The global pandemic changed our lives in countless ways—but near the top of the list was its enormous impact on retail. Quite frankly, the shopping experience will never return to the way it was before.
One major part of the transformation is the ongoing shift from buy online, pickup in store (BOPIS) 1.0 to BOPIS 2.0. For retailers still seeking to recover from the COVID-19 upheaval—and future-proof against other unforeseen challenges—the upgrade to BOPIS 2.0 is one of the smartest moves they can make.
What is BOPIS 2.0? How is it different from BOPIS 1.0?
Many experts describe the transformation from BOPIS 1.0 to 2.0 like an upgrade from an old prop plane to a modern private jet with dramatic improvements to functionality and performance. While the prop plane could fly and would likely get you from point A to point B, it’s definitely not the fastest, most efficient or most comfortable way to get there.
Same is true in the retail world. BOPIS 1.0 was the original, SKU-based inventory tracking system, which operated using barcodes and data that was missing the fidelity required or the technology to gather frequent reliable data in a new digital economy.
By introducing item-level RFID tags and updated software (the foundation of BOPIS 2.0), retailers can gain drastic improvements in inventory accuracy.
Why is BOPIS 2.0 important?
Item-level RFID technology enables retailers to gain full visibility of all inventory stock, wherever it may sit in the supply chain. It enables retailers to predict with 98% accuracy how much stock they have, where that stock sits, what stock may be considered bloated inventory, what items they are missing and what needs to be replenished.
This information is critical for sustaining a BOPIS 2.0 model and driving long-term customer satisfaction. Having definitive knowledge about inventory stock enables retailers to make commitments to customers with a confidence that’s missing from traditional BOPIS 1.0 models (which usually offer 70% or less inventory accuracy).
Item-level RFID can also help retail associates accurately locate stock in busy stockrooms, eliminating BOPIS cancelled orders, ultimately increasing BOPIS sales, and further enhancing the customer experience and satisfaction.
How does BOPIS 2.0 support omnichannel shopping?
Omnichannel retail (or omnichannel commerce) is a retail sales approach that fully integrates multiple sales channels—brick-and-mortar, desktop and mobile—to create a seamless, consistent and unified shopping experience supported at every touchpoint by intelligent data to meet customer preferences and needs.
Introducing BOPIS 2.0 helps retailers implement and strengthen an omnichannel commerce system, enabling customers to have the full shoppable experience online, based on the retailers confident inventory commitments. Once retailers know exactly how much inventory they have on hand—and precisely where it’s all located—they can sell through multiple channels with greater accuracy.
Omnichannel commerce, in turn, drives customer convenience, increases shoppers’ likelihood to spend and increases customer loyalty by providing a more personalized shopping experience. That makes the transition to BOPIS 2.0 a win-win for retailers and shoppers everywhere.
For more information about how BOPIS retail 2.0 can future-proof your retail customers’ business, contact the DC/POS team at Ingram Micro today.