Click-and-collect store technology

Click-and-collect works when the online promise, the store’s order record and the parcel at the counter agree. Useful technology links checkout, picking, customer notification and handoff. A new screen or scanner earns its place when it closes a specific gap in that workflow.

Follow the order through the store

At checkout, the customer needs to know where to collect and when to expect the order. Staff need the correct items, variants and collection location. After picking, they check the contents, put the order in a known holding spot and mark it ready. At collection, they find the parcel, verify the order and record the handoff.

Keep three stages distinct: ordered means the request was accepted; ready means the goods were checked and set aside; collected means the handoff happened. A ready message sent while staff are still looking for an item creates a promise the counter cannot keep.

Square’s Australian Order Manager lists in-progress, ready and completed statuses. The controls and notifications depend on the product and its configuration.

Square Order Manager can search and filter orders by type, status, source and payment source, and sort them by creation time, fulfilment time, customer name or order total. Its activity log records events such as status changes and items added or removed. These views can help staff check the current order record before preparing or releasing a parcel.

Choose the tools around the task

A store may need an order view for pickers, an identifier on the parcel, a searchable order view at the counter and a way to notify the customer. Consider a separate handoff tool when the existing commerce and point-of-sale systems cannot reliably help staff find, verify and close orders.

Check where each action happens. Can a picker see the exact variant and quantity, and can counter staff find an order by its reference? Can they see an outstanding item or cancellation before releasing a bag? If two systems disagree, staff need to know which record governs the order and who resolves the discrepancy.

Product settings shape the collection promise. Shopify lets merchants set pickup processing times by location and configure transfers of stock to the pickup location.

Square Online’s Australian setup offers pickup hours, timing and ticket-printing choices. Check the actual plan, permissions and connected systems before relying on any of these features.

Shopify vs Square: click-and-collect setup features

Set collection times against store operations

Shopify pickup must be activated for each location where customers can collect, and the store needs at least one location that fulfils online orders and the latest version of checkout. Customers can split an order between items for pickup and items for shipping. If pickup stock must be transferred from another location, checkout can show an estimated pickup time that accounts for the transfer.

Square Online can calculate pickup times using when orders are available, how soon they can be collected, when preparation starts, preparation time per order, how far ahead customers can order and limits on simultaneous pickups. Alternatively, manual timing lets the business provide its own instructions about when and how customers can collect.

Square’s pickup setup also records pickup hours and the time zone, and can mark dates when the location will not process orders. Ticket printing can be set to follow scheduled pickup times or to print as soon as orders are placed.

Typical click-and-collect timeline from order to handoff

Make the collection point clear

Customers should be able to identify the collection point and know whether to join a queue, speak to a colleague or announce arrival. Use the same location name and instructions at checkout, in the ready message and on store signage. Provide an assisted route for customers without a phone or confirmation message.

Store parcels so staff can retrieve them without searching through customer details in public view. An internal reference and holding location can connect the physical parcel to the order. Bulky, fragile and temperature-sensitive goods may need different storage and handling arrangements; confirm these before offering a collection time.

Prepare for changes

A customer may cancel, arrive early or ask someone else to collect. Stock may prove unavailable after the order is accepted. Decide who can approve a change, which system holds the current order and who contacts the customer. An edited sales record does not prove that a printed ticket, packed bag or earlier message has changed.

Shopify says unfulfilled items in an order can be edited, but some connected apps might not recognise edits. Orders created by an app generally can’t be edited in Shopify admin or by other apps. Square documents cancellation before fulfilment, with refund handled as a separate action. Check how the chosen setup handles each exception.

A payment can be refunded within one year of the original transaction; for Afterpay, the period is 120 days. The cancellation workflow allows staff to select reasons such as an item being out of stock or a customer request, then choose whether to proceed with a refund.

Trial the complete workflow

Use representative products and trading periods. Record how staff receive orders, how often a ready customer must wait, how long it takes to find a parcel and why handoffs fail. Walk through ordinary orders and cases involving missing stock, a wrong parcel, cancellation, early arrival and loss of system access.

Review orders ready by the promised time, incomplete picks, parcel retrieval time, unresolved changes and orders marked collected before a confirmed handoff. Separate stock and staffing delays from technology problems.

Include the staff permissions needed to carry out the trial’s order changes. Shopify requires the store owner or a team member with the Edit orders permission to edit orders, and its guidance recommends creating test orders to verify the process. Check that changes appear correctly in the store’s fulfilment tools before relying on the workflow with customers.

Key click-and-collect performance metrics to track