Has BOPIS lost its pandemic boost?
Photo: Getty Images/hapabapa

Has BOPIS lost its pandemic boost?

Consumers still overwhelmingly prefer home delivery to buy online, pickup in-store (BOPIS), according to the results from a just-released study.

The survey of over 3,000 U.S. consumers from August 2021 commissioned by regional carrier LaserShip found 89 percent preferring home delivery over BOPIS, up from 80 percent saying the preferred home delivery in a June 2020 survey.

BOPIS took off during the pandemic and usage was expected to be impacted as in-store restrictions eased.

A Raydiant survey from January 2021 found the leading reason why consumers use BOPIS offerings was COVID-19 concerns, cited by 35.4 percent. That was followed in the top-five by the desire to avoid shipping fees, 19.7 percent; to avoid interacting with people for non-health related reasons, 11.8 percent; to avoid the time spent browsing for items in-store, 9.9 percent; and to avoid waiting in a checkout line, 8.6 percent.

An April 2021 ChaseDesign survey found about half of grocery shoppers who use BOPIS began doing so during the pandemic, but only half of those customers planned to continue in the future. Of all respondents, 54 percent preferred to pick items out in person and 40 percent wanted the experience of shopping in a physical store.

That survey found the top frustrations associated with using BOPIS were product availability, quality, missing items from orders and wait times. Nearly half would avoid using BOPIS to buy meat/seafood, about 40 percent to buy dairy, produce and frozen products, and about 35 percent to order deli or bakery. Forty percent reported waiting 10 minutes or more for their BOPIS orders upon arrival.

For retailers, encouraging BOPIS was seen as a way to reduce the shipping costs of e-commerce. A second path to mitigating the cost is to have customers pay more for shipping.

LaserShip’s survey found consumers increasingly open to paying for faster delivery. Nearly 60 percent of shoppers surveyed paid for faster delivery, with 69 percent of those having paid more for next-day delivery. In the June 2020 survey, 62 percent had never paid for expedited delivery. However, the latest survey also found a free shipping option remained an expectation.

BrainTrust

"BOPIS use will decrease but the offering will not go away. "

Liza Amlani

Principal and Founder, Retail Strategy Group


"For consumers, BOPIS provides safety; for retailers, BOPIS provides a direct pipeline to individual consumers."

Mark Price

Chief Data Officer, CaringBridge


"The COVID-driven dimension of BOPIS may wax and wane with the rise and fall of pandemic numbers. But the long-term baseline use of BOPIS is likely to increase..."

Dion Kenney

COO, Mondofora


Discussion Questions

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Has BOPIS lost a significant amount of its appeal as in-store restrictions have eased? Should BOPIS be marketed or incentivized more to drive usage or should retailers scale back on dedicated parking spots and staffing to realign with shopper behavior?

Poll

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Mark Ryski
Noble Member
2 years ago

People are starting to revert back to their normal shopping behaviors. I believe BOPIS will continue to grow, and the retailers who do BOPIS exceptionally well will have a competitive advantage. And let’s not forget, there will likely be other pandemics in our future and a well-oiled BOPIS program will be critical to success.

Neil Saunders
Famed Member
2 years ago

For many retailers, BOPIS is still growing. For most, it is a more significant part of their business than it was at the start of 2020. It reflects a win-win for both consumer and retailer. For shoppers, it is convenient and helps them streamline shopping trips; it also allows products to be received quickly which, in some instances, is important. For retailers it is, usually, a more cost effective fulfillment method than home delivery. That said, as pandemic related trends unwind, growth has moderated. The rise of fast, often same-day, delivery has also stolen some of the thunder of BOPIS – although the speedy delivery model still has a lot to prove in terms of its economics.

Doug Garnett
Active Member
2 years ago

We shouldn’t expect any of the shifts during the pandemic to stick fully. And regarding BOPIS for grocery (which seems to have the most discussion in the survey) it is no surprise to see interest drop – for all the reasons in the survey.

Overall, though, retailers should be encouraged with what the survey says: people like to shop in stores. From this point, retailers should focus on that truth and stop chasing the shiny baubles hawked by Amazon and others.

Nikki Baird
Active Member
2 years ago

I feel like this survey blended/confused the ideas of BOPIS, BOPAC, and home delivery in weird ways. And there is always the warning that you can look at what consumers SAY, but then you must also look at what consumers DO. December was a blockbuster month for BOPIS – for our customers, it was the largest volume of BOPIS orders both in terms of absolute dollar value and in percentage of overall fulfillment ever. It’s important to keep in mind that customer preference for BOPIS is also highly dependent on inventory availability (as in, if you’ve hit a holiday shipping cutoff for the website, your only option to get something is to pick it up in-store), and that this preference for BOPIS will vary throughout the year depending on things like shipping cutoffs.

