In the dynamic and ever-changing context of retail, new ways of shopping are emerging that are revolutionizing the customer experience. Among these, three stand out for their growing relevance: Buy Online Pick In Store (BOPIS), Click & Collect and limitless exploration through Endless Aisle assortments.
These innovative strategies embody the essence of the Phygital transformation, a synergistic marriage between the physical and digital worlds.
BOPIS, allowing customers to order online and pick up in store, becomes a tangible experience within the phygital context, combining the efficiency of e-commerce with the tangibility of in-store interaction. Similarly, Click & Collect and the endless aisle expand opportunities for interaction, transforming the way consumers immerse themselves in the world of retail, fully embracing the concept of phygital experience.
DATA
IBM’s “Consumers want it all” study analyzed the spending habits of over 19,000 people. A third of respondents prefer hybrid, including many Gen Z.
The study was presented at the National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show in New York, the largest American retail event.
This article aims to explore in detail the key differences between these strategies and analyze how they are shaping the future of retail, successfully integrating the context of e-commerce into this revolution.
Table of Contents
- Buy Online Pick In Store (BOPIS): The Convenience of Hybrid
- Click & Collect: Beyond the Boundaries of the Main Store
- Explore Without Limits: The Power of the Endless Aisle
- How BOPIS Works
- Benefits of BOPIS
- Brand Benefits
- How Click & Collect
- Advantages of Click & Collect
- How the Endless Aisle and Virtual Shelf Process Works
- Advantages of the Endless Aisle Process
- Advantages for Retailers
- Some Examples
- How to Best Integrate Physical Store and Online Shopping
Buy Online Pick In Store (BOPIS): The Convenience of Hybrid
BOPIS is an innovative fusion of the digital and physical worlds, offering customers the option to purchase online and pick up their products directly in the store. This strategy reduces waiting times and uses the best of both worlds, providing a convenient and fast shopping experience.
Click & Collect: Beyond the Borders of the Main Store
Click & Collect also brings online shopping into the real world, but it goes beyond the walls of the main store. Considered a variant or synonym of BPOSI, allowing customers to pick up their orders at alternative pick-up locations, such as kiosks or off-site locations, this modality offers even more flexibility than BOPIS.
Unlimited Exploration: The Power of the Endless Aisle
Unlimited exploration through endless aisle assortments opens a new chapter in the shopping experience. Customers can virtually browse an expanded assortment of products beyond the physical limitations of the store space.
This revolutionary approach allows for greater variety and discovery, taking the shopping experience to new heights. as it allows consumers to explore a vast assortment of products through dedicated applications, creating a borderless shopping experience. Virtual shelves know no space limits and offer endless variety, elevating the shopping experience to a whole new level.
How BOPIS Works
Buy Online Pick In Store (BOPIS) is a revolution in the shopping experience, merging the digital world with the physical store environment. With BOPIS, customers have the flexibility to browse and purchase products online, then conveniently pick them up at the store of their choice.
This synergy between the virtual and the real embodies the essence of the Phygital experience, a marriage that combines the efficiency and convenience of online shopping with the authenticity and tangibility of the in-store experience. BOPIS not only reduces waiting times and offers convenience, but also introduces consumers to an advanced form of shopping that transcends traditional boundaries, offering a rich experience of connection between the digital world and the physicality of the store.
- Online Purchase: The customer navigates to the retailer’s website and selects the desired products. This operation can be carried out in mobile mode, therefore wherever the customer is, or in the store at a touchscreen station made available to the customer.
- Online Checkout: During the checkout process, the customer chooses the BOPIS option as the collection method.
- Notification and Confirmation: After placing the order, the customer receives a notification or confirmation via email that his purchase is ready for collection.
- In-Store Pickup: The customer goes to the physical store, goes to the area dedicated to BOPIS collection, and collects the products without having to go through the traditional checkout.
Benefits of BOPIS
Here are some key ways BOPIS makes the shopping experience relevant.
- Convenience: BOPIS offers consumers the convenience of shopping online without having to wait for shipping to their home. This is especially helpful when you want the product right away.
- Time Savings: Eliminate the wait for shipping and allow customers to pick up their purchases when it’s most convenient for them.
