Don’t Ghost Your Customers When it Comes to Their BOPIS Experience

According to Acceo Tender Retail, omnichannel retailing is the fastest growing sector where customers can choose and buy an item online and then pick it up later on in a physical store or have it delivered at home. Studies have proven that yearly, this sector is growing between 40% to 70%.
However, when it comes to BOPIS, retailers can’t just offer it. They have to offer BOPIS along with a premium customer experience in order to fully take advantage of all the great things BOPIS has to offer their bottom line.
At the recent North American E-tail Operations Summit (NAEOS18), many retailers in attendance stressed the importance of providing a seamless online and offline experience. It is vital to get customers what they want as quickly and conveniently as possible. One example from NAEOS18 focused on how a customer in China placed an order for a pair of Nike sneakers and the item was in just three minutes!
As demonstrated by the Nike example, retailers need to optimize their supply chain network to ensure quick and convenient delivery of products with seamless integration between online and offline networks. Offering a premium, seamless omnichannel experience will help to increase customer loyalty, drive customer satisfaction, boost customers and purchases and ultimately increase revenue for retailers.
While many retailers understand BOPIS is a great way to tackle the omnichannel presence, most just jump right into the functional requirements of BOPIS without first defining the customer experience. By doing so, they create dissatisfied customers because they are not offering the premium customer experience that should come along with BOPIS.
In fact, many retailers that offer BOPIS have unhappy customers because they find themselves still having to wait in line and facing the same problems they were trying to avoid in the first place by placing a BOPIS order instead of just going to the store.
“BOPIS is a retail customer experience. But its being treated as a bargaining chip to get people in the door for many retailers,” states Retail Customer Experience. “They are offering it because other retailers are doing it and its popular right now. If they did it right, then retailers would be able to take advantage of moments when your customers are primed to purchase.”
Customer satisfaction needs to be the key focus in every aspect of omnichannel for BOPIS to bring in the additional customer loyalty and revenue it was built to do. As Traf-sys notes, customers have more choices than ever, so it’s critically important to use every tool in your box to help your store stand out in a crowded retail environment.
How is your BOPIS customer experience? Comment below.