Retailers flex their flexible fulfillment muscles: BOPIS defined
Flexible fulfillment is a requirement for retailers today. Ship-to-store, ship-from-store, and BOPIS (buy online, pickup in store) options rule the retail experience.
Grocery delivery through shopping via e-commerce is expected to grow by 25 percent a year over the next several years. It will, as most new things, begin in larger metropolitan areas, but the convenience and response through consumer demand will likely take it mainstream in short order. Instacart seems poised to enable merchants to take advantage of that growth in grocery delivery.
The Bricks Meets Clicks blog notes that Instacart grocery delivery is a new twist on home delivery for grocery items. It lets users order from three stores (Safeway, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods) all at once for a single home grocery delivery that takes place within three hours of completing that transaction.
Grocery delivery shopping options spread the wealth
Two of these merchants that Instacart is allowing buyers to bundle in a single grocery delivery order are specialty chains, and under normal circumstances, a shopper would be forced to make three trips to three stores to get all the grocery items they need or desire.
Instacart in essence creates a customized specialty retailer comprised of all three brands — minus the car trip.
There are fees, but in regions like the Bay Area, consumers are embracing the home grocery delivery service after factoring in the time spent in traffic, finding a parking spot, and waiting in line. As more external influences impact how buyers choose to order, acquire, and pay for their items means that the businesses that adapt to make it easier for customers will be the ones to make the cash register ring—online, in-person, or by proxy.