- Avoid Shipping Fees: Many retailers offer BOPIS for free, saving customers shipping fees.
- Reduce Returns: Because customers can see and touch the product before picking it up, this helps reduce the risk of returns due to unmet expectations.
- Increase In-Store Sales: Customers who pick up purchases in-store may be more likely to make additional purchases while they’re there, increasing in-store sales opportunities.
- Channel Integration: BOPIS effectively integrates online and offline channels, providing a seamless shopping experience.
- Reduced risk of theft during shipping: Since products are picked up directly in the store, the risk of theft during home delivery is reduced.
In light of the above, we can say that BOPIS represents a significant evolution in the shopping experience, combining the online world with the convenience of immediate in-store pickup. Consumers appreciate the flexibility and speed, while retailers benefit from increased customer satisfaction and additional sales opportunities.
Brand Benefits
For the brand, implementing BOPIS can bring a series of strategic benefits that go beyond the simple commercial transaction. Let’s look at how BOPIS can positively impact your brand:
- Improved Customer Experience: Offering in-store pickup improves the overall customer experience. The ease and convenience of BOPIS helps build a positive image of your brand in the minds of consumers.
- Customer Loyalty: Satisfaction with the BOPIS experience can lead to increased customer loyalty. Customers who have a positive perception of the service are more likely to return for future purchases.
- Competitive Differentiation: Offering in-store pickup options can differentiate your brand from the competition. In a competitive market, the ability to provide additional and convenient services can be a valuable differentiator.
- Increased Cross-Selling: When customers come to the store to pick up their purchases, there is a unique opportunity for the brand to promote additional products or special offers. This can lead to increased cross-selling and maximizing the value of the transaction.
- Direct Feedback: Interacting with customers during in-store pickup can provide the brand with direct feedback on customer satisfaction and areas for improvement. This input is invaluable in continuously adapting and improving the services offered.
- Channel Consistency: BOPIS helps create consistency between the brand’s online and offline channels. The synergy between these channels helps to strengthen the brand identity.
- Promoting Physical Presence: For brands with a physical presence, BOPIS can be an effective way to encourage customers to visit stores. This is especially important in an environment where physical retail is competing with e-commerce.
- Adaptability to Market Trends: Offering innovative services like BOPIS demonstrates the brand’s ability to adapt to market trends and changing consumer needs. This flexibility can help maintain relevance in the long term.
In short, BOPIS is not just a transactional service, but a strategic component that can positively influence the image and perception of the brand. Implementing BOPIS effectively can be a strategic move that goes beyond the single transaction, helping to build long-term relationships with customers.
How Click & Collect works
Click & Collect as anticipated is an innovative purchasing method that allows consumers to place orders online and subsequently collect the products at a designated collection point, which may be different from the main store. This service model offers several advantages for both customers and retailers. Let’s see how it works:
- Online Purchase: Customers navigate to the retailer’s website and select the products they want.
- Online Checkout: During the checkout process, customers choose the Click & Collect option as their pickup method.
- Collection Point Selection: Customers choose their desired collection point, which can be a physical store, a kiosk, a Locker, or another designated location.
- Confirmation and Notification: After placing their order, customers receive an email confirmation and/or notification that their purchase is ready for pickup at their chosen collection point.
- Collection at Collection Point: Customers go to the collection point, present their order confirmation (often via smartphone), and collect their products without having to go through a traditional checkout. In the case of Lockers, the customer goes to the locker, enters the access code or follows the instructions provided by the notification, and the locker opens, allowing the items to be collected.
Advantages of Click & Collect
Let’s analyze how Click & Collect makes the shopping experience attractive.
- Convenience for Customers: Click & Collect offers customers the convenience of purchasing online and collecting the products when it is most convenient for them, avoiding waiting times and fixed delivery times.
- Savings on Shipping Costs: Many companies offer the Click & Collect for free, eliminating shipping costs and making online shopping more convenient.
- Collection Point Flexibility: Click & Collect allows customers to choose the most suitable collection point, which can be a main store, a secondary store, a Locker or other partner locations.
