The best practice for click and collect stores is “customer-centricity” vs product fulfillment. The single greatest opportunity and challenge for click and collect stores is to make the customer experience outstanding. Yes, that starts with rapid fulfillment of the product ordered. But the customer came to the store for a reason … and that creates an amazing touchpoint opportunity for staff to interact and assist customers beyond processing orders.

The most successful retailers with click and collect are seeing this as a new opportunity to upgrade staff from “cashiers” to customer engagement staff who can create a face-to-face experience that can not be found online.

Ship-from-store is great for consumers if retailers can properly manage inventories. No consumer wants to drive to a store in search of an item only to find that it’s out of stock. It’s bad for business. BOPIS orders should be filled promptly, with as little customer wait time as possible. Both ship from store and BOPIS can become nightmares if not managed properly.

Bringing all portions of the organization into the omnichannel space engages added retail associates in the opportunity to service the customer and enjoy the satisfaction that retail brings to store associates.

Just as in each of our personal lives, retail associates will perform better if provided with objectives, those being — something to do, something to hope for and someone to love. In the support of ship-from-store services, the ideal time to demonstrate the love and appreciation of a customer is when they are directly in front of us.

Although omnichannel purchases are rising, many retailers are still playing catch-up. There is a growing list of retailers providing inventory visibility to customers, but most still do not have robust enough systems to show it accurately and in real-time. Inventory visibility is just the starting point of omnichannel retail.

So will click and collect and ship-from-store be a differentiator this holiday season? I would say YES. Unlike the retailers mentioned above, many retailers are still not there. If you have it NOW is the time to REALLY tout your capabilities to your customers!

As for customers who come in-store for pickups, from last season ICSC estimated that 69 percent will purchase another item. So make sure to make the pickup quick and easy, and train all the service reps to suggest an add-on item to that sale. Chances are that those who suggest another item will have a pleased consumer who increases their purchase based on the suggestion. Happy selling!

Click and collect can be a great differentiator and a great opportunity if done right. There must also be adequate staff with clear responsibilities to make it work. I have heard that there have been grumblings from store employees about becoming warehouse pickers and packers. The picking part is a bit of a whine since staff are constantly putting things back on the shelf and helping shoppers find what they are looking for, but I would agree that a person hired as store staff might not be the right person to handle packing.

Bottom-line though, in this world of ever increasing online shopping and delivery, a chance to actually connect with the consumer can make a huge difference. And faster home delivery service can do wonders for the reputation.

This is one retailers will need to get right, for my 2 cents!

It will be imperative for associates to know their own products extremely well. For example, a customer may buy a marketplace product (sold by a third-party seller) and then either pick it up or return it in the retailer’s store. If the customer has questions, it is an opportunity for the associate to sell a complementary product from the retailer’s own stock, or to replace the item with the retailer’s own product. Store associates will need to think with more of a customer mindset, understanding how products fit customer needs, and then have a way to sell it to the customer.

It comes down to the overall customer experience every single time. If it’s easy, quick and accurate with friendly service then it meets the expectation and will get talked about over and over again, building a consistent brand, driving loyalty and bringing in more customers to experience it. As for job descriptions, these are arguably THE most important employees for the business — make them feel like it by calling them customer experience associates or the like.

This has already become “table stakes” in the retail biz in the U.S. Those that are making this work have a deep commitment at store level and ensure the staff put high priority on managing incoming online orders. I had a great experience at Target this week with such an order. Stress-free.

This is a fascinating discussion, full of interesting points.

On the one hand, numerous companies and studies have shown sales increases of 20% – 30% from Buy Online Pickup In Store. Plus the elimination of shipping costs.

On the other hand, a consumer survey by Ivend showed that only 31.6% of Click & Collect customers found the pickup process to be “smooth.”

So the opportunities are there for the taking, so long as execution is impeccable. This slideshare about Buy Online Pickup In Store is a good primer for someone reading along who wants to get a clear view of the potential upside and the important execution issues to resolve before making the leap.