northern Ireland, said: “Perhaps more than any other sector over the past two years, retail has been forced into a period of accelerated evolution.

“The pandemic drove everyone online, and now the rising cost-of-living is increasing business outgoings while reducing consumer spending.

“But encouragingly for Northern Ireland’s retail sector, businesses are adapting their sales models to weather these financial storms as effectively as possible.

“Links between digital and physical shopping are evolving, which are opening up new opportunities and ways to generate income.”