Touchpoints
All the moments in which the customer comes into contact with your brand, directly of indirectly, throughout his or her customer journey
Research shopping
The propensity of consumers to research the product in one channel (e.g., the Internet), and then purchase it through another channel (e.g., the store`)
BOPIS
Buy online, pick up in store
ROPIS
Reserve online, pick up in store
STS
Ship to store
SFS
Ship from store
KPI
Key peformance indicators
Benefits click & collect consumers
- Instant gratification (I want it now)
- Guarantee availability
- Save time (no need to search, walk through store)
- Save on delivery costs
- Obtain advice on the usage of the product upon pickup
Benefits click & collect retailers
- Compared to selling online with home delivery click-and-collect brings the consumer to the store
- This provides several (potential) benefits to the retailer:
a. Save on last-mile delivery costs
b. Potential for up- and cross-selling at the store
c. Build brand loyalty through store exposure
Challenges in offering click & collect
- Inventory accuracy (theft, misplacement)
- Information systems
- If manual store checks are required to ensure they are done fast enough
- Incorporating inventory checks and pickups in a way that does not detract from assisting shoppers in the store
Challenges with ship-to-store
- Using click & collect with ship-to-store could lead to more fragmented demand, which increases inventory costs
- If shipment between the distribution center and store cannot be consolidated efficiently, transportation costs for the “middle mile” could grow explosively
- Some retailers ship items to the store to fulfill click & collect request because they don’t know whether the item is (already) present in the store.
Benefits of shipping from store
- Pool inventory between online and offline channels
- Deliver faster
- Reduce delivery costs
Challenges with ship from store
- Combining the order picking and packing with the other activities in the store
- Organizing delivery
a. Use third party or organize in house
b. When organizing in-house ensure enough demand to make that viable
c. Matching irregular demand for service with supply of fulfillment slots
drop shipping
Fulfillment by the vendor
Benefits of drop shipping to the platform
- Lower capital investment – not holding inventory, only purchasing the product from the vendor when a customer orders
- Lower financial risk
- Ability to quickly offer a broad assortment – scale faster and cheaper
Benefits of drop shipping to the vendor
- Good way to increase distribution, esp. for expensive and/or slow moving items that platforms hesitate to hold in inventory
- Potential for increasing profit margins; platforms may be willing to negotiate smaller margins
- More knowledge on customer base (e.g., location)
