Ebay and Argos announce 'click-and-collect' tie-up

Bosses from eBay and Argos have described how consumers should benefit from a pilot scheme which means shoppers can collect purchases made via the e-commerce site from 150 of the high street chain's stores.

Ebay president of marketplaces Devin Wenig told the BBC: "It's about the repositioning of retail to deal with a technology savvy consumer. It's about eBay bringing about this merger of the on and offline world, and ultimately consumers win."

Argos managing director John Walden said he saw the chain's stores as "a strategic advantage... It's shifting to a battleground around fulfilment - how fast and how inexpensively can consumers obtain their products."