Photo: Target
Glenn Taylor
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from the Retail TouchPoints website.
Only 31.6 percent of consumers describe the process of collecting items ordered online in the store as “smooth” compared to 66 percent that describe online shopping that way, according to the “Great Omnichannel Expectations Shopper Survey” from iVend Retail.
The dissatisfaction with buy online/pick up in-store (BOPIS) represents a significant area of opportunity for retailers, since more than half (57 percent) of U.S. and Canadian consumers said they have ordered an item online for collection in a store.
When it comes to choosing BOPIS, most consumers (65.3 percent) simply want to save on shipping costs. The second most important reason to use BOPIS is convenience, cited by 29.2 percent.
“Many consumers don’t like paying for shipping, and they also don’t want to be inconvenienced by waiting for deliveries,” the report said. “Consider, as well, the widespread reports of packages not being delivered in time for the holidays in recent years, which has understandably led to customers’ frustrations.”
Ranking lower as a reason to use BOPIS was being able to return an item immediately if the shopper doesn’t like it (23.5 percent); being able to deal with an error immediately (20.9 percent); and the appeal of going to the store (17.5 percent).
To improve BOPIS, the report suggests brands should utilize knowledge of previously purchased items to arm sales associates for cross-sell opportunities upon collection. Logistically, retailers would have to master new stock allocation and storage processes for BOPIS to function effectively, as brands that continue to allocate stock for each channel individually will be burdened by excess inventory.
The report states, “There is still work to be done to integrate e-commerce, inventory management, and in-store systems to improve the in-store collection experience for customers.”