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As 2020 comes to a close, many retailers and consumers alike are looking forward to next year. Thereâs still one more opportunity to close out the year on a positive note: the holidays! Before the pandemic, retailers had decades of accurate data to pull from to create more precise holiday forecasts. Obviously, this year has been a bit more challenging.
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With the holiday shopping season nearly upon us, many retailers are wondering how this yearâs numbers will compare to prior years. Since 2020 has been such an anomaly, it is hard to forecast exactly what will occur. Many retail industry experts are still unsure of what will happen during this holiday shopping season, especially during what are normally high traffic shopping days like Black Friday 1.
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In 2019, a lot of the retail spotlight was focused on BOPIS, Buy Online Pick Up In Store. Brick and Mortar retailers rushed to attract the latest trend of shoppers who wanted to save time and shipping costs by purchasing items ahead of time online and picking it up in store. Retailers loved how it was driving foot traffic to their stores, often leading to additional purchases once they were on site. Now, enter 2020 and COVID-19; another wrench is thrown into the retail industry. Retailers who were hesitant to implement BOPIS are now forced to offer the option or risk losing sales. 2020 not only highlighted the importance of BOPIS, but it also introduced a sister option: BOPAC, Buy Online Pick Up At Curb. According to a recent study, curbside orders have increased by 208% during the pandemic, and 59% of customers say they are more likely to continue curbside pickup after the pandemic.
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In a time of record-breaking online sales, now is the perfect time to evaluate online retail sales strategies. However, online shopping is obviously not new and certain customer expectations must be met. If your online retail store isnât measuring up to expectations, online consumers will shop elsewhere for the products they want. Here are three ways you can increase profits from your online sales.
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Online shopping has grown steadily over the past few years. One study found that âonline sales grew by 15.1 percent in 2019 and accounted for 51.1 percent of all retail growth last year.â This year, more consumers than ever have shifted to online shopping as part of their regular routine. According to a recent report, â42 percent of consumers are using digital channels to engage in activities more often than they did before.â The U.S. Census Bureau also reported first quarter eCommerce sales to be up 2.4 percent ($160.3 billion) from the fourth quarter of 2019.
Doesnât it feel like the rules of how to âwin at retailretailâ are constantly changing and shifting their focus? First the key was to bring in people to the physical store and shape their customer experience- making it memorable in some way. Then retail seemed to shift its focus to rely heavily on online shopping, leading to several brick and mortar retailers struggling to stay afloat. Today, BOPIS, the latest in retail trends, is throwing a life preserver to the brick and mortar store.
Consumers love buy-online, pick-up-in-store (BOPIS). Retailers love the way BOPIS allows them to drive traffic to stores and leverage their physical footprint as a competitive advantage against online pure-plays. But consumers bring higher expectations to BOPIS than they do to simply shopping in a store: The retailer has explicitly told them the item is available, so the bar is set high.
Unfortunately, for many retailers, BOPIS failures are alienating the very customers they most want to please, hurting them in both the short- and long-term.
