Buy Online Pickup In Store (BOPIS) Conceptual Guide
Buy Online Pickup In Store (BOPIS) is a fulfillment type that enables customers to purchase products through a digital channel and collect their order at a physical retail location.1. Strategic Overview
Concept Definition: Buy Online Pickup In Store (BOPIS) is a unified commerce fulfillment method where inventory from a physical retail location is reserved for an online order and prepared for customer collection. Business Context: Kibo Commerce positions BOPIS as a key omnichannel fulfillment strategy managed through the platform’s Order Management System (OMS) and integrated storefront capabilities. It leverages real-time inventory visibility across all locations to optimize the use of existing retail store assets for digital order fulfillment. Value Drivers:- Optimized Inventory Utilization: BOPIS allows retailers to treat store inventory as fulfillable stock for online sales, maximizing the return on investment in physical store inventory and reducing the need for markdowns due to slow-moving in-store products.
- Enhanced Customer Convenience: It provides customers with immediate access to products by eliminating shipping wait times and costs, which significantly improves the perceived value and flexibility of the shopping experience.
- Increased Sales Opportunities: Bringing customers into a physical store location for pickup creates an opportunity for store associates to engage in additional product sales, service up-sells, or cross-sells at the point of collection.
2. Core Concepts Explained
What is BOPIS?
BOPIS, or Pickup, is a distinct fulfillment type within the Kibo Commerce platform that routes a customer’s order to a physical store location for processing. It is defined by its shipment process, which is designed for internal store operations rather than external shipping carriers. Its role in the broader platform ecosystem is as a bridge between the digital and physical channels. The Order Management System (OMS) creates a specific BOPIS shipment, which then enters a store-centric fulfillment workflow managed typically through a dedicated Fulfiller User Interface. The process is tightly integrated with the platform’s Location and Inventory services to ensure that the designated pickup location possesses the stock required to fulfill the order.Why does BOPIS matter?
BOPIS is a core strategy for blending the efficiency of digital commerce with the immediate gratification of in-person retail.- Operational Benefits: By utilizing store inventory, a retailer can reduce costs associated with ‘last-mile’ shipping and the logistical complexity of maintaining stock exclusively in a Distribution Center (DC). It provides a mechanism to move products through the supply chain more efficiently by minimizing transit and packaging overhead for a significant segment of digital sales.
- Financial Benefits: The elimination of shipping costs for the customer is a powerful incentive that can mitigate cart abandonment attributed to high freight charges. For the retailer, the lower cost-to-serve for a BOPIS shipment, compared to a direct-to-consumer shipment, contributes to improved margins on those specific transactions.
- Customer Experience Benefits: It caters to the immediate needs of the customer by making products available in a matter of hours, often the same day, which is a key differentiator from standard home delivery. It also introduces flexibility, allowing customers to dictate the time and place of the final transaction touchpoint, resulting in higher overall customer satisfaction and loyalty.
3. Functional Components & Configuration Deep Dive
Component Architecture
The BOPIS workflow involves a collaboration between several core platform components:- Storefront: The customer-facing interface where the pickup location is selected and the order is placed.
- Inventory Service: Provides real-time, location-specific stock availability that informs the customer during the shopping and checkout process.
- Order Management System (OMS): Manages the order lifecycle, creates the specific BOPIS shipment, and monitors its state transitions.
- Location Service: Defines and manages the physical store locations, including which locations are enabled for BOPIS fulfillment.
- Fulfiller UI: The application used by store associates to manage the in-store fulfillment process (e.g., picking, staging, customer handoff).
- Email/Notification Service: Responsible for automated customer communications based on shipment status changes.