David Naumann
Active Member
2 years ago

It seems logical that BOPIS shopping has declined a bit since the peak of the pandemic. Now that stores are open and I haven’t seen any capacity restrictions in months, in-store shopping has become more prevalent. Whether retailers should push BOPIS more depends on the profitability of transactions. In-store shopping is probably the most profitable, followed by BOPIS and then home delivery.

Liza Amlani
Active Member
2 years ago

BOPIS use will decrease but the offering will not go away.

Customers will continue to expect a digital first experience across all retail and BOPIS/curbside options are considered standard offerings. Retailers are also learning valuable insights through the data from these pandemic driven practices. These insights can help feed marketing and product decisions and retailers shouldn’t lose sight of what they could learn to help better serve and delight the customer through deeper engagement. BOPIS also drives brand loyalty. BOPIS may decrease but it will never go away and it shouldn’t.

Dr. Stephen Needel
Active Member
2 years ago

BOPIS was never a great idea – it was a solution to a problem that is diminishing because we have other solutions (masks, more vaccinations, social distancing, etc.). I’m not surprised it’s fading. I still like it as a way to avoid shipping, but that’s the end of it’s benefit.

Trusted Member
2 years ago

All bets are off once again while Omicron continues to build momentum. However as convenient as BOPIS might be, it’s not nearly as convenient as having goods delivered to your front door. In addition, with a labor shortage still existing, curbside pick up has slowed or has even been suspended in some situations.

Ken Morris
Trusted Member
2 years ago

We are in the middle of an incredible spike in COVID-19 cases, so BOPIS and BOPAC are not dead. If you compare it to delivery, it has lost volume, but we are not safe yet — to reuse a quote from an old movie (Marathon Man). I would not realign until we know it’s over and the variants stop.

Of course shoppers would prefer to go inside the grocery store and pick the best produce they can find. But if they don’t go into the store to do that, then home delivery would probably be the preferred option, as long everything is delivered fresh.

David Spear
Active Member
2 years ago

BOPIS will definitely trend downward as restrictions ease across the country. That said, the lessons taken from BOPIS will serve retailers well for a long time and these insights can be leveraged in many other parts of their business, such as home delivery and in-store shopping experience. IT departments had to pivot quickly with BOPIS and most did an incredible job of piecing together services that otherwise weren’t ready for prime time. This was a representation of MVPs, of proofs of concept on steroids and, for the most part, it worked well. These implementation skills will be incredibly important in defining the next set of differentiated experiences and offerings that will keep retail on the disruptive edge.

Jeff Sward
Noble Member
2 years ago

Survey says — customers actually like shopping! Sure, some people just want to get out and about again. And absolutely BOPIS is here to stay. So let’s not be surprised that growth has moderated, but let’s also be continually reminded that BOPIS is now an integral part of the customer’s expectations for many retailers.

Richard Hernandez
Active Member
2 years ago

From what I have seen, BOPIS is stil growing. If anything, this will give those retailers that went into it haphazardly incentive to give it the correct amount of space and staff to operate it properly.

Brandon Rael
Active Member
2 years ago

The great digital acceleration spurred by the pandemic’s anxieties and uncertainties led to an increased usage of BOPIS and curbside pickup services. However we should expect that, as the pandemic peaks and eventually stabilizes, customers will be going back to their old shopping habits. Those who have shifted to the BOPIS, curbside, and home delivery models will not return to the traditional in-store shopping journey.

BOPIS represents a flexible, convenient, and cost-effective way for retailers to mitigate the last mile. We should not expect BOPIS to diminish significantly as customers navigate our changing normal. Customers ultimately want choice, and leveraging BOPIS and other customer-first strategies is a winning formula for revenue growth.

Gene Detroyer
Noble Member
2 years ago

BOPIS, online and delivery were all accelerated by the pandemic. However the trend started prior to COVID-19. As I have written many times, it is all about convenience. The convenience people experience is not going to be traded off for going into the store.

Jennifer Bartashus
2 years ago

Demand for BOPIS is like a pendulum – it has swung back to in-store shopping as there was a lot of pent-up demand to browse in person. Lots of things can swing the pendulum back – COVID-19 variants, weather events, consumer demand, etc. – but overall the use level will remain higher than historic levels. Improving the pickup experience – either by reducing wait time and narrowing or eliminating pickup time slots is important. Retailers need an infrastructure that can flex in response to demand. BOPIS is still more profitable than delivery for most retailers, so it may be worth keeping a steady stream of incentives or advertising to guide customers who don’t want to go into a store to the more profitable alternative.

