PICKUP Partners with Big Box Retailer to Defeat Pandemic Delivery Challenges
How did a big box retailer face the challenges of the pandemic, while also increasing e-commerce and omnichannel sales by 130%? Simple. They adapted.
Before the pandemic, this big-box retailer had a PICKUP solution that worked for them. They used our services on a limited basis in its physical stores through our referral program for preferred vendors. Upon purchasing big and heavy items, the stores would give their customers a referral card to schedule their deliveries at their convenience.
This particular system worked fine but presented a problem when customers no longer visited the stores in person due to Covid safety protocols. If customers aren’t in the store, they can’t schedule deliveries.
The Need for Delivery Now
There was, of course, an option to purchase items online. But delivery could take days, or even weeks because the products were coming from warehouses, not the local stores. This wouldn’t have been a problem a while back, but these days, customers want their items delivered now.
In fact, there is a 60% abandonment rate if there is not a same or next-day delivery option. This need for speedy delivery was especially true during the early days of the pandemic when consumers sought to make their homes the new center of everything. The demand for home essentials—including furniture, seasonal decorations, consumables, and soft and hard home goods—soared.
Realizing the need to adapt or face major losses, this big-box retailer turned to PICKUP to take the customer delivery experience to the next level by providing a “buy online, deliver from store” option.
PICKUP Fusion Formula Solves Pandemic Delivery Problem
Fortunately, PICKUP has worked tirelessly to become the most advanced solution for a best-in-class, customer-friendly delivery experience. The Fusion Formula solution uses technology to integrate our systems into a retailer’s online Point of Sales (POS.) That’s exactly what this big-box retailer chose to do.
By pairing our API solution with their website, customers are now able to shop in-store or online. If on the website, they simply select same-day or scheduled delivery at checkout.
Of course, purchased items don’t just appear at customers’ homes. If they did, we’d be out of business! But our business doesn’t just run on technology. In fact, PICKUP fuses technology and people together to create top-notch customer experiences. Our team includes our delivery pros, known as PICKUP Delivery Pros, which are essential to meeting the delivery needs of consumers.
Our delivery team was already providing white-glove customer experiences. But in the pandemic, they rose to the occasion and worked within strict safety protocols to ensure store customers had what they needed, when they needed it.
If they needed new outdoor furniture to accommodate for social distancing with neighbors, we could deliver it soon after it was purchased. If they wanted a bigger dining room table to better fit the board games they were playing more often, we could get it there quickly.
The Proof is in the Percentages
Whatever the case, customers showed this was a service they were waiting for. Since implementing Fusion Formula in July of 2020, the retailer has seen a significant increase in its overall e-commerce growth and has gained the ability to ship from store and ensure two-day delivery to 90% of its customers across the country.
That availability led to some staggering statistics. First, when comparing e-commerce and omnichannel sales for Q4 2020 to the same time in 2019, the retailer saw 130% growth.Additionally, in Q4 2020, online conversions more than doubled. And in the big and heavy category alone, the retailer saw an increase of 300% in revenue!
The retailer came in at #1 Total Retail’s 2020 Top Omnichannel Retailers Report in part because of what they were able to achieve with PICKUP.
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