The holiday season is just around the corner and 20% to 30% of annual sales rely on getting it right. This infographic by Radial takes a deep-dive look at consumer expectations and how to meet their wants and needs during the busiest time of the year.
The author’s tips to offer ship from store and buy online, pickup in store programs (AKA BOPIS) are good ones for retailers seeking to offer omnichannel experiences that will differentiate versus Amazon and other pure play online retailers and pure play brick & mortar retailers.
Ship from store is somewhat seamless to the customer. The customer benefits from fewer stockouts, faster deliveries, and lower shipping costs because the retailer can route orders to ship from the store closest to the customer or the store with the highest level of inventory.
Buy online, pickup in store offers customers immediate gratification, along with the knowledge that their trip to the store will be a fruitful one. Also, shipping expenses are eliminated for the retailer and customer, a big win.
Today, even mid-market merchants are able to offer these services. SaaS order management systems enable orders to be routed to stores for fulfillment or for pickup.