- Reduction in Returns: Because customers can see and collect products in person, the likelihood of returns due to discrepancies between expectations and reality of the product is reduced.
- Increase in Store Sales: Customers who collect orders in store may be more likely to make additional purchases while they are there, increasing in-store sales opportunities.
- Channel Integration: Click & Collect effectively integrates online and offline channels, offering a seamless shopping experience.
- Removing the Dependence on Home Delivery: In a context where home delivery can face logistical challenges, Click & Collect offers a robust and reliable alternative.
- Flexibility and Convenience: Customers can collect items when it is most convenient for them, eliminating the need to adhere to fixed store opening hours.
In summary, Click & Collect is a winning solution that combines the benefits of e-commerce with the convenience of collection at a designated location. This service model is particularly appreciated by consumers for its flexibility and convenience, while offering retailers an innovative way to improve the overall customer experience and drive sales.
When using Lockers, the list of benefits extends even further, as lockers offer additional benefits and convenience to customers:
- Flexibility and Convenience: Customers can collect items when it is most convenient for them, eliminating the need to adhere to fixed store opening hours.
- Reduction in Waiting Time: Collecting items via a locker can be quicker than collecting them at a store checkout.
- 24/7 Availability: Many lockers are accessible 24/7, offering a flexible collection option even outside of store opening hours.
- Reduction in Shipping Costs: For customers, it can be a free or reduced-cost alternative to home delivery.
- Extension of the Network of Pickup: Lockers can be placed in multiple locations, allowing retailers to extend their network of collection points.
How the Endless Aisle and Virtual Shelf Process Works
The “Endless Aisle” concept and the “virtual shelf” are innovative approaches in the retail sector that seek to overcome the physical limitations of traditional sales spaces, allowing customers to access an extended assortment of products via digital devices.
Here’s how the Endless Aisle process works and its benefits:
- Digital Access: Customers access a “virtual shelf” via digital devices such as tablets, smartphones or interactive kiosks within the store.
- Unlimited Browsing: Users can virtually browse an expanded assortment of products that may far exceed what is physically available in the store. This can include variations in color, size, model and related products.
- Product Details: Each product is presented with full details, high-resolution images and specific information, providing a detailed overview of what is available in addition to how-to videos and user guides.
- Ordering and Payment: Once customers have made their selection, they can place their order directly via their digital device. Payment can be made online or at a designated payment point in the store.
- Home Delivery or In-Store Pickup: Customers can choose whether they want to have the product delivered to their home or pick it up directly in the store.
Endless Aisle Process Benefits
Why Endless Aisle solutions are interesting and attractive to many retailers is actually easy to imagine. Let’s look at a few points.
- Extended assortment: Virtual shelves allow retailers to offer a much wider assortment of products than what could be physically present in the store space. This expands the options available to customers.
- Eliminating Space Constraints: By overcoming the physical limitations of the retail space, virtual shelves allow retailers to present a larger catalog without having to increase the physical size of the store.
- Personalizing the Experience: Users can personalize their shopping experience by exploring options, product variations and accessories, allowing for a more informed and personalized decision-making process.
- Increasing Cross-Selling Opportunities: Virtual shelves provide the opportunity to suggest related products or accessories, increasing the chances of cross-selling and increasing the average transaction value.
- Customer Convenience: Customers benefit from a seamless shopping experience, being able to explore a broader assortment without having to physically visit different stores.
- Integration with Online and Offline Channels: The Endless Aisle process creates harmony between the online and offline worlds, giving customers the flexibility to choose how they want to explore and purchase products.
In summary, the Endless Aisle process and the virtual shelf are strategies that embrace digitalization and expand the possibilities of retail, offering customers a richer shopping experience and retailers new sales and loyalty opportunities.
Benefits for retailers
The implementation of an Endless Aisle process and a virtual shelf obviously also brings several advantages for retailers, such as:
- Greater assortment of items: Virtual shelves allow retailers to offer a wide range of products, overcoming the limitations of the physical space of the store. This increases the appeal of the store and meets a greater diversity of customer needs.
- Optimization of display space: By eliminating the need to keep all products physically in the store, retailers can optimize sales space and allocate resources more efficiently.
