Curbside and In-Store Pickup Rewrite Rules for Shopping, Payments
Some think of buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) and curbside contactless pickup as pandemic stopgaps that will eventually go away, but in fact, these services were featured in retail plans before the health emergency hit in 2020 — and rather than fading, they’re filling out more.
Speaking with PYMNTS on the topic, Bank of America Senior Vice President of Product Management Nicolle Wilson said what appeared to be a contactless COVID-19 innovation was already on the minds of merchants as a way to boost order sizes and lock down loyalty.
“If you think about it, the time that it takes to put something like this together, to implement it with a large retailer, could not have happened in the month or two when we first went into quarantine,” she said. “That shows that there was already a demand for the service.”
PYMNTS data supports the thesis. “The 2022 Global Digital Shopping Playbook: U.S. Edition,” a PYMNTS and Cybersource collaboration, part of a larger survey of over 13,000 shoppers and 3,100 merchants in six nations, showed the “why” behind BOPIS and curbside strategies.
We found that 11% of U.S. consumers who ordered online received their most recent eCommerce purchases at curbside, and 47% of consumers using BOPIS purchased additional products while in the store.
Wilson said that doesn’t surprise her. Rather, it’s proof that many businesses were already investing before the pandemic hit, that they’ve stuck with it and that they’re now starting to think about ways of fine tuning the technology.
“It keeps those brick-and-mortar locations relevant in a very digital age,” she said. “Merchants are reporting a steady growth in it still. Some industries have seen kind of an uptick and then kind of a leveling off, but if consumers like it, merchants are going to continue to offer it. The consumers are reporting that they’re likely to continue using the service even after … the health emergency is behind us.”
Satisfaction All Around
While much attention is paid to the consumer experience of BOPIS and curbside — in short, they like it — certain ancillary benefits accrue to retailers embracing the concept. Not only do BOPIS users specifically add to their order when picking up, but retailers are realizing new efficiencies and savings as well.
Wilson said BOPIS and curbside are helping merchants save on shipping costs. If a shopper can drive to the store to pick up a product and return it at the same location, it takes the hassle of shipping out of the equation for both retailers and customers.
