How Click and Collect Can Save You Money

click and collect

I recently decided to do some updating to my home office. I wanted to get a new bookshelf along with a desk. IKEA was my natural choice to obtain these items given their affordable prices, which helps as their instructions will test anyone’s patience level. After browsing their site, I found the things I was looking for and rather than go into the store, I opted for their click and collect pick-up option to avoid having to walk around the store.

My total came to about $250, and the click and collect an additional $5 on top, excluding taxes. I was able to get a next-day pick-up but only in the afternoon. I was hoping to get a morning pick-up, but at least I could start my office re-design the next day.

Patience is a virtue, except when it comes to Ikea’s needs.

The following day I work up and really wanted to get to work on my office re-design. I decided since the items were already in the store, I would drive down in the morning and collect the items myself. After looking online and confirming I was able to cancel my online order, I drove down to the IKEA store, which is about an hour and a half away from me.

Upon arriving at the store, I checked in with the click and collect staff and advised I had a pick-up order for the afternoon, but I will instead be collecting the items myself. The friendly staff advised me I could cancel my order via email. I thought “sweet” and cancelled the order and proceeded to locate the items within the store.

Ikea, you beautiful frustrating playground.

Before continuing this story, you must understand a little about me. I hate going to the mall; the thought of going to Costco or any large mall drives me crazy.

That’s why it was odd to feel this wonderful and inspirational feeling as I entered IKEA.

I thought, why stop at just getting the desk and bookshelf I came for, there was so much more stuff that would enhance my office, and since I’m already here, I might as well browse a little, which is what I did.

I probably spent an hour and a half walking through this beautiful inspirational playground called IKEA, and every corner I turned seemed to deliver a new idea for my office.

We don’t spend money. We seek emotional fulfilment with our money

To reduce this blog post, I will get to the heart of the store.

I only needed a new desk and two small bookshelves for my office. However, I came out of IKEA with a desk, two small bookshelves, a picture frame, an inspirational quote frame, and a box for throwing out my recycling papers, which all amounted to $350. An extra $100 more than I had planned to spend when I initially went into the store.

If I had stuck with my click and collect option, I wouldn’t have spent this extra $100 because I wouldn’t have provided myself with the opportunity to be tempted or, as I thought at the time, be inspired by IKEA. Furthermore, by the time I did all this inspirational shopping, ¾ of my day was gone.

IKEA is fully aware of this, and it’s precisely why they set up the store in the manner they do. They are also mindful that most of their shoppers are fully aware of the trap in the store layout, but they know once shoppers like me go into the store, well, it’s game over.

What is click and collect?

I should probably explain what click and collection shopping is if you’re unfamiliar with it. A click and collect shopping option allows you to purchase an item from a store’s online website, such as IKEA, and then pick up those items directly from the store. This saves you time as you don’t need to walk through the store to gather the things you purchased. Instead, the store’s staff are the ones who will pick (shop) up the items for you once you’ve placed the order online. Once the order is ready, you head to the store and pick up the things you’ve ordered online. Click and collection shopping is now becoming a standard shopping option provided by many retailers such as Walmart, Superstore, and Save-on-Food, to name a few.

Why click and collect shopping save you money

Saving money can be challenging because often, the things we spend our money on provide us short-term emotional satisfaction at the expense of our long-term financial well-being.

Since all of us are likely to fall for emotional traps other human beings set for us from time to time. Utilizing a click and collect shopping option is a fantastic way to avoid such trappings when shopping and keep control in your hands.

A click and collection option can reduce the chances of overspending, as when you go online, you can purchase what you need. Browsing online doesn’t have the same emotional satisfaction or “inspiration” as it might offer when walking through a store. Online shopping requires you to enter what you are looking for before being presented with potential add on (spending traps).

Furthermore, shopping online doesn’t give you immediate access to physical products, which delays the joy of holding something you purchased. Therefore, even if you purchase something you didn’t mean to, most of the time, it’s possible to cancel that purchase.

However, when you buy something in a store, there is an immediate connection to that item as you have an ownership claim to it. Even if you do not require it, it’s harder to let go of the item as you now view it as something you own due to the immediate connection you can have with having the product immediately.

Online shopping can still be tempting; however, I think utilizing click and collection options can give you greater control over what you wish to buy. Avoid the emotional trappings stores have in them to tempt you into buying more things you may not need.

IKEA click and collect is the only way I plan to buy things moving forward. I don’t need the inspirational walkthrough as my bank account cannot handle the inspirational cost of such a trip. I encourage you also to adopt click and collection shopping options.

Having said that, I have to give credit where credit is due. IKEA, you are a wonderful inspirational frustrating mess of a store. But for you and I to work, I can only see you in a short quick visit and I rather not come inside your store moving forward. For me, all I need is your click and collect option.

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