What Is BOPIS (Buy Online Pickup In-Store)?
Posted by Julia Morrissey on Feb 3, 2024
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Today, shoppers expect efficiency and speed from their favorite retail brands. While stores have a reputation of being on the decline, that’s far from the case. Brick-and-mortar locations are evolving to keep up with shopper expectations—which is why “buy online pickup in-store”, or BOPIS, has become so popular.
BOPIS services are offered by 54% of brands, as brands focus on driving more customers back into physical stores.
This article covers what BOPIS means and how it benefits retail brands.
Table of contents:
The meaning of BOPIS is “buy online pickup in-store.” It is also sometimes also referred to as “click-and-collect.” BOPIS is a fulfillment method used by retail brands. It allows shoppers to buy products online and pick up their purchases in-store, usually in a matter of a couple of hours.
BOPIS gives shoppers the convenience of online shopping with the lower costs and immediacy of the in-store experience. It also brings consumers back into stores where they’re more likely to browse and make additional purchases.
Many retail stores, including large retailers like The Home Depot, Kohl’s, Academy, and Walmart, were already using BOPIS before the pandemic to streamline the customer experience. But many shoppers tried it for the first time as a result of the changes in store operating policies. Today, many shoppers expect your store to offer BOPIS, which includes variations, such as:
Some retail brands offer “buy online ship-to-store” (BOSS). While a popular option, it doesn’t have the immediacy of BOPIS as the order is shipped from a warehouse instead of being fulfilled from store inventory. This can take days instead of hours, which doesn’t quite align with the on-demand economy that we’re living in.
It’s important to stay relevant by offering BOPIS to your customers. In retail, BOPIS happens in three steps: ordering, processing, and collecting.
The customer shops for products either through your website or mobile app. As with any other online order, next they add products to their cart. However, when it’s time to check out, the shopper chooses “pick up in-store,” “store pickup,” or another similar variation, instead of delivery.
This is why it’s so important to have a flexible order management system (OMS) and accurate inventory. You cannot properly execute BOPIS without a real-time view of stock levels. The risk is not being able to fulfill orders and giving customers a poor experience, which can turn them away for good.
Ideally, your system should give shoppers available pickup timeframes and locations before they check out, so customers can choose the best options for them. After making their selection, the customer pays online and submits the order.
Next, the OMS routes the customer’s order details to the desired pickup location. It includes details on the products, quantities, and pickup time for your store associates to begin picking and packing the order.
Ideally, products will be in stock and employees are able to simply prepare the order. However, sometimes you may have to transfer products between retail locations or wait for a shipment to come in. In this case, your customer will know about the delay ahead of time.
When the products are ready for pickup, your associates notify the customer through text, email, or app notifications.
Once the customer receives an alert that their order is ready, they’ll go to your retail location to pick it up.
The customer might make their way to a designated “online pickup” area in your store. For some brands, that is simply a separate counter or kiosk. For others, it looks like lockers or something similar. Ideally, however, your store associates will have a mobile point of sale system that makes it easy to complete the order handover from anywhere in the store. Or even better, if you have a shopping app, customers can pick up orders in-store with one tap.
With a location-based activated store mode, picking up an order in-store has never been easier with a shopping app. The customer can just walk into the store, open the app, and the pick-up order will pop up.
Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS) offers several benefits to both retail brands and consumers. Here are some of the advantages:
BOPIS provides a seamless and flexible shopping experience. Customers have the convenience of online shopping and the immediate satisfaction of picking up their purchases without the wait.
For brands, BOPIS can help reduce shipping costs as the customer is responsible for transportation from the store. This can be particularly significant for bulky or heavy items that would incur higher shipping expenses.
BOPIS can drive more customers to physical stores, increasing foot traffic and potentially leading to additional in-store purchases.
When customers come into the store to pick up their orders, brands have the chance to upsell or cross-sell additional products. This can contribute to increased sales and customer satisfaction.
Since customers have the opportunity to inspect their purchases at the time of pick-up, there may be fewer instances of returns due to dissatisfaction with the product.
With BOPIS, customers may choose to consolidate multiple purchases into a single trip, reducing the number of individual deliveries and the associated carbon footprint. Fewer returns also reduces environmental impact.
While BOPIS offers significant benefits, there are also challenges associated with its implementation. Here are some common challenges:
To allow customers to buy online, pick up in-store, your brand obviously must have both an online and physical store. If you lack one or the other this approach becomes impossible.
Keeping an accurate and up-to-date inventory is vital for BOPIS. If the online inventory doesn’t reflect the actual stock in the store, it can lead to customer dissatisfaction when items are not available for pickup as expected.
Employees will need proper training to handle BOPIS orders effectively. They must understand the process, locate items quickly, and communicate effectively with customers.
BOPIS requires designated spaces for order storage and customer pickup. If your store has limited space, it may be challenging to allocate specific areas for these purposes without disrupting the regular shopping experience and driving up wait times.
Legacy systems won’t get the job done. Retail brands need to integrate their online and in-store systems seamlessly. An omnichannel order management (OMS) system allows your brand to seamlessly manage and fulfill customer orders across various sales channels.
BOPIS is a testament to the benefits of using an omnichannel approach. One that combines the ease of online shopping with the efficiency of in-store shopping.
Having the right technology to support solutions like BOPIS, is important. NewStore’s omnichannel OMS modernizes fulfillment to maximize store productivity and get products to customers faster. Sign up for a demo and harness the power of omnichannel.
