The retail apocalypse may be overblown, but ecommerce sales are growing year over year. Online ordering and free shipping keeps consumers at home more, leaving brick-and-mortar retailers scrambling to attract online shoppers in-store.
Buy-online pick-up in-store, or BOPIS, has gained traction. They increase foot traffic, control the customer experience, and increase sales. And shoppers are getting used to it: A whopping 68% of shoppers made multiple BOPIS purchases, and 37% of online shoppers made an unplanned purchase when picking up their order in-store
Advertisers should promote BOPIS as a value-add across all digital marketing channels, especially email. Here are some ways to use BOPIS in your daily email campaigns.
- Welcome series and automated messages
- Make Use of Geolocation
- Holidays and other special occasions
- Exclusive sales
- Incentivizing
Welcome series and automated messages
Explain the BOPIS service to new email subscribers. There are no delivery fees, quick fulfillment, in-store returns, and try-on before you leave the store. Look for other automated messages, like birthday or anniversary emails, to promote BOPIS.
Make Use of Geolocation
Customers’ locations can be used to find the nearest store, allowing retailers to include a reminder in each email. For customers to contact or visit you, this dynamic content can include store information such as address and hours. This can be in every message, promotional or automated.
Holidays and other special occasions
Promote BOPIS in stand-alone messaging as key dates approach. Suggestion it as the December shopping season winds down. During this time, either guaranteed delivery or expedited delivery must be paid for. BOPIS makes shopping with your company even more appealing.
It’s a good way to remind customers that they can buy now and receive their gift today. There may be a sense of urgency around other holidays or key dates like anniversaries and birthdays.
Exclusive sales
Offer a sale only for BOPIS-filled orders using the above framework. A BOPIS flash sale or a made-up “national in-store spring cleaning” holiday can promote these sales. You can even test them out during your peak holiday season to see how well they work. Only email subscribers without a nearby retail location should be segmented.
BOPIS gives brick-and-mortar retailers a competitive edge. It caters to last-minute shoppers, and the store environment can provide an exceptional customer shopping experience.
For a consumer-friendly omnichannel shopping experience and maximum revenue, leveraging BOPIS’ value, especially in marketing channels like email, is critical.
Incentivizing
Encourage consumers to use BOPIS while protecting margins. These incentives can be monetary, free products or gifts with pick-up orders, or free gift wrapping.
Keep in mind First, not shipping directly to the customer protects margins and price flexibility. Remember that 37% of BOPIS shoppers make unplanned purchases, increasing the average spend per customer.