Order Fulfillment

During the pandemic, retailers faced once-in-a-lifetime headwinds, including closed physical locations, limited in-store capacity, slowed shipping times, and a customer that was oftentimes scared to leave the house. As a result, they turned heavily to buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) and buy online, pick up at curbside (BOPAC) to make their customers’ buying journeys…

The growth of omnichannel fulfillment programs such as buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup of online orders has been trending for several years now. That trend reached a tipping point in the last 12-plus months, as the COVID-19 pandemic led consumers to seek out safer, contactless shopping experiences. Equally embraced by consumers…

After a year of buying everything from patio furniture to groceries online, consumers are more reliant on Amazon.com than ever, and more positive about the company. For retailers to fight back, they’ll need a two-pronged strategy: meet what are now industry-standard expectations for convenience and shipping efficiency, and spotlight key offerings where Amazon lags. Even…

Pre-COVID, we saw the impact of online consumer demand growing and behavior adjusting, but brands often had time to analyze how they wanted to respond to it and when. Once the world shut down from COVID, that power quickly transitioned to the consumer, with brands forced to adjust almost immediately if they wanted any opportunity…

In this episode of Total Retail Tech Insights, Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan interviews Mark Messina, chief operating officer of Geek+ America, Inc., the Americas division of a global artificial intelligence (AI) logistics robotics startup. Messina discusses the Geek+ global business, the impact of automated operations on retailers' warehouses, and how having automation in fulfillment centers during…

Buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) might just be the best long-term strategy for brick-and-mortar retailers. Allowing customers to purchase items online and pick them up curbside or in-store accommodates prevailing consumer demands: safety, efficiency, and convenience. BOPIS will soon be a standard feature of most, if not all, brick-and-mortar operations. Virtually every major retailer…

As an experienced retailer, you already know that customer satisfaction rests on product quality and distribution (i.e., delivery). In this day of e-commerce and digital shopping, customers expect products to arrive quickly, whether the product in question is a bottle of dish detergent or a large, heavy refrigerator. If delivery expectations aren’t met, customers might…

Amazon.com on Tuesday announced that Key by Amazon In-Garage Grocery Delivery is expanding to everywhere grocery delivery from Amazon is available, providing service to more than 5,000 U.S. cities and towns, according to a company press release. Originally launched in five cities last November, Key In-Garage Grocery Delivery can now be used by millions of…

In this bonus episode of Total Retail Talks, Digital Content Director Kristina Stidham interviews Editor-in-Chief Joe Keenan about Total Retail's recently published report, How-To Guide for Doing BOPIS and Curbside Pickup Right. Listen in as Keenan shares a few key highlights from the report, why consumer adoption of omnichannel fulfillment programs figures to continue post-pandemic,…

To survive and succeed in the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers quickly adapted to meet customers' priorities and needs. Convenience became a touchstone of our "new normal," defining how, when, and where we shop. This trend will continue to be a hallmark of how consumers and retailers engage in the future. A recent report…