holland and barrett

Holland & Barrett has rolled out its in-store ordering system across its 700-strong UK estate.

The move gives customers access to three times the normal physical range that a Holland & Barrett store holds and means they can shop all the retailer’s 8,000 SKUs from any store in the UK, however small.

“Order in store easily trebles the breadth of offering in most stores, while even in our largest More stores we are more than doubling the range,” explained Holland & Barrett International director of projects Ray Aldis.

He said that coupled with delivery options to a Holland & Barrett store, a Parcel Shop or any private address across the EU, the in-store ordering system brought another level of choice and convenience to customers.

The rollout follows a trial in 22 stores in the north of the country. A further 52 stores in the Republic of Ireland will receive it over the coming weeks.

Holland & Barrett said it had developed its existing software applications to facilitate in-store ordering with staff able to take a customer’s order through their tills.

The development is part of the health retailer’s efforts to bring its online and in-store offers closer together. It rolled out next-day click & collect to all stores in August, following a partnership with InPost, allowing customers to pick up online orders from parcel lockers at retail outlets, petrol stations and supermarkets.

Earlier, in 2013, it launched a new e-commerce platform and EPoS tills in its shops, which helped the online division grow from 7% of total sales last year to 8.5% this year.

It is now fulfilling nearly 100,000 orders each month on its hollandandbarrett.com site and shipped to about 30 countries from its dedicated warehouse in the Midlands.