Press Release
Halfords Surpass One-Millionth “Reserve and Collect” Milestone
10 September 2009
Salmon, specialists in delivering eCommerce solutions and responsible for delivering Halfords.com “Reserve and Collect” proposition back in 2008, today announced that Halfords has officially reached their one-millionth reservation online for collection in store.
Halfords “Reserve and Collect” proposition continues to be a resounding success with Halfords customers; driving 90% growth in multi-channel revenue in the year to 3 April 2009. Halfords.ie has also recently launched the “Reserve and Collect” service and initial sales in Ireland have been encouraging and are growing.
Jon Asbury, Channel Development Manager for Halfords said, “The benefits of “Reserve and Collect” are plain. The channel is a powerful tool in driving incremental sales and one we will continue to develop with Salmon over the next few months. We believe it offers customers what they want, choice! It allows customers to do their research online and secure items for collection in store. Many of our customers don’t want to wait at home for a delivery, or pay delivery charges. By checking stock on line and reserving in store they avoid the disappointment of turning up to a store to find the item is out of stock, it also caters for those last minute buyers who don’t have 24 hours to wait for an item to be delivered.”
Neil Stewart, Commercial Director for Salmon said “The proposition is working well for our customers where “Reserve and Collect” is responsible for driving significant numbers of offline sales, and increasing multi-channel revenues. There is the challenge of ensuring online and offline channels are integrated, ensuring stock levels are kept up to date, but our customers have found the results far outweigh the investment and effort.”
Salmon have been helping Halfords implement their multi-channel strategy since 2005; responsible for designing, developing and integrating the eCommerce platform with its other channels such as stores and contact centre. Salmon also provides 24x7x365 application management and support services for the IT based solutions it has developed.
About Halfords
The Group employs in excess of 10,000 staff and sells over 10,000 different product lines, ranging from car parts and cycles through to the latest in-car technology, alloy wheels, child seats, roof boxes and outdoor leisure and camping equipment. Halfords' own brands include Ripspeed, for car enhancement and Bikehut, for cycles and cycling accessories, including the Apollo and Carrera brands. Two further premium brands were added during 2008; Boardman cycles and accessories, where Halfords has exclusive UK distribution rights, and URBAN Escape for camping equipment. Operating from 467 stores, including five stores in the Czech Republic, and 25 smaller format, neighbourhood stores, Halfords offers a "wefit" service for car parts, child seats, satellite navigation and in-car entertainment systems, and a “werepair” service for cycles. Halfords: shop in store, buy on line, or use "Reserve & Collect" service to acquire products on line at http://www.halfords.com.