- Reduction of obsolete inventory: Virtual shelves allow retailers to test new products or variants without having to physically stock them in the store. This reduces the risk of having obsolete or unsold inventory.
- Increased sales opportunities: By offering a wide variety of products, virtual shelves increase cross-selling opportunities. Customers who browse virtually may be inclined to purchase additional products or related accessories.
- Customization of offerings: Virtual shelves allow retailers to customize offerings based on customer preferences. Data collected during online interactions can be used to suggest more relevant products and improve the overall customer experience.
- Reduced Operational Costs: By eliminating the need to maintain large amounts of inventory in-store, retailers can reduce operational costs related to inventory management, warehousing and maintenance of the physical space.
- Multi-Channel Integration: Virtual shelves facilitate integration between online and offline channels, providing a seamless solution for customers to browse, buy online and pick up in store.
- Increased Total Sales: By offering a wider selection and an improved shopping experience, retailers can see an increase in total sales and average transaction value.
- Customer Insights: Interacting with virtual shelves provides retailers with valuable data on customer browsing and shopping behavior, helping them to better understand preferences and tailor product offerings. products.
Therefore, the benefits are many and interesting. Implementing a virtual shelf and an Endless Aisle process allows retailers to adopt a more flexible and customer-oriented strategy, improving operational efficiency and expanding overall sales opportunities.
Examples of hybrid stores
Many brands are successfully adopting the concept of Endless Aisle and the virtual shelf. Let’s see some well-known cases:
- Lowe’s – Endless Aisle: Lowe’s, the home improvement chain, has implemented an Endless Aisle solution that allows customers to search for and order products not physically available in the store using touchscreen terminals.
- Best Buy – Endless Aisle: Best Buy uses digital devices in its stores to allow customers to virtually browse its vast assortment of products and place orders that can be shipped to their homes or picked up in-store.
- Nordstrom Virtual Shelf: Nordstrom uses a virtual shelf to allow customers to virtually browse clothing, shoes and accessories using interactive tablets. This expands the product offerings available in-store.
- Sephora – Endless Aisle: Sephora has implemented Endless Aisle solutions in its stores that allow customers to search for and order products that may not be physically present at that moment.
- Walmart – Virtual Shelf: Walmart has experimented with the use of virtual reality technology to create a virtual shelf, allowing customers to explore the assortment online using VR headsets.
- Zara – Endless Aisle: Zara has implemented Endless Aisle solutions that allow customers to place orders for products that are not currently available in-store.
- Home Depot – BOPIS – Home Depot allows customers to order online and pick up items in-store through its BOPIS service. BOPIS.
- Macy’s – BOPIS – Macy’s has implemented BOPIS, allowing customers to order online and pick up their items in the store.
- PetSmart – BOPIS – PetSmart offers this service for pet product purchases, allowing customers to pick up their items in the store.
- IKEA – Click & Collect – IKEA offers Click & Collect, allowing customers to order furniture and home goods online and pick them up at the IKEA warehouse.
- Decathlon – Click&Collect – Decathlon, a chain of stores specializing in sports equipment, offers Click & Collect for online purchases, allowing customers to pick up items at its stores.
How to best integrate physical stores and online shopping
The future of retail is steeped in technology and innovation. Strategies such as BOPIS, Click & Collect and Endless Aisle represent just the beginning of a transformation that redefines the connection between digital and physical. To fully embrace this future hybrid store, it is essential to adopt advanced technology solutions and create a seamless shopping environment that adapts to the ever-changing needs of consumers.
Kiosk stands out for its integration and development service of customized e-commerce solutions, with a focus on BOPIS, Click and Collect and Endless Aisle services. Our deep technological expertise and understanding of the needs of the industry allow us to offer tailor-made solutions that transform the customer journey also thanks to collected data and analytics.
With our commitment to providing development and integration services, Kiosk is a key partner in creating extraordinary shopping experiences, carefully designed to meet the dynamic needs of modern retail.
We are ready to lead your brand into a new era of connectivity and convenience in the world of e-commerce. Your digital transformation will be guided by a team of professionals who deeply understand the challenges and opportunities of contemporary retail.
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