Dave Bruno
Active Member
2 years ago

I was a big fan of BOPIS before the pandemic, I became an even bigger fan (especially of curbside pickup) during the pandemic, and I will remain a big fan after the pandemic. For customers, it eliminates shipping costs and rewards us with instant gratification, not to mention minimizing time spent in the store during the pandemic. For retailers who have optimized store fulfillment, it reduces overall costs and gives them a chance to interact, engage and potentially earn add-on sales when customers arrive to pick up their orders. It’s a win-win scenario and, in my experience, those scenarios usually find a way of sticking around.

Rich Kizer
Member
2 years ago

I actually believe there would be screams from some customers at the suggestion that BOPIS was being discontinued in a store. When a retailer delivers an easier and/or more pleasant process or way of doing business with the customer, and then tries to take it away, they can generate some bad feelings. Want to get rid of it? Take it very slowly and expect some agitation.

Dion Kenney
2 years ago

The COVID-driven dimension of BOPIS may wax and wane with the rise and fall of pandemic numbers. But the long-term baseline use of BOPIS is likely to increase as more retailers become more proficient at making their “BUY ONLINE” capability better/easier/faster and consumers incorporate “pick it up on the way home” into their normal daily behavior and expectations.

Suresh Chaganti
Suresh Chaganti
Member
2 years ago

BOPIS remains one of the essential tools in the toolbox, particularly for those who have already implemented it. But the innovation should continue to drive the cross-sell. That effort is missing in nearly every retailer.

In most places the BOPIS desk functions as a locker which is fully automated, missing the revenue opportunities. Instead, retailers could offer three or four add-on products right at the time of pickup, depending on the product that the customer is picking up.

Retailers are depending on customers to wander around the aisles and make additional purchases, which is a lost opportunity.

Mark Heckman
2 years ago

I do not believe BOPIS as it is currently is offered is a sustainable long-term proposition for either the consumer or the retailer. Despite many retailers eliminating cashiers in favor of self-checkout, retailers and their fragile P&Ls cannot be thrilled with paying people to clog the aisles of their traditional brick-and-mortar stores with long, bulky carts as they pick their BOPIS orders. For the shopper, the survey cited captures several areas where there is a disconnect for them. Anecdotally, my only two personal experiences with this process contained multiple stockouts and mis-picks. As we emerge (someday) from the pandemic, if BOPIS is to remain a viable option — it will need to be re-thought both logistically and technologically.

DeAnn Campbell
Active Member
2 years ago

With grocery, customers are far more interested in convenience, which is why this study skewed toward the preference for delivery. For most other retail sectors the data reveals the opposite, with over 60 percent of customers even deciding where to shop online based on who offers in store pickup.

With the significant erosion of profits created by the cost of home delivery, BOPIS is a critical tool for retailers, but the challenge is that most BOPIS services are poorly executed with weak customer service. Too often it’s hard to find where to pick up, long queues behind shoppers bringing returns, confused staff and even items that are out of stock despite notification that they should be ready for pick-up. As the fear of COVID-19 begins to settle into a managed awareness, retailers desperately need to address the profit margin crunch and weak brand loyalty of e-commerce. BOPIS is one of the best ways to keep the customer engaged in activities that not only improve profits, but also improve customer experience, loyalty, basket size and long term customer value.

Gary Sankary
Noble Member
2 years ago

Based on my observations at my local Target, where I almost only shop using BOPIS, the demand seems to have gotten stronger, especially during the holidays. In November they expanded the number of BOPIS stalls from five to 20. When I’m there there are almost always 10-12 cars in slots waiting to get orders.

I think for retailers who have figured out how to do BOPIS right, this will continue to be a strong channel for them. Target and Best Buy certainly come to mind.

For retailers who have struggled, or put hurdles in front of their customers trying to use the service, I suspect they will back-peddle from this. It’s expensive and they make difficult for their teams to execute. They are passing on a competitive advantage in my opinion.

In my mind, doing this right means not forcing the customer to sign up for a slot 24 to 72 hours after they pay. It also means reasonable wait times and prompt services. Example in two years I’ve only had to wait longer than five minutes once at Target. And in that case they gave me a $10 gift card for my trouble.

It also means a well designed ecommerce site that is easy to shop and easy to check out.
I’ve found myself not shopping at their competition when this isn’t offered, or when there’s a fee involved , or what I think is an unreasonable burden placed in my shopping flow. I really like the connivence of not getting out of the car and wandering around a big box. I think there’s enough folks like me to keep this capability around.

