Ebay Inc. (San Jose, Calif.) has entered into a trial “click and collect” partnership with U.K. retailer Argos to set up in-store collection lockers for online purchases.
The trial, involving 50 Ebay merchants, will initially run for six months in 150 Argos stores. Home Retail Group Plc (Milton Keynes, U.K.), parent of the 737-store Argos chain of catalogue stores, declined to comment on whether Ebay will pay for the service and which stores will participate in the trial.
Click and collect is one of the U.K.’s fastest-growing purchasing methods as more people shop online. Ebay, the world’s biggest online marketplace, already takes part in the Collect+ service in the U.K., where customers can collect their parcel at one of more than 5000 local stores.