Although the basic concept existed long before the global pandemic, “curbside pickup” quickly became mainstream once lockdown restrictions went into place. Now, it is likely that curbside pickup will remain a permanent fixture of the retail industry for the foreseeable future.
This article explores what curbside pickup is and why it has become so popular. It also includes curbside pickup best practices to help you implement this retail option in your brick-and-mortar business.
What Is Curbside Pickup?
Most in-person shopping involves placing the items you want in a basket, queuing in line, and paying for your order at the checkout counter. The advent of eCommerce revolutionized this process by allowing customers to purchase what they want online and have those products delivered directly to their door.
Curbside pickup is a retail concept that bridges the gap between in-person and online shopping:
- A customer can place an order online — complete with all the checkout and payment options normally associated with eCommerce shopping.
- Once that customer’s order is ready, she or he visits that business’s physical store to pick up the items at the curb (or outside kiosk, stand, etc.).
Not every business offers curbside pickup. However, as you’ll soon see, letting customers order online and retrieve their items at the curb — all without entering your store — delivers several important advantages.
The Benefits of Curbside Pickup
If your customers can already pick up the items they want in your store (or order them online for delivery), why bother offering curbside pickup payments?
There are several advantages of this increasingly popular retail trend:
1. Less Physical Contact
This benefit wasn’t terribly important pre-pandemic. However, curbside pickup allows customers to reduce unnecessary contact and exposure when retrieving purchased items. They don’t have to walk into the store and interact with other customers or employees. In fact, curbside pickup means they don’t even have to get out of their vehicle if your employees are able to hand items to customers through their car windows.
The effects of COVID-19 on consumer spending linger, with many consumers preferring to minimize unnecessary contact has much as possible. Curbside pickup can help fulfill that need.
2. Increased Sales
Just as offering more payment options can help you generate more sales, offering customers more pickup options can also lead to higher overall conversions. Regardless of Covid-19, there will always be some people who prefer curbside pickup over in-store pickup or online delivery. By offering this option, you cast a wider net that captures more sales.
3. Improved Customer Satisfaction
Offering more pickup options can help lead to higher overall customer satisfaction. This is especially true for those users who don’t have time to find a parking spot, come into your store, stand in line, and ring up their items at the checkout counter. Being able to pay online and pickup at the curb is simply more convenient for a certain portion of would-be customers.
4. More Real Estate
During the pandemic, many restaurants began setting up outdoor seating on sidewalks and streets in order to promote social distancing. This strategy effectively increased the total footprint of these restaurants, allowing them to serve more customers.
The same is true with curbside pickup payments.
Your store’s boundaries might officially stop at the sidewalk, but your actual service area extends to the curb. As a result, your store becomes larger, and the interior becomes less crowded. This allows you to add more merchandise and displays, which hopefully leads to more overall sales.
5. Operational Efficiency Boosts
Brick-and-mortar merchants who sell online typically cover the cost of shipping. Doing so is necessary in a world where eCommerce customers expect free delivery. However, curbside pickup allows you to eliminate shipping costs completely so that you keep more of every incoming sale.
Similar operational improvements exist for those merchants who only sell in-person. You need to staff every checkout counter with paid employees — or risk burdening your customers with long wait times.
Because curbside pickup items are already paid for (online), you don’t have to staff as many checkout counters. As more of your customers opt for curbside pickup, those who prefer in-store shopping benefit from shorter queues at the checkout counter.
How to Implement Curbside Pickup
Because curbside pickup blends brick-and-mortar and eCommerce, you’ll need various tools from the physical and online retail worlds, including:
- A digital ordering system that integrates with your POS software and hardware. This component is crucial for allowing customers to browse, order and pay for the items they want to pick up at the curb. Because your POS must be portable, consider investing in a mobile credit card reader for curbside pickup payments.
- The ability to accept payments online and/or in-person. If the former, your customers will already have paid for their items when they arrive to pick them up. You can use your portable POS machine or mobile phone to verify their identities at the curb. If the latter, your customers will only have ordered their items online. In this case, you can use your portable POS to complete curbside pickup payments — whether they choose to pay via cash, card, check or mobile wallet.
- A dedicated location for easy pickup. The spot you choose must be approved by local officials. You should also consider including a kiosk or covered area to help protect merchandise from the elements.
- A dedicated person (or team) responsible for verifying identities, completing payments and handing items off to customers.
Finally, you need to promote that you offer curbside pickup. Having a kiosk will certainly help. However, it’s worth highlighting this option on all online checkout carts, digital receipts and printed receipts moving forward.
Get Started Today!
If you already offer in-store pickup and/or online delivery, expanding into curbside pickup payments should be relatively easy. You have most of the pieces in place. It’s just a matter of adding a few additional components to make the transition complete.
To learn how CardConnect can help you implement those final few pieces, schedule a free consultation with our merchant services team today.