When customers visit your local store, they can look around, get inspired and receive direct advice. Another advantage is that they can pick up the goods immediately on site, without any shipping time. That is why customers who find you through a local Google search and find out about your product range online have a high chance of completing the purchase on a short term. The most convenient solution for that is to offer them an in-store pickup via your website. Read this article to find out what the online service offers you and your customers and how you can integrate it into your ePages Store.

What is an in-store pickup?

With pickup in store, customers buy a product online and then pick it up in person at the local store. The online shop provides a full order and payment handling, eliminating the need for an in-store transaction. Unlike “Click and Meet”, customers can buy from you on site even if they have forgotten their wallet.

The principle has already proven itself with many large companies such as Ikea, Apple or Bonprix and is also very popular after the corona-related lockdown – for customers as well as merchants. There are several reasons for this:

Increase sales potential. No queues, no cash required. With a pickup in store, you offer your customers the convenience of paying in advance, which increases your online sales opportunities. Once they’re on site and get inspired by your product display, they may even buy more products.

Attract customers into the shop. 73% of online shoppers in Europe have made purchases on mobile devices in 2021. If customers become aware of your product range while on the way, the pickup option increases the likelihood that they will spontaneously visit your shop – partly because they save on possible shipping costs.

Direct customer contact. Inside the store you can welcome your customers personally, get in touch and give them your best advice. For new customers who have only found your shop via the pickup on your website, this offers an ideal basis for interacting more with them. Even if they have already bought the products, they will appreciate a few tips on how to use them and other support that make them soon become regular customers.

How does pickup in store work?

Offering pickup in store for your business is simple. All you need is a location where you offer your products, such as your shop or warehouse. Follow these three steps to set up the pickup option for your online shop:

1. Add location(s)
2. Set up collection and payment options
3. Process collection

1. Add location(s)

You can edit all locations in the Cockpit under Settings > Location Management. Under Location management, also connect the location of your shop with your Google Business Profile so that your shop can be found via Google. You will find detailed instructions on how to do this in our Help Centre.

2. Set up collection and payment options

Once you’ve created all the locations you want, you can set them as a collection option under Settings > Shop Settings > Delivery & pickup:

To make the process even smoother, you can provide your customers with additional information for the collection process; for example, that they should have their order number or confirmation email ready. In addition to processing directly via the online shop, you can also set up on-site payment. You can edit the payment methods under Settings > Shop Settings > Payment.

With the help of the opening hours from the respective locations, your customers can see in the checkout when they can pick up their purchase:

 

They will also receive a confirmation email with all the information. You can edit, delete or rearrange your pickup options at any time.

3. Process pickup

You will find all the information you need to prepare for pickuo in the order details under Orders.

Here you can see the pickup location, payment details, the products ordered and individual comments from the customer. When the ordered items are ready for pickup, you can mark them as ready for pickup and inform the customer via a generated confirmation e-mail:

To complete the purchase after a successful pickup, mark the order as picked up.

Inform customers that they can pick up their order on site

To make your customers aware of the pickup option in the online shop, we recommend a note in your USPs above the header, for example “Free pickup in store”. You can add more content to your shop in the editor that puts your local store in the spotlight, for example:

• Google Maps view of your shop (under Content Elements > Maps).
• Info page about your local store (displayed in the header and footer)
• Other content elements, for example videos and images from your shop

Do you have further questions? Check out our Help Centre for more information on setting up pickup in store. We wish you a successful start with the convenient pickup option for your shop!