Configuration-Level Deep Dive
| Configuration Name | Business Purpose | Impact and Trade-offs | Concrete Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location: Fulfillment Type: In Store Pickup Enabled | Individual location setting to enable it for BOPIS. | Impact: Granular control over which stores can participate in complex omnichannel logic.. | A drugstore retailer enables BOPIS for all store locations that have a population density within a 5 mile radius of the store. |
| BOPIS Transfer Enabled (Site) | Controls whether fulfillment locations can request a transfer of missing inventory from another location to complete a BOPIS order. | Impact: Increases the probability of fulfilling an order, reducing cancellations. Trade-off: Adds complexity and time to the fulfillment cycle for the customer. | A Fashion & Apparel Retailer enables this to prevent a lost sale when a single item in a multi-item order is out of stock in the pickup store. |
| Action on BOPIS Reject (Site) | Determines the system’s action when a store associate rejects a BOPIS shipment (e.g., due to stock discrepancy or damage). | Options: Cancel (terminates the shipment) or Customer Care (routes the shipment to a manual resolution queue). Impact: Controls the outcome of fulfillment failure. Trade-off: Cancellation is faster but a lost sale; Customer Care is slower but may allow for saving the sale. | An Enterprise Electronics Retailer selects Customer Care so an agent can offer the customer a substitution or home delivery instead of an immediate cancellation. |
| Ready for Pickup & Pickup Reminder Email Templates | Enablement of customer-facing emails to inform that the order is ready for pickup. Reminder emails can be sent if order is not picked up. | Impact: Improves transparency and manages customer expectations during the extended fulfillment cycle. | A Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Brand enables Ready for Pickup Email to proactively inform a customer that their highly anticipated product is ready for Pickup |
4. Key Capabilities and Business Applications
Capability: Store Locator and Inventory Availability
Functional Explanation: The platform enables the dynamic display of physical store locations and their respective inventory levels during the shopping journey. A customer can select a store and view if a product is available for BOPIS fulfillment at that specific location. The capability includes pre-built storefront components to manage location selection and to validate stock-to-location linkages during the cart and checkout processes. Business Application Example:- Industry: Enterprise Electronics Retailer
- Scenario: A customer is purchasing a high-value television and wants to pick it up immediately. On the Product Detail Page, the system instantly shows the television is “In Stock” at the selected store, confirming availability for pickup. The BOPIS option is enabled in their cart.
- Outcome: The seamless confirmation of immediate availability encourages the customer to complete the purchase instantly, resulting in a higher conversion rate for high-value items where immediacy is a strong purchase driver.
Capability: Default BOPIS Fulfillment Workflow
Functional Explanation: A standard, linear process for store associates to manage the BOPIS shipment. This process transitions the shipment through key states: Accept Shipment (store acknowledges the order), Print Pick Sheet (generates a document to locate items), Validate Stock (physical confirmation of item availability) and finally Provide to Customer (hand-off to the customer). This workflow is the foundation for simple, on-hand pickups. Business Application Example:- Industry: Fashion & Apparel Retailer
- Scenario: A customer orders a new winter coat online for pickup at their nearest mall store. A store associate receives the new BOPIS shipment in their Fulfiller UI, Accepts it, prints the Pick Sheet, and quickly locates all items in the store’s back stock. After a final Stock Validation, the associate stages the bag and “Ready for Pickup” notification is automatically sent to the customer.
- Outcome: The streamlined process ensures a rapid in-store fulfillment time, which results in a faster customer notification and an elevated perception of the retailer’s operational efficiency.
Capability: BOPIS Shipment with Service Items
Functional Explanation: For BOPIS shipments that include a service product (e.g., assembly, engraving), the standard flow is modified to include an Order Preparation step situated between Validate Stock and Customer Pickup. This distinct step ensures that any required in-store value-added service is completed before the customer is notified that the entire order is ready for collection. Business Application Example:- Industry: B2B Industrial Distributor
- Scenario: A contractor orders a complex industrial pump and includes a professional “Pre-Assembly Inspection and Calibration” service item with the BOPIS order. The store associate completes the Validate Stock step, and the shipment automatically moves to Order Preparation. A technician then performs the calibration. Once the service is complete, the shipment can proceed to Customer Pickup.
- Outcome: The mandatory preparation step prevents the customer from arriving before the service is finished, resulting in fewer service complaints and a reduction in lost labor time due to rushed or incomplete preparation.
