How 3 Retailers Have Embraced Buy Online, Pick Up In Store

When next day shipping won’t cut it and you don’t have time to meander the aisles of a store, “Buy Online, Pick Up in Store (BOPIS) ” provides consumers an efficient and easy method to buy. Retailers of all types have embraced this omni-channel tactic as shoppers look for increasing convenience and cost effective solutions for their buying habits. Fifty-seven percent of online shoppers have used this service within the last year with retailers seeing BOPIS orders accounting for 21-30% of their revenue.

This merging of the digital shelf with physical stores requires retailers to understand their inventory at a store level and to understand the unique needs of their consumer. Last year was the biggest year on record for buy online, pick up in-store services, with a whopping 47% adoption rate by retailers, as noted by Retail Dive, which presents retailers with a need to differentiate their offerings within the service.

From luxury retailers to big box stores, BOPIS is being embraced and innovated on to drive revenue and increase loyalty. We’ve looked at a sample of retailers across different industries to see who is succeeding in delivering this omni-channel tactic. 

Focused on Localization & Easy Access: The Home Depot

Home improvement stores like The Home Depot and Lowes can be an overwhelming experience for shoppers--seemingly endless aisles and hard to reach items can make a quick purchase take significant time. For The Home Depot BOPIS is beneficial to both their consumer and professional audiences, as reliability and accurate inventory levels can be critical for fixing something at home or completing a job.

Shoppers are able to search their preferred store’s inventory, see what aisle it is, and place their order to be picked up within 90 minutes. BOPIS’ success for The Home Depot is evident as stores will be outfitted with lockers that can fit products that account for 60% of their inventory for shoppers to pick up their purchases without waiting in lines. It is a major aspect of an $11 billion dollar initiative to innovate the future of their business.

Same Day Delivery & Pick Up: Target with Shipt

One of Target's advertising slogans is "Target Run and Done," the shopping experience at Target has become a sort of cultural phenomenon: their endless aisles entice shoppers to forget their shopping list. Yet, as Amazon dominates ecommerce and Walmart rebranding itself for a new demographic, Target has expanded how consumers can rely on the retailer by offering both BOPIS under the name of "Drive Up" and same day delivery (with some locations offering delivery in as little as an hour) with its late 2017 acquisition of Shipt.

Drive Up and Shipt allow Target to take advantage of their loyal following who tend to be more affluent and urban than other big box stores--they are willing to pay an annual fee for same day delivery to their home, and they appreciate not having to spend an hour inside the store.

Tailored for Luxury Experiences: Nordstrom Local

While the luxury market as a whole may be slow to embrace ecommerce, Nordstrom has taken a step toward creating a new luxury shopping experience with their Nordstrom Local shops. With only a few stores open in major cities like Los Angeles and NYC, Nordstrom Local is an innovative “service hub” that lets shoppers pick up their online purchases in store and have access to services and exclusive events--a nod to the highly personalized shopping experiences their shoppers expect. The additional services includes tailoring, alterations and repairs, personal stylists utilizing Nordstrom’s online curation service, and gift wrapping assistance during the holidays.

The retailer recognizes how consumers view shopping has changed and that requires transforming how the brand interacts: “our ambition is to serve customers in the local markets where they live and work, really agnostic of channel store–digital or physical.”

As consumers expect more consistency in their buying experiences, retailers who embrace the blurry lines between the digital and physical shelf will find themselves ahead of competition and winning loyal customers who want reliable and easy experiences.