eBay customers will be able to collect their purchases from local Argos stores in one of the biggest ever link-ups between an online and high street retailer.
The new “click and collect” trial will be rolled out across 150 of Argos’s most successful stores, including many in London, although exact locations have yet to be decided.
Businesses that sell through the eBay website will be involved in the scheme and, if successful, it is hoped it could be rolled out across the country.
With increasing numbers of customers keen to use “click and collect” services, eBay is hoping to challenge its bigger rival Amazon’s dominance, especially since the latter has been at odds with some of its sellers after raising the fees it charges.
However, orders through the new eBay service will take at least one day to process, unlike current Argos products, which can be ready to collect in a matter of minutes following an online order.
Amazon customers have responded positively to the company’s provision of lockers at key locations across the capital, including rail stations and near busy offices, where orders can be collected, avoiding the need for to wait in for deliveries or pick them up at local sorting offices.
Devin Wenig, eBay President, said: “The distinction between offline and online shopping continues to blur.
“At eBay we continue to find new ways to connect buyers and sellers. Our mission is connecting people with the things they need and love.” Argos claims to have invented “click and collect” in 2000 — a system that ultimately saved the retailer from collapse.
More customers now opt to collect goods they have ordered online in store than chose home delivery.
John Walden, managing director of Argos, said: “We look forward to assessing the opportunity for Argos to provide fulfilment for eBay’s merchants, including the operational requirements, attractiveness to sellers and consumers, and opportunity for increased customer footfall.”
However, a similar link-up in the US, under which Amazon put its lockers in Radioshack and Staples, proved unsuccessful and was cancelled when footfall failed to increase.
