Sears Holdings is testing a new version of its MyGofer store pickup service aimed at busy urban professionals.
For now, the MyGofer Express pilot, launched last week, is being tested at its downtown Chicago location. Locals can order all of the Sears Holdings brands, including Craftsman, Kenmore and Lands' End, as well as groceries and perscriptions from nearby Kmarts. Also available will be goods from local vendors, including Chicago Cupcake, Mon Ami Jewelry and The Clay Pot Flower Shop in the Loop. After ordering online, customers pick up their purchases the same day at the flagship Sears State Street location.
"If I'm at work and I need to pick up a few things, I may not have the opportunity to shop at a store, I just have enough time to stop at a store," Kevin Lyons, Sears Holdings divisional vice president of integrated retail experience, told the Chicago Tribune. "I might want to pick up some cupcakes ... a blender from Sears and a case of popcorn from Kmart. I can get those all in one place at the express location."
MyGofer, launched in 2009, enables shoppers to buy Kmart merchandise (groceries, prescriptions, health and beauty products, and electronics, etc.) through MyGofer.com or the mygofer2go mobile app and pick them up at a Kmart store in as little as two hours. Customers don't even have to leave their cars.
Speaking to the Trib, Carol Spieckerman, president of Newmarketbuilders and a RetailWire BrainTrust panelist, said the focus on urbanites under MyGofer Express is smart because they place a high value on convenience.
In-store MyGofer pickups are free with same-day delivery available for a fee. Sears' competitors all seem to offer free in-store pickup although only for merchandise available in the store. Most appear to be focusing more on fee-based same-day delivery versus in-store pickup.
Sears Domestic and Kmart online sales increased approximately 20 percent in 2012 with the largest growth occurring in multi-channel transactions (buy online, pickup in- store and order in-store, ship-to-home), which now make up approximately half of its online business.