A new retail white paper by Barclays Corporate Banking, What's 'in-store' for retail, reveals the value of click-and-collect to the South West economy - £2.89bn in 2022. Click-and-collect also supports 15,500 jobs across the South West retail industry.

The report reveals the £2.89bn spent on click-and-collect is 33.4% of the South West retail sector's total income this year among businesses who offer the service. The number of jobs it supports is 4.7% of the region's workforce in retailers with over 10 employees.

The study - 'What's in store for retail?' – focuses on retail businesses with over ten employees, and looks at the rise of 'hybrid' shopping, which involves both physical and digital interactions. Click-and-collect, where goods are bought online but picked up from a physical store, now accounts for 33.4% of sales for retailers who offer the service in the South West, up from 31.8% a year ago.

The popularity of the service grew during the pandemic but, unlike pure online sales which peaked during that period, it has continued to grow post the lifting of lockdown restrictions, indicating that click-and-collect is a consumer behaviour that is here to stay.

The click-and-collect economy now also underpins 15,500 jobs across the industry in the South West, which equates to 4.7% of the region's retail workforce. Over a third of physical stores in the South West (37.7%) are now used as click-and-collect locations, with (37.4%) also being used to process returns.

Barclays' data demonstrates how online and physical retail sales channels are becoming more intertwined. Consumers in the South West like to research products online and in-store in equal measure across a number of products, including fashion (33.1%), homewares (31.7%), entertainment (31.2%).

The research reveals that having both an online and physical presence can be advantageous for a retailer's appeal. Over a fifth (22.5%) of consumers in the South West say they can be hesitant when buying from online-only brands, a figure which drops to under one in 10 (9.3%) when businesses also have physical stores.

Support for store shopping, but locations are changing

Despite the increasing popularity of online shopping, there is still support for high streets. When asked whether there is a future for physical retail space, 67.6% of consumers in the South West agreed that there is, of whom 31.2% strongly agreed. However, there is a clear demographic split across the UK: just over half (54%) of 16-24-year-olds believe in the future of the physical store, compared with almost three quarters (74%) of over 55s.

What the report clearly spells out is that, following the inevitable acceleration in the shift to digital during the pandemic, consumers are now returning to stores to make their purchases with confidence, and trust in bricks and mortar stores is still strong.

Almost all (96%) retailers in the South West feel that operating a physical store is vital to their business success. However, many are re-evaluating where their real estate is based, to make sure they occupy the most appealing destinations for consumers. Over a quarter (27.3%) of retailers from the South West have reduced the number of stores they have in city centres, while 47.4% have increased their presence in retail parks. An increased presence in retail parks will likely be popular with South Western shoppers, 22.5% of whom say it is their preferred location for a store.