Commentary

4 BOPIS best practices for the back to school season

Today's consumers want to interact with brands in traditional and nontraditional ways, which is why retailers must excel at integrating their brick-and-mortar and online experiences — including seamlessly delivering the BOPIS experience.

August 30, 2019

Georgianna Oliver is the founder of Package Concierge, a provider of automated locker solutions.

By Georgianna Oliver

This year, back-to-school shopping sales are expected to top $80 billion, with households predicted to spend an average of $696.70 — the highest it has ever been, according to the National Retail Federation. Today's consumers want to interact with brands in traditional and nontraditional ways, which is why retailers must excel at integrating their brick-and-mortar and online experiences — including seamlessly delivering the buy online pickup in-store experience, known as BOPIS.

According to a May 2019 Zogby Analytics research study commissioned by Package Concierge, 60% of Gen Z shoppers said they had visited a mall within the last week prior to the survey, while 58% also utilized BOPIS. In addition, 60% of Gen Z shoppers said they will make their choice based on a retailer offering BOPIS over one that doesn't.

During this busy back-to-school shopping season, here's a guideline to help retailers optimize BOPIS success for these tech-savvy student shoppers.

4 suggestions

1. Visibility: Retailers should place their BOPIS fulfillment solution, especially their automated lockers, in locations within the store that are easy to see, easy to access, and ideally, available for 24/7 convenient access. Prominently displayed signage will ensure shoppers understand the BOPIS process.

2. Fulfillment: A BOPIS program is only as strong as its fulfillment process, which is why it needs to be delivered effectively and efficiently for both the customer and employee. An automated locker solution reduces the number of touches by an employee and increases satisfaction for convenience seeking customers. As BOPIS becomes more of a self-service option with the introduction of automated lockers, sales associates can be assigned to other higher-value tasks within the store.

3. Add-on sales: Think about creating coupons that are attached to the BOPIS order so when the customer retrieves their order, they have an offer that is good for an in-store purchase that day.

4. Trial run: Use this second busiest shopping season to pressure-test your BOPIS system in preparation for the holiday season. Run time trials to look for efficiency gains and survey your customers to gain their insights. This data will help you refine your process by identifying current BOPIS pain points that will need to be addressed. Consider how automation of the process can play a key role in its success.

Photo courtesy of Package Concierge.