Andrew Blatherwick
Member
2 years ago

BOPIS remains an important part of the retail mix alongside home delivery and shopping in-store. The fact that it has fallen back as a percentage of the total is not surprising. In fact you could say the same about online for home delivery but nobody seems to want to hear that. The reasons given for people not liking BOPIS are the same as for home delivery, which again is no surprise.

We should not expect any of the channels to be the only channel. They are all important and add to the retail offering. It would be dangerous for any retailer to stop operating BOPIS as a significant percentage of shoppers still like it and for the retailer it is still much cheaper than free home delivery!

Dick Seesel
Trusted Member
2 years ago

This is a question to which the answer is “It depends.” Groceries or a tech item from Best Buy? In-store or curbside pickup? Alternatives to in-store visits will continue to grow in importance, but not necessarily with the peak demand driven by waves of the pandemic. There are a lot of ways to deliver “last mile” service, and delivery to your doorstep may be the most powerful of all.

Mohamed Amer
Mohamed Amer
Active Member
2 years ago

No, BOPIS remains relevant and popular. Looking at the findings by Hanover Research, BOPIS is an essential consideration for online shopping much higher than shipping speed or delivery day selection.

BOPIS offers consumer convenience and decision flexibility. Unlike home deliveries, there are no additional fees for BOPIS, including the popular curbside pickup. Bottom line, BOPIS is not going away.

DeAnn Campbell
Active Member
Reply to  Mohamed Amer
2 years ago

I agree with you Mohamed! I’m mystified by some of these responses against BOPIS. It’s only in grocery that it is waning, it’s on the rise everywhere else.

Ryan Mathews
Trusted Member
2 years ago

There is BOPIS and there is BOPIS and, as always, the devil is in the execution. I would actually like to look at the size, sampling, and entirety of the survey. You always get the answer you are asking for so, in an absolute sense if I ask people if they want to, say, buy perishables in a store instead of having somebody else pick them out, the answer would probably be yes. If I ask them if they plan on going into a store more often than they did in the early days of COVID-19 when people were bleaching their junk mail, they will no doubt say yes. But is that the same thing as them saying they hate BOPIS and plan to dump it at soon as possible? The answer to that is no. I think it’s still way too early to make an absolute judgement.

Richard J. George, Ph.D.
Active Member
2 years ago

This is a six-month old study and the COVID-19 world continues to change and impact our way of life. That being said, BOPIS will continue to flourish. Besides its supply chain impact and final mile cost savings, it still represents an opportunity for retailers to generate incremental high margin sales if they can figure out a way to get customers into stores while in the process of picking up the BOPIS order.

RandyDandy
RandyDandy
2 years ago

I had never heard the coined term BOPIS until the pandemic. So, you could say it got its “boost” because of it. Which is rather ironic, considering that for BOPIS transactions to rise (again) they’d need a “booster” in the form of another surge.

Meanwhile, though I had never heard of “it,” the reasons for using it were not new to me. I just had very few occasions to shop in that manner. But a great many larger retailers have always had pickup areas for in-store shoppers to “get” certain items into their cars. Spots that could easily segue to more online-then-retrieve sales.

As such, when I once wanted to buy an available (in-store) moderately sized piece of furniture, and found that shipping or delivery would cost almost half the price of the item, I took the “pick up” option. However without a car, that wasn’t going to be an easy choice.

Which brings me to the reality of BOPIS, and how it may wane or rise, in the retail landscape. It basically comes down to how it works with these “absolutes” about shopping (and whether it fits the purchase or not): convenience, economics (costs to the consumer and business) contrasted with the buyer’s degrees of “want” (must-have to maybe not).

So look for the big players to offer this, as always, as some sort of option. But only when it’s about a consumer’s clear choices. Like this exact toy or that precise appliance. When it comes to those things that people like to “choose” themselves, like fresh produce, it never was nor will it ever be left to the worker to always make the selection. About the smaller guys? Yes, when “picking up” was about us helping out them. But now? Only if it’s cost-effective, staff-able, and convenient for either party.

Mark Price
Member
2 years ago

BOPIS has provided consumers with a sense of safety regarding the pandemic. As the pandemic stretches on, some of this safety need will wane. For consumers, BOPIS provides safety; for retailers, BOPIS provides a direct pipeline to individual consumers. During the pandemic, this group of “connected consumers” grew dramatically. It is up to retailers now to build on the value prop of BOPIS, particularly curbside. Such efforts as loyalty programs, special offers and limited time products would help to maintain that connection. However since consumer issues revolve around execution — the first priority is to execute BOPIS successfully.

