Multi-store Click & Collect

Click & Collect was a proven success. It took over £1.5m in 2025, and orders more than doubled year on year. But customers could only collect from the flagship store, and the whole journey was built around it.

When a new store opened in Acton in 2026, customers started asking to collect from there. My task was to let them choose a store and switch any time, without breaking their basket. I was the sole designer, over about three months.

Everything assumed one store. Press Collect and the item went straight into your basket for collection at New Southgate, with no choice of store. You couldn't pick a store and see its stock as you browsed either. On every product page you had to press the stock link again. And nobody gave a postcode until checkout. With building materials, that's risky:

• Stock differs by store. Switch store and half your basket might not be available there.
• Delivery had the same gap. People could fill a cart with heavy items, then find out we couldn't deliver to them.

The challenge was to be honest with customers about what we could do, without slowing everyone else down.

I used feedback forms, customer and stakeholder interviews, and GA4 and Clarity data. Three types of customer stood out:

• The Click & Collect customer wants to know what's available fast, and wanted other stores too.
• The in-store customer wants to know what we've got and where it is.
• The delivery customer needs to know we can deliver before building a basket.

Asked what he needed to make a decision, one in-store customer said: "How much is it, where is it, and how can I get it."

We settled on modals. Four of them, recognisably similar but each triggered at a different moment. Your choice then follows you through the product page, basket and checkout.

• Collect opens the first time you press Collect, showing only stores that offer it.
• Deliver asks for a postcode up front, so you only see what we can deliver.
• Check in-store stock shows traffic-light stock levels and aisle locations for every store.
• Set store sits in the top bar, available from any page.

Changing store is loud instead of silent. If you have collection items in your basket, a warning shows before you switch, and anything that no longer fits is flagged before checkout.

The cart is split into Click & Collect and Deliver. Each side updates on its own, items can move between them, and if you ask for more than a store has, it tells you exactly how many are available.

I tested with 5 trade users and some internal testers. A stakeholder wanted a disabled Collect button with a small link underneath. I pushed for one clear button instead.

Reviews have stayed very positive since launch.

The basket warning says something might change, but not what. I'd make it specific, like "2 items aren't available at Acton", so people know before they switch.