Why You Should Consider Offering Curbside Pickup

When the COVID epidemic raged, stores began providing a new service known as curbside pickup. With it, customers could safely order merchandise online, drive to the store, and have a store employee bring their purchase right to their car.

The credit card processing happened in advance via the shop’s ecommerce platform, or on the spot with a mobile card reader. While the pandemic may be in our rear-view mirror for the most part, the popularity of curbside pickup remains. 

But should you embrace it?

Benefits of curbside pickup for customers

Curbside pickup furnishes many advantages for buyers. These include convenience, affordability, and an improved shopping experience.

When people can order in advance and retrieve their purchases later the same day, paying for them by placing their smart card or device near your contactless reader, the advantages speak for themselves. 

Curbside pickup offers a flexible, hygienically safe, and easy way for customers to quickly get the products they want, without needing to pay extra for shipping or worrying about the possibility of their package being stolen from the porch.

Additionally, curbside pickup combines the benefits of online shopping with the efficiency of self-retrieval. Instead of spending time during their busy day trudging through the aisles of a physical store, buyers can build their online shopping cart at their leisure. 

Pickup is safe and stress-free, allowing shoppers to integrate it easily into their busy schedules.

Benefits of curbside pickup for sellers

Shoppers are not the only ones who gain from curbside pickup. 

In the past, companies opted to hire home delivery services that brought purchases directly to the buyer’s door. This involved paying hefty fees and commissions, or hiring in-house drivers. With curbside pickup, these financial burdens no longer exist.

Additionally, as customers are attracted by the ease and convenience that this service brings, offering curbside pickup can increase sales and better retain loyal patrons.

Required elements of curbside pickup

If you want to implement curbside pickup, three important components are a must: a robust inventory management system, transparent procedures, and a well-trained staff.

In order for curbside pickup to be effective, your business operations will need to be smoother and more efficient than ever before. Perhaps most important, you should invest in a modern point of sale system with a suite of inventory management features. 

These will allow you to keep track of your product counts in real-time, ensuring that every customer’s order can be fulfilled completely and according to schedule.

Then back up your physical systems with a comprehensive set of policies. Customers should be able to have access to documentation about how the process works, including time frames and pickup notification procedures. 

If there is a delay in fulfilling the order for any reason, it is vital that you inform the customer right away before they make a premature trip. Features such as dedicated parking spots and order tracking will further augment efficiency and lead to a positive buyer experience.

Finally, the staff members who gather and pack the items requested by the customer, as well as those who physically bring packages to buyers’ cars, must receive thorough training. After all, they represent the face of your store with whom customers primarily interact.

Customers love the convenience of curbside pickup. Meanwhile, retailers benefit from this model’s affordability and ease of implementation. Because of the elevated customer experience and competitive edge that it brings, their sales and loyal customer counts are sure to rise.