30 June 2017
BOPUS
Buy online – pick up in store
The customers are crazy about the combination of the physical and the digital. They move easily through all channels – online, social, offline – and demand the option of jumping between them without problems in order to precisely combine the customer journey that is the best match for them. One of the areas which in particular is affected by the new tendency is the traditional delivery forms such as delivery to the home address or the workplace.
This tendency was one of the main themes at the world’s biggest retail conference Retail's BIG Show 2017 in New York and figures from FDIH also show that 43% of all products ordered online are picked up by the consumers themselves – in other words:
The customers are shopping on BOPUS on a large scale!ale.
”I want it now”-mentality
That BOPUS is so popular with the consumers – and therefore also important for your business – is mainly due to the fact that what they love about online shopping (easy, inexpensive and huge selection) as well as shopping in physical shops (immediate service and physical control of the product) are fused. Today, the consumers have a clear “I want it now” mentality and it is just not good enough that the postman unsuccessfully has tried to delivery the package to the home address during working hours meaning that the package can only be picked up the next day.
With BOPUS the customers have the huge selection and the good prices which they know from online shopping but they also get the opportunity of deciding precisely when they want to pick up the product. In particular the young consumers are happy about the combination. Almost half, 49%, of the young up to 25 years use pick it up yourself concepts such as BOPUS and the concept seems to become more and more popular.
Create the new hang out place
If your company really wants to reach the customers with the BOPUS concept, it will be an advantage for you to turn the physical shop into a social hub – a new retail universe where the customers like to hang out and be social with their network together with your brand.
This means to BOPUS that the delivery form, while it still maintains the advantages such as fast delivery for the customer and the opportunity of additional sales for the companies, also gives the customer the convenience of picking up the product where he/she often hangs out anyway – even better than delivery to the home address.
Urban Outfitters – the social hub
One of the companies that has successfully created a universe which the customers love is the American Urban Outfitters. In their concept store Space Ninety 8 in Williamsburg, the customers can enjoy themselves on four floors filled with everything from art and fashion to music, restaurant, coffee shop and hairdresser. In this way, the store becomes a place where the customers hang out with friends during their spare time and therefore it is obvious for them to choose Urban Outfitters when they shop online because they can pick up the ordered products when they are there anyway.
Everything that the customers can find in the store, they can also find on the Internet. Nevertheless, the store is frequently visited because Urban Outfitters with its huge concept store has created a social playground where the customers not only come to shop but also to hang out and share experiences. Urban Outfitters has certainly succeeded in creating a space where the products become a natural part of the interior and they create the desire to visit again and again because of the many events held in the store such as yoga nights and DIY workshops.
Whole Foods – the future supermarket
Also the green supermarket chain Whole Foods, which was recently acquired by the giant Amazon, is focusing on the BOPUS concept. Here the customers can comfortably place their orders online at all hours of the day and pick up the products wrapped and ready in large refrigerators and freezers in the store when it is convenient during a busy day.
In addition to making it easy for the customers to quickly pick up the ordered products by collecting when it is most convenient, just like Urban Outfitters, Whole Foods will bring the customers into the physical stores by turning them into super cool hangout places where in particular the young customers enjoy hanging out.
Whole Foods is dedicated to help the local food manufacturers, among other things, through the new project Friends of 365.
The project provides innovative companies and entrepreneurs with the opportunity to set up their own shop in Whole Foods 365 stores and the wide range of restaurants and shops is expected to have the same effect as in Urban Outfitters, namely to turn the 365 stores into social hubs where the customers do not just come to do their shopping but also to hang out with friends and family.
And this is just the beginning. In the long term, the stores will accommodate everything from tattoo stalls, vegan cafés and special hipster flower shops.
// This is why it works //
* The customers are comfortable – they want the flexibility to be able to pick up the product precisely when it is convenient for them.
* The customers are economical – they want to save the freight but they want the same prices as online.
* The customers are no longer either online or offline – they want the best from both worlds: convenience from online shopping and immediate gratification from the shop.
* The customers place more in the basket when they are in the shop to pick up their ordered products.
* You maintain your customers through increased loyalty and strong ties between customer and brand.
Are you interested in hearing more about how we can help you be at the forefront of the latest digital trends and tendencies? We would like to invite you for a cup of coffee or we can visit you for a non-binding talk.
Contact Casper Bo Jørgensen, Customer Relations Manager at: +45 23 30 79 56 or write to cbj@hesehus.dk
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