Online grocery shopping has hit the record in its sales and revenue in this pandemic period. Buyers are forced to stay at home and this has created a huge demand for online grocery delivery apps. Still people prefer in-store pick-up shopping that has major advantages when compared with regular online grocery shopping. So it has become mandatory to have buy online, pick-up in store (BOPIS) features in any online grocery platform. Let us understand more about buy online pick-up in store features and its cool benefits.
In the past few months, Buy online and pick up in store has reached tremendous growth. People are well-aware about the benefits of BOPIS and they started preferring this method of buying things they want online. The latest survey proves the remarkable change in customers’ buying behavior. Here buy online, pick up in-store statistics.
- Every brand is witnessing their customers are selecting the BOPIS option 4 times when compared to their last purchase done a few months back.
- 70% of customers are going for multiple BOPIS purchases.
- Half of the buyers prefer brands that have a BOPIS option.
- In April 2020, the BOPIS sales reached 504% growth which is an unbelievable number.
- In 2021, around 90% of retailers are expected to provide BOPIS options for all their products.
Table of Contents
How does ‘buy online and pick up in-store’ works?
If you are new to the term BOPIS, then you will get clear information about the entire process. The process is quite simple and easy to follow and people find it to be a better one to get their products with high quality.
Ordering through website or mobile app
Customers can select the nearby store through the grocery mobile app or website that has buy online and pickup in store features. Customers can also select their convenient time to pick up products directly from the local store that is easily visible in the platform.
Order fulfillment
When a buyer prefers click and collect option there are two possibilities to happen
Possibility 1 – the ordered product may be available in the selected store. The items will be packed by the concerned associate and the buyer will receive notification through the app that the items are ready for pickup. Buyer will reach the local store on the allotted time and will collect the product without wasting any time.
Possibility 2 – the ordered product may not be available in the selected store. Now the associate will look for nearby stores and will arrange for the items that are unavailable. Once the product is arranged and reaches the store, the buyer will get the intimation through app notification and can go and collect the order.
Pick-up process
Through the push notification feature the buyer will receive notification from the pickup grocery app either through SMS, email or whatsapp. Many leading grocery platforms support curbside pickup that facilitates buyers to reach the store and collect products without getting down from their vehicle.
Sellers are in advantage with ‘Click and Collect’
Sellers are highly benefited with this click and collect process. This improvises customer experience and sellers mainly prefer to have BOPIS feature in the grocery platform. Now let us check out the sellers buy online, pick up in-store benefits in detail.
- Chances for additional purchase is high – The opportunity to sell more is high whenever the consumer enters the store. They may be there just to pick up their orders that they have ordered through their grocery app, They gets intimated to buy more from the store. As per the recent survey conducted in the US, around 49% of click and collect shoppers prefer additional shopping.
- Reduced hassel free on returns – Every e-retailer’s major task is to minimize product returns. It is really a time-consuming and cost-spending process as you need to repack the item and send it again to the customer place and rework on the entire process. Fortunately this can be reduced through the ‘click and collect’ process.
- Get more orders – Around 64% of cart abandonment happens due to high delivery charges. Delivery charge is unavoidable when you expect door delivery. But when you go for the ‘click and collect’ option you can directly visit your nearby store and without paying for delivery you can pay the exact price of the product ordered.
Reasons why customers prefer Buy online and Pick up in-store
Customers find many valid reasons to embrace BOPIS. They have started accepting the BOPIS option easily and this tends to grow the sale of any grocery store in recent days. Let us understand the reasons why buyers prefer BOPIS.
- More convenient– Customers get real-time updates regarding their BOPIS services through app notification. They will be notified about the time slot when they need to pick up their items from the nearby grocery store. This gives more comfort to buyers as it saves their precious time and without waiting they can go and collect their products at ease.
- No delivery or shipping charges – Customers are ready to pay delivery charges. Around 31% of consumers have strongly protested against delivery charges charged by many leading grocery platforms. This is why BOPIS has gained more attention from customers as there is no delivery charge for ‘click and collect’ orders.
- Check and buy– ‘Click and Collect’ feature has allowed customers to check and buy the product at the local store. This quality check is highly enjoyed by customers and they get fully satisfied with their purchase with the grocery store.
Challenges while implementing BOPIS
Although there is a great reach for BOPIS, still implementing the same has many challenges to be faced. One needs to analyze the challenges and should know the solution so that you can be benefited by having BOPIS in your grocery store.
Difficult in understanding the technology – BOPIS is an advanced feature that is emerging in recent days. Even several online grocery stores doesn’t have this ‘click and collect’ feature. In this scenario, many retailers are new to e-grocery stores and so it is quite difficult for them to understand what an e-grocery store is about and then they need to get used to most of the advanced features like BOPIS.
Need of store administrator who understands buyers’ need – Another greater challenge is allotting skilled personnel who can easily handle BOPIS orders effectively. They should know better packing and should make products ready for ‘click and collect’ on the allotted time slot.
Logistical challenge– The most difficult part for any grocery store associate is to read the mind of buyers. They may visit the local store to collect the items they have ordered, but will need to change the item or want to replace them with another. So the store should be ready to accept any sort of orders and so should have proper inventory maintenance to meet the customer demands.
Step-by-Step Solutions
There is no problem without a solution. Likewise, challenges we face while implementing the ‘click and collect’ option in our marketplace platform can be solved by providing proper solutions as listed below.
Provide consistent shopping experience
Users use grocery apps and even grocery platforms to order grocery items. So they have experience of using all smart device interfaces. It is very essential to provide consistency in all platforms so that they should not feel the difference in the interface. To implement the BOPIS option in your grocery platform, you need to provide an Omni-channel shopping experience.
Dedicated manpower to handle ‘Click and collect’ orders
To reduce order confusion you need to allot separate personnel to handle BOPIS orders. That person can compile orders, and inform the pick-up time to customers to come and collect orders from the grocery store. So without hassel free daily business operations, you can easily streamline the click and collect process.
Provide multiple pick-up options
To simplify the ‘click and collect service you need to provide multiple pick-up options. Users should be allowed to collect grocery items from stores through an in-store pickup facility where buyers enter the grocery store and will collect orders or a curbside pick-up facility that allows buyers to collect from stores.
Active communication
After receiving orders through the BOPIS option, retailers should be able to communicate to buyers through your grocery ecommerce store. This will help to reduce unwanted product returns at the time of delivery. Prior intimation can be given to customers and they can get alerts regarding their time-slot.
Zielcommerce’s Store locator and Pickup Module for an eCommerce store
Zielcommerce is well-known for its technological updates. The platform supports ‘click and collect’ option and will let your retailers and your customers enjoy the benefits of BOPIS in their purchase and sales. This is mainly possible as Zielcommerce is integrated with a store locator and Pickup module that will facilitate the store owner to easily provide a BOPIS option to buyers. Zielcommerce engages in-store shopping experience to buyers and gives a new view to their shopping style.
With Geo-location functionality, buyers can easily find the nearby stores and opt for ‘click and collect’ option. Through our exclusively developed app, users will get app notification that will intimate them about the place and time to collect products.
The retailer will also get proper notification about the pick-up orders and they will start the order processing and ensures smooth shopping. Thus we support increasing foot traffic in brick-and-mortar stores.
Conclusion
BOPIS is considered to be the next wave in online grocery shopping and you need to get ready to accept the changes that your ecommerce store is going to face. Always get yourself updated with latest technology and know the ups and downs of the advancements. You need to analyze more about them and should have solutions for all challenges that BOPIS needs to face.
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