Capability: Transfer Shipments for Out-of-Stock Items
Functional Explanation: When the Validate Stock step confirms that some items are missing for a BOPIS shipment, the system can initiate a Transfer Shipment. A child shipment is created, routed to a designated transfer location (another store or DC), and the original BOPIS shipment is placed into a Waiting for Transfer state. This capability requires location-level and system-level configuration enablement. Business Application Example:- Industry: Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) Brand
- Scenario: A customer orders three unique scented candles from a DTC brand’s website for pickup at a boutique location. The store only has two in stock. During Validate Stock, the associate identifies the missing candle and initiates a Transfer Shipment request from a nearby inventory hub.
- Outcome: The ability to source the missing item from another location prevents an immediate loss of sale, resulting in the capture of the full order value and a positive outcome for the customer who receives all their desired items.
Capability: Partial Pickup for Waiting Shipments
Functional Explanation: If a BOPIS shipment is in the Waiting for Transfer state, a store associate has the option to offer a Partial Pickup. This splits the immediately available items into a new, separate shipment that can be fulfilled on the spot. The customer can take the available items, and the original shipment remains in the waiting state for the transferred inventory. The customer is notified with a Partial Pickup Ready email. Business Application Example:- Industry: Enterprise Electronics Retailer
- Scenario: A customer’s order for a laptop (in stock) and a special-order keyboard (waiting for transfer) is being processed. The customer arrives, wanting the laptop immediately. The associate executes a Partial Pickup, hands over the laptop, and the new shipment is marked Fulfilled. The original shipment for the keyboard continues to wait for the transfer.
- Outcome: Providing the customer with the option to take available items right away delivers a highly flexible experience, resulting in immediate customer gratification and the maintenance of the remaining sale without forced cancellation.
Capability: Automated Pickup Reminders and Auto Cancellation
Functional Explanation: The platform’s fulfillment messaging service manages a series of automated emails to the customer. These include Order Pickup Ready and, after a configurable delay, Order Pickup Reminder emails. Business Application Example:- Industry: Marketplace Operator
- Scenario: A customer receives the Order Pickup Ready email for their item from a third-party seller’s boutique location. After three days, the system automatically triggers an Order Pickup Reminder email to the customer’s primary email address, reminding them the item is still reserved and waiting. If the item is still not picked up after a longer, business-defined window, the system will put the order in Customer Care/Cancellation.
- Outcome: The use of automated reminders prompts customers to collect their orders promptly, resulting in the reduction of inventory holding time within the store and a quicker restock of uncollected items.
5. Platform Integration Map
Upstream Dependencies
| Dependency | Description |
|---|---|
| Locations and Inventory | Requires that physical store locations are configured, enabled for fulfillment, and have their accurate stock levels reported to the Inventory Service. |
| Site Settings | General system settings, particularly those related to Transfers and the Action on BOPIS Reject, must be configured to define the default business rules for the BOPIS workflow. |
| Email Templates | Requires the relevant customer communication email templates (Order Pickup Ready, Order Pickup Reminder, Partial Pickup Ready,Transfer Shipment Created/Shipped) to be enabled and configured within the general site settings. |
Downstream Impacts
| Impacted System/Process | Description |
|---|---|
| Order History | The BOPIS fulfillment process updates the order and shipment statuses, providing customers and Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) with real-time tracking visibility. |
| Payment Gateway | Upon fulfillment, the system triggers the final capture of any authorized payment amount, completing the financial transaction. |
Synergistic Features
| Feature | Combined Value Proposition |
|---|---|
| Returns Management | A BOPIS order, once fulfilled, is often eligible for an in-store return. This synergy provides a seamless post-purchase experience by allowing the customer to return the item to the same channel they used for pickup, further driving store traffic. |
| Product Service Items | The integration of service items into the BOPIS flow allows retailers to sell value-added services (e.g., assembly, preparation) that are completed in the store prior to pickup, capturing additional revenue per order. |
6. Related Documents
For foundational knowledge, refer to:- Location Admin: Set up for Locations to support Fulfillment Type BOPIS. Accurate location configuration is important for BOPIS location assignment.
- Inventory: This guide is a prerequisite to understanding BOPIS, as real-time inventory visibility across the retail network is important for BOPIS order placement.
- Order Routing: This covers details of supporting BOPIS with Transfers.
- Catalog: Set up for Products for fulfillment types supported.
- Fulfillment: This guide details the workflows for fulfilling BOPIS Orders