John Karolefski
Member
2 years ago

There are surveys and then there are other surveys. I just don’t believe the results of this one. I may answer a survey saying that I “prefer” home delivery over BOPIS, but then I go to the store for curbside pickup after venturing inside to pick my fruits, veggies and meat. My sense from observation and talking to people is that
BOPIS is not declining. Retailers would be wise to keep that in mind and consider all survey results with a cocked eye.

Lee Peterson
Member
2 years ago

Just read where Walmart did 25% of ALL BOPAS business this holiday. From my take, that’s because they’ve been working on it the longest and have got the bugs out. BOPAS is NOT going to go away and frankly, will be a huge part of dark store business. This is a consumer-driven shopping option, let’s not forget that, so fortunately or unfortunately, retailers will HAVE to offer said consumers multiple ways to do business with them, and this is certainly a big one.

Ananda Chakravarty
Active Member
2 years ago

Despite the survey results, BOPIS continues to have a future simply because it is cheaper and more immediate than delivery. BOPIS will continue to be an option for consumers who are not interested in paying retailer delivery costs or waiting for a box to arrive. BOPIS will continue to serve the consumer interested in the cost of their products, when they will receive their goods and the condition it arrives in. Few customers care about none of these things. The pandemic boost for BOPIS will be balanced by a return to store and online shopping, but retailers are maturing their BOPIS services. It’s all about the easiest way for the retailer to do business.

Karen Wong
Member
2 years ago

From the consumer perspective, if all things are equal, it would make sense that most shoppers would prefer home delivery to BOPIS. But in many cases, it isn’t equal. There are shipping fees and delays.

Where shoppers might prefer to choose their own products (e.g. fresh meat/produce), it makes sense for online ordering to lose its appeal. But for packaged goods, BOPIS is still attractive if it’s executed well. Availability is always a concern, especially in the current supply chain environment. You want to know something is available before you head out the door.

If you’re serving local shoppers, the smartest retailers are those who encourage nearby shoppers to use their BOPIS offering. It’s more cost-effective and offers the same data-driven analytics as traditional e-commerce.

James Tenser
Active Member
2 years ago

Lots to unpack when examining these BOPIS survey responses.

First – As others observe here, the usefulness of order pickup at or in-store varies greatly by the type of retail purchase. Having a grocery order loaded into your car trunk on the way home from work or school is a fine form of convenience. Ditto for that flat-screen TV you bought for the holidays. Parking and entering a mall department store to get that sweater you ordered…not so much.

Second – At-store pickup certainly got a boost from the pandemic, but its popularity was rising before and it will endure with or without the germ. In fact, could not have spiked as it did if retailers had not already been implementing fulfillment solutions before anyone ever heard of COVID-19.

Third – Picking up digital orders inside a store is usually a dumb choice for shoppers, as it negates most of the promised convenience by adding new friction. Drive-up is a boon, however, if the retailer times order readiness well.

Fourth – Most poor shopper experiences with digital ordering during the first pandemic panic were less the result of poor fulfillment practices and more a result of weak inventory management practices combined with supply shortages. Shoppers can’t know that, of course, but omni-retailers need to clean up their act, operationally speaking.

All in all, at-store pickup will continue to be a boon for shoppers who are frequently in their vehicles. Its enduring value lies in time-saving convenience, not germ-avoidance. Of course surge behaviors have leveled off, but there is no un-ringing the bell. This is a mandatory skill set for all retailers.

Anil Patel
Member
2 years ago

Any strategy, no matter how good, is only as good as its execution. I believe the problem is not that the BOPIS as a strategy is ineffective. Rather, it’s the implementation of the strategy that has caused the problem.

Many retailers have been ignoring the actual pain points of the customers, i.e. product availability and wait time during order pick up. Studies have shown that retailers, more than one-third of the time, cannot answer if they have the accurate inventory in stock or not. Customers may visit the store to pick up orders only to find out that the product is not available in the store. Another obstacle is delayed picking and packing of BOPIS orders. Because BOPIS is a promise of speed, making customers wait will not bode well for this strategy.

If you don’t believe me, look at Target’s most recent earnings report. Target’s digital sales increased by 102 % between November and December. Same-day services such as BOPIS increased 212%, and stores fulfilled more than 95% of the retailer’s Q4 sales.

What did Target do differently? They are doing BOPIS the way it SHOULD be done. Target has made it highly convenient for customers to BO and PIS and its customers are continuing to love BOPIS just as much, if not more than they did during COVID.