We’ve talked often about the COVID-19 changed consumer behaviors—likely permanently. Buy Online, Pickup In-Store (BOPIS) is one of the shopping habits the pandemic impacted.
According to a survey, commissioned by Package Concierge®, a provider of automated locker solutions, and conducted by Hanover Research, the use of BOPIS grew nearly 500% during the pandemic. More than half the consumers surveyed plan to maintain their current frequency of BOPIS usage over the next year, while nearly one-third will increase their usage of BOPIS. And 48% of BOPIS users say they’re likely to use a BOPIS fulfillment method in the next three months.
This means, if you’re a retailer, you need to maintain your BOPIS offerings and make sure customers know about them. “Retailers have taken note of the accelerated BOPIS order trend and understand that consumers want choices when it comes to order fulfillment,” says Penny Lasater from Package Concierge’s retail division. “Savvy retailers are laser-focused on deploying scalable and financially viable BOPIS fulfillment options that meet the demands of the consumer, while offering the COVID-related advantage of a contactless experience.”
There are various ways to deploy BOPIS solutions. Examine what you’ve been doing this past year and see what worked and what didn’t. Ask the customers who took advantage of BOPIS how they felt about the experience. Was the notification process timely? What about their experience once people got to your store?
The survey from Package Concierge shows two-thirds of shoppers would use automated locker systems for pickup if it was offered, and 53% say locker options would influence their choice of retailer when shopping.
Buy Online stock photo by Christian Horz/Shutterstock
