Buy online pick up in store – New shipping method to introduce in your Magento 2 store.

Big brands like Macy’s, Walmart, Hollister, Apple offer the ‘Buy online pickup in-store’ experience and the list of brands offering this convenience is growing. Why is this checkout option gaining popularity? Let’s dive deep.

During the 2018 holiday season, sales using buy online and pick up in-store option rose by 49% – Research data from OrderDynamics, Bell and Howell and IHL Group.

Why customers prefer ‘Buy Online Pick up In-store’ option?

Try before you buy – The exclusive in-store experience

‘Order online pick-up in-store’ blurs the line between online and offline shopping by merging both online shopping convenience and physical buying experience.

We are mentioning the ‘try before you buy’ option in a physical store. While customers walk into the pickup point, they can check their products and also try it on. Customers can also return products immediately if not satisfied.

Choose your own time to pick up

Shoppers can pick up products from the store at a convenient time. While checking out through ‘Buy online in store pickup’ option, users are asked a question on the time they’d like to pick their product from the store. Generally, such pickup points function as a regular physical store and share the same timing as well.

To improve convenience, pick up stores provide additional pick up time, like a time window within which a product should be picked up. So, shoppers get to plan their pick up as per their convenience.

Avoid shipping costs and delays

55% of users abandon carts due to high shipping costs – Baymard Institute

After you spend hours of time browsing and comparing prices to buy your favorite product, unexpected shipping cost can take the joy out of your online shopping experience. Many online shoppers choose an alternative brand or a store for a better shipping cost. In such cases, ‘Order online pickup in-store’ can serve as an option that eliminates the shipping cost.

Why brands prefer ‘Order Online Pick up In-store’ option?

For eCommerce brands, ‘Order Online and pickup in-store’ is a convenient option to start with as a part of their multichannel connect initiative. Adding to this, there are more advantages as well.

While picking up products, customer buy in-store

Buy online pick up in-store increases the number of walk-ins to a store. More on-foot customers translate into more sales. So the average order value increases with minimal upsell or cross-sell effort.

According to Invespro, 49% of shoppers who pick up their order from a store are more likely to buy another product.

Add brand value by interacting with customers better

When customers visit your store, your showroom associates interact with them. This is a great opportunity to make a good impression and assist them for other needs relating to the existing purchase or a new purchase.

Buy Online Pick up In-store – Behind the scene

The “free store pickup” might sound simple and attractive like this – “Zero shipping fee, Get your items and save time”. But it is not actually the same when it comes to execution.

OrderDynamics, Bell and Howell and IHL Group initiated a research study according to which 300 shoppers were asked to rate their in-store pick-up experience. Most of the participants rated that improvements have to be done at the store-level execution.

For a smooth store-level execution, an eCommerce brand should get certain things right. According to Invespcro, customers expect the following aspects to be a part of their in-store pick-up experience:

• Fast in-and-out experience (56%)
• No standing in a line (22%)
• Easy-to-find order pickup points (14%)
• Dedicated counter (9%) and even parking spots (5%)

Conclusion

‘Order online in-store pick up’ is a promising shipping option to consider. However, care has to be taken in delivering what you promise i.e. providing a faster pick up experience.

Reserving exclusive space, a dedicated team, staff collaboration, and training are important in turning this online-offline customer experience a success.

If you are an eCommerce brand using Magento, you have an advantage.

Version 2.3 of Magento facilitates MSI (Multi-source inventory) that helps in managing multiple warehouses from a single interface, assign product and quantities to each warehouse and track inventory in real time.

Using the APIs of MSI, Magento partners can easily add the ‘order online in-store pickup’ feature to eCommerce stores. Magento will provide in-store pick up as a built-in option in the future.

If you are looking for a Magento agency to get your store the ‘Buy online in store pick up’ option, Ziffity can help.