Retail Online Integration: Cognizant’s Assistant Vice Presidents of Retail Consulting Say BOPIS (Buy Online and Pick up In-Store) is Retail's Next Frontier of Competitive Advantage

“In the realm of omnichannel shopping, the ability for consumers to research, select, reserve, and pay for products online, then pick up in-store is an innovation that elegantly addresses the mind-set of today’s shoppers,” write Shannon Warner and Ian Jarvis. Excerpts from the article:

“Over the last three years, BOPIS (buy online and pick up in-store) has become mainstream…but there’s a long way to go for customer experience and business value to be optimized.

Having more robust supply chain and inventory management capabilities can increase sales and improve customer satisfaction. Providing intuitive, transparent user experiences can drive adoption and improve conversion rates.

Omnichannel fulfillment represents a strategic advantage in that retailers can leverage inventory across multiple locations and streamline fulfillment processes, reducing operational costs and enhancing the customer experience.

There’s now plenty of evidence to suggest BOPIS is a good investment. It helps shoppers overcome traditional objections to shopping online and converts them to omnichannel shoppers, who are nearly 21 percent more profitable than single-channel shoppers. Retailers have observed as much as a 33 percent lift in sales from in-store pick-up of online orders. BOPIS allows retailers to better connect online and offline sales, leading to improved ability to personalize marketing messages. As more shoppers adopt BOPIS, retailers will see additional benefits including inventory optimization and fewer returns.

BOPIS offers a competitive advantage for brick-and-mortar retailers and has delivered meaningful benefits in its inaugural run. Retailers will continue to invest in enhancing the customer experience around BOPIS. Perhaps 24-hour pickup, faster pickup, expanded assortments, improved in-store service, better personalized experiences or enhanced cross-sell/upsell will be next on the docket.”

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