Click and collect, also known as BOPIS, is a great way to combine both the online and the offline environments in retail. Click stands for researching and ordering online while collecting the products is done in-store. Retailers either have an app or a website from which customers can look up their favorite products, add them to the virtual cart and order them
With click and collect, retailers don’t have to worry (or pay for) about delivering the products to shoppers.
How does click and collect work?
People enter the website or the app of the retailer (a brick and mortar store) and they look up products, research them, place them in the cart, and pay for them online. After that, the retailer transmits a pick-up time to the customer. A designated person inside the store gathers all of the products and prepares the full order.
After the order is prepared, the shopper can come to the store to pick-up their products. Some stores even offer curbside pick-up which means shoppers don’t even have to get out of the car to get their products. It’s a faster, more efficient method for both the customer and the retailer.
Some retailers even paired up with different delivery companies to bring the products to the front steps of the customers. These delivery companies usually pair up with multiple retailers and customers can order from the app of the deliverer, not the app of each retailer.
This system works just like click and collect, just that the delivery guy is the one that picks up the order the retailer prepared and they get it to the customer.
Why is click and collect important?
Click and collect is a great alternative for both brick and mortar stores and customers. First, the brick and mortar stores also rely on the fact that people will look and maybe purchase other products when they come to pick up their original order. Secondly, because products are paid for online, retailers don’t have to worry that shoppers will change their minds or give up some of the products.
For customers it is much more convenient to do their shopping online, at any time of the day or night, and come to the store only to pick up their prepared order. Also, after ordering the products, they might remember to buy other products they forgot to order and they can do that when they pick up their original order.
