Many retailers have been left asking themselves: How can I continue to operate during a lockdown? When we do open up, or are forced to close again, how will my customers behave? What will the future of retail even look like?
But, as we stare down a retail future that looks very different… it’s not all doom and gloom for smart retailers.
BOPIS (Buy Online Pick-up In Store) / Click & Collect provides the safe, convenient shopping UX your customers need right now.
Anxiety surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic can be felt across the retail world. However, businesses and their customers are keen to embrace a new normal, adopting BOPIS/ Click & Collect services across the world and over a wide variety of industries with tremendous results.
Retailers with a BOPIS service can offer their customers an alternative, safer way to shop while easily abiding by social-distancing rules with either a Contactless BOPIS or Curbside Pickup. Consumers also enjoy the flexibility and convenience of choosing when and where they pick up their order and the confidence of knowing the item will be there upon arrival. BOPIS / Click & Collect also appeals to shoppers fed up with excessive shipping costs too.
Shopping in 2020
Rising concerns around safety have not diminished our desire to shop. A Mastercard Spending Pulse report found that e-commerce sales increased by an astonishing 92.7% in May, while research conducted by Adobe found a surge in BOPIS (Buy Online Pick-up In Store) transactions in April.
More recently, First Insight Research also reported that while “54% of people were ready to shop for apparel, 65% of women responded that they did not feel safe trying on clothes in a dressing room and 66% did not feel comfortable working in person with a sales associate.” Their research suggests that in “order to ease the fears of customers navigating the new normal, savvy retailers are turning to BOPIS.”
So, if these changes are here to stay, what’s the next step for retailers and their store network?
Retail Tech paves the way
Consumers and retailers continue to battle the storm of uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic but some brands are reaching figures close to pre-lockdown. With an agile pivot towards contactless shopping, these brands are redefining what it means to provide exceptional shopping experiences to meet changing consumer demands.
A recent McKinsey report concurs, recommending retailers “boost investment in online acquisition” to partially offset diminished foot traffic due to closure or changing shopping preferences.
By implementing a BOPIS / C&C service, many retailers have barely missed a beat, continuing to operate and meet customer needs while ensuring their safety through contactless Click & Collect services. Retailers gain increased opportunities to sell-through floor stock and upsell/cross-sell when the customer comes into store to pick-up their order.
The BOPIS / Click & Collect solution offered by stockinstore has been designed to work with all eCommerce platforms and POS/ERP systems and ensures the best experience for retailers and consumers. The addition of a state-of-the-art reporting suite gives retailers insights into what their customers want to buy in store, what store locations are most searched and what sales they are missing out on due to stock being unavailable.
So how does BOPIS / Click & Collect work?
BOPIS/ Click & Collect is a convenient way for retailers to provide a shopping experience that (a) Eliminates shipping fees for consumers, (b) Saves time for retailers and consumers, (c) Maximises stock investment, and (d) Offers a safe way to shop in a COVID world.
Step 1. Customer orders online through a website or app
Step 2. Pick-up store fulfills the order and notifies the customer
Step 3. Customer picks up the order in-store or curbside
It can be straightforward and affordable if teamed with the right provider.
What do Retailers need to implement BOPIS / Click & Collect?
The team at stockinstore help retailers of all sizes become truly omnichannel businesses with an affordable, comprehensive and tailorable BOPIS / Click & Collect solution. All you need is:
1. An ecommerce website or app
2. At least one (1) physical store location
3. A POS/ERP used for managing inventory stock on hand in each store location
stockinstore has a solid stable of major merchants utilising our BOPIS/Click & Collect service. Toyworld NZ’s is just one example of a franchise business that pivoted quickly during COVID and has achieved great success with the implementation of Click & Collect, which saw “Christmas numbers in March, April and May” 2020, when the pandemic was at its peak in New Zealand. Communication, convenience and the customer experience were key drivers for INTERSPORT Australia, who also adopted stockinstore’s technology earlier this year. Retailers and Franchises keen to discover more benefits can find them here.
While “agile pivots” and “blended omnichannel” may seem like overused buzz words created by “emerging customer needs” in this challenging retail landscape, these terms actually represent your business’ best opportunity for survival.
Businesses who move quickly to adopt these new retail technologies, are likely to come out on top, both now and into the future.
Book a demo here or contact us on [email protected]
About stockinstore
stockinstore is transforming how retailers use their stores. Developed for retailers, franchises, wholesalers and manufacturers; stockinstore creates an exceptional shopping experience for customers while providing highly valuable insights into customer demand for products across store networks. The award winning technology has continued to bridge the gap between online and in-store through a myriad of ‘Find In Store’, ‘Click and Collect / BOPIS’ & ‘My Nearest Store eDM Widget’ software solutions, and most recently their innovative ‘Google Local Inventory Advertising (GLIA) Integration‘ solution.
Join a growing list of businesses choosing stockinstore including: Scanlan Theodore, YETI, 2XU, T2, Sheike, Triumph, Sportsgirl, Aquila, Kidstuff, Kookai, Alice McCALL, Intersport, Nique, Billini, Toyworld and Tentworld.
Media Contact
Rebecka Finn, [email protected]
