One cannot overstate the importance of the retail industry.
Retail consumption keeps the economy humming along and is an essential indicator of its health. Governmental policies remain aware of the industry’s growth because it is a significant employer, directly employing one in ten employed individuals and indirectly supporting four in ten*.
The industry and its e-commerce component are growing
Customers in the US spent more than $471 billion on online retail in 2021, surpassing earlier projections of $469.24 billion. This figure does not include the festival-laden October to December quarter.
Since 2012, we have seen the ever-increasing e-commerce component in retail sales. And this does not look to be slowing down thanks to the ever-increasing number of internet users.
What does this mean for your retail sales strategy?
The past, present, and future of the industry show digital engagements will be a significant factor in the way forward. The revenue it brings in, its importance as a government policy influencer, the steady increase in internet users, and the steady increase in e-commerce retail sales underline the importance of digital engagements to your retail business strategy.
BOPIS and Click & Collect (C&C/BOPIL)
BOPIS: Buy-online-pay-in-store is a retail strategy, which, as the name indicates, helps customers buy the merchandise online then pay for and collect them at the store. Collection areas are dedicated only to this audience. BOPIS helps customers by providing an e-catalog to browse, make choices, and add to their shopping carts.
BOPIL: Buy-online-pick-in-locker is a variation of BOPIS and is alternatively referred to as click and collect (C&C). Here, the customer comes to the store and can access the goods from lockers strategically placed by the retailer – in public places like airports, train stations, or in the store premises. Retailers also use mobile lockers placed on customized vehicles.
Relevance of BOPIS and C&C Across Retail Formats
Smart locker technologies have universal applicability and value. A few of the top smart locker solution benefits could include
- Mom & Pop/Department Stores: smart lockers will open up new monetization channels.
- Discount/Dollar Stores: C&C helps reduce overheads, an example of which helps move a portion of payments online, reducing the need for POS machinery and consumables. Also, it helps discount stores with multiple branches optimize the transfer of products within by optimizing the online ordering and darkroom delivery workflows
- Supermarket/Warehouse Stores
- Reducing overheads and space utilization
- More intelligent inventory and procurement management
- Specialty Stores: Smart lockers could enhance the customer experience. And tailor it to the merchandise.
- Malls
- Smart locker solutions could help increase monetizable space
- Real estate for ads – digital and conventional
- E-Tailers: Smart lockers help provide last-mile connectivity to enhance the customer experience further.
Benefits of BOPIS and C&C That Will Attract More Sales
BOPIS and C&C solutions bring convenience to users and more value to retailers through the following.
- Better accessibility for more sales: Our retail dispensing solutions optimize the quality of access to consumers.
- Our solutions provide 24/7 availability ensuring convenient access to consumers and thereby increasing chances of sales.
- All our solutions are ADA compliant.
- Storage lockers are robust and tamper-proof, with the ability to vet and confirm the user’s credentials.
- An optimized supply chain for more Return on Investment: IDS optimizes inventory management through iQ Technology.
- Data for Insights: IDS provides a connected and future-technology-ready platform for collecting insights and converting them into actions.
- Inventory Management: Better Procurement Strategies: Insights lead to cash-smart procurements, better cash flows, better revenue predictability, etc.
- Just-In-Time Stocking: smart lockers make it easier and less time-consuming for retailers to stock, take stock, and restock inventory.
- Enhanced customer experience for competitive advantage: Our solution’s features list ensures a seamless online to offline transition.
- Cashless Transactions: Customers prefer cashless payments for both online and offline retail. BOPIS and C&C provide cashless payment systems.
- Contactless Delivery: smart lockers in both avatars – BOPIS and BOPIL help reduce high-risk personal interactions.
- Convenience: Customers have added flexibility in planning their purchases and spending less time between aisles while not losing the in-store experience.
Considerations to Choose the Ideal BOPIS and C&C Solutions
IDS offers both BOPIS and C&C solutions. Our automated retail machines are as simple as paying, scanning, and retrieving. There are three main components to any BOPIS or BOPIL solution – the smart locker, the control hardware, and the software.
Our solutions eliminate the need for customers to wait in long lines while waiting to retrieve their ordered products. From the customer’s perspective, they see a smart locker accessible through their mobile devices. However, from a retailer’s point of view, there are multiple considerations to be made before you invest in a BOPIS or C&C solution and reap the benefits.
End-to-End Service Provider: When we say end-to-end, we mean it. We provide financing and leasing options to custom-developed solutions and a dedicated 24/7 support structure. Our Virtual Tracker solution is one example. We offer all of the necessary software, hardware, and support you need to take back control of your inventory.
Our 90 Years of Vending Industry Legacy: Last but not least, 2021 marked the 90th anniversary of our parent company, The Wittern Group. We have placed customer success as our driving force, which reflects in our patents, technology partnerships, use-case-specific applications, specialty applications, etc., in addition to actual customer success.
BOPIS and C&C ensure more retail revenues, but their success depends on the solution partner. IDS has proven success in the vending & dispensing industry for more than 90 years. With a comprehensive product portfolio, focused R&D, machines and solutions exclusively made in the USA, and robust support ecosystems.
Contact IDS for BOPIS and C&C Solutions
IDS is here to support you and your organization’s needs. To find out more about our BOPIS solution, or other solutions offered by IDS, give us a call at 1-800-771-4446.
