Why 2019 Will Be the Rise of BOPIS

Over the last several years, brick-and-mortar retailers have been scrambling to combat declining revenues, decreasing footfall and falling customer loyalty in the face of increasing encroachment by the likes of online retail giants such as Amazon.com.

Something has changed, however. After years of locking horns with digital-first insurgents, traditional retailers have changed tact, embracing Amazon others like it, and using their success to benefit themselves. How? By leveraging click-and-collect.

Click-and-collect — or buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) —allows customers to still shop easily online, but then avoid the wait for delivery by picking up their products at a store location near them, often even the same day. Traditional retailers have embraced BOPIS because it allows them to save on shipping costs while driving shoppers into their stores. In addition, many are pushing their adoption of BOPIS a step further. For example, in the U.K. retailers are enabling customers to pick up or return products they've purchased from Amazon and others at their store locations. This has caused massive disruption in the way the retail industry operates, and led to a boom in BOPIS adoption.

Yet still some retailers are still reticent to adopt this emerging business strategy. We recently surveyed more than 2,000 U.S. shoppers, and the findings revealed why BOPIS is ready to take off in 2019.

Nearly 70% of Shoppers Have Made Multiple BOPIS Purchases

While BOPIS is still growing, we found that over 68 percent of shoppers have made more than one click-and-collect purchase. In addition, 50 percent said they've actually decided where to buy a product online based on whether they can pick it up in-store.

This marks a significant change in shopping trends that retailers should keep top of mind. While in years past shoppers have been content to wait for products to arrive — or pay extra to get them earlier — today’s customers aren’t nearly as inclined. Instead, they want access to their products as soon as possible. And per our results, retailers that offer this are likely to gain significant market share.

Cost a Driving Factor in Shoppers Choosing BOPIS

In addition to convenience, cost is also a driving factor for shoppers choosing to use BOPIS. In fact, shipping costs have now become a key part of bargain hunting, in addition to the product price itself. When asked what the primary reasons for opting to pick up online purchases in-store rather than having their orders shipped to them, 48 percent cited saving on shipping costs.

BOPIS provides savings to both shoppers and retailers. From a shopper perspective, regardless of order value, picking up in-store eliminates paying for delivery costs. For retailers, they can ship directly to a store location, therefore saving on the logistical costs of home delivery — and any potential re-delivery costs. Furthermore, picking up online orders from store locations vs. shipping from a central distribution center can reduce logistic costs by 100 percent, significantly impacting the bottom line.

BOPIS is Resulting in More In-Store Purchases

One of the key elements of adopting BOPIS is that it drives more in-store traffic. Furthermore, per our results, BOPIS is actually driving additional in-store sales too. Eighty-five percent of shoppers have made an additional in-store purchase when they pick-up items they purchased online, with 15 percent saying that they do so “somewhat frequently.”

This type of revenue boost is exactly what traditional retailers have been looking to uncover for years. BOPIS represents a potential key driver in rekindling sales figures that have been lost in years past.

The retail market is changing, but that doesn’t mean traditional retailers need to continue to stumble. By adopting BOPIS, retailers can not only drive additional revenue but can also begin to rebuild relationships with previous customers and establish themselves with new customers as well. This will be pivotal as the retail industry continues to evolve in 2019 and beyond.

Dan Nevin is the North American CEO for Doddle Inc, a business that specializes in technology solutions for deliveries and returns, serving e-commerce and omnichannel retailers.