Wickes customers hit by ‘system-wide’ online ordering problems

Home improvement retailer Wickes’ online ordering system is understood to be suffering technical difficulties that are affecting its home delivery and click-and-collect services.

Computer Weekly understands the company is suffering from a “system-wide” problem that is preventing it from confirming whether customer orders have been received, despite payments being taken.

In a private Twitter exchange shared with Computer Weekly, a company representative said its IT department is currently investigating the issue, with a view to pushing through order confirmations to all affected customers as soon as possible.

Wickes operates more than 240 stores across the UK, and has made a concerted push in recent years to build out its multi-channel presence. It introduced a new-look online storefront in 2014, which also heralded the launch of its click-and-collect service.

According to annual accounts documents filed by its parent company, Travis Perkins, with Companies House on 9 June 2017, the firm committed to a four-year IT investment programme in 2016 to ensure its core, group IT systems remain “fully fit for the future”.

The company invested £48m in the programme for the 2016 financial year, up from £28m the previous year.

The documents also revealed that Wickes achieved online sales in excess of £100m for the first time during 2016, with the expansion of its click-and-collect service and the introduction of same-day and one-hour online delivery slots being cited as key sales drivers during the period.

Computer Weekly contacted Wickes for further clarification about the nature of the technical issues, and received the following statement in response.  

"There was a technical issue with the one of our systems, causing a slight delay in some orders awaiting delivery confirmation. While this issue was quickly resolved, we’d like to apologise for any inconvenience caused and assure our customers that any orders placed, have now been processed and will be fulfilled," a company spokesperson said.