The Forrester Wave™: Order Management Systems, Q2 2023

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Two Out of Three Consumers Have Used Buy Online Pickup in Store

BOPIS is more than just a trend

Young couple after a positive buy online pickup in store experience
Three out of four customers who buy online then pickup in store are likely to make an additional purchase... but only if they have a good experience.

By Nicola Kinsella

Oct 10, 2019

Do you offer Buy Online Pickup in Store? Whether the following statistics make your heart race with excitement—or dread—probably depends on the Order Management System (OMS) you currently have in place. Those with purpose-built, state of the art technology will see this as a huge growth opportunity; those without will see it as a looming threat.

61% buy online and pickup in store

Specifically, two out of three people today (61%) buy online and pickup in store, according to customer research consultancy Foresee.

If those numbers aren’t dramatic enough, consider that one out of four people who start their shopping journey on the web or mobile app finish up by visiting a store.

Once these numbers sink in, you can see that they represent incredible opportunities for retailers and brands. This is especially relevant when you consider that three out of four customers who buy online then pickup in store are likely to make an additional purchase. That is some serious upsell opportunity. 

But as Foresee cautions, the omnichannel journey for many customers is littered with obstacles.

The in-store pickup experience is important

“About 18% of people have had problems when trying to order online and pickup at the store. The highest reported issue consumers face is that the items they purchased were not ready upon visiting the store. And it’s hardly the only regular issue consumers are having. Others include the item not being available at all, the incorrect item waiting for a consumer upon pickup, and several more.”

This is where the state of your technology enters the picture. 

Advanced product availability is key

Not all Order Management Systems are created alike. Although most enterprise ecommerce platforms offer an OMS as part of their platform, these usually aren’t purpose-built or cloud-based. They may offer some basic functionality, but rarely do they include advanced functions like the ability to show in-store pickup availability on the product page of your ecommerce store. And those that do, often require customers to select a store before they show availability. But today’s customers expect more. They want to see multiple pickup options, with lead times, so they can choose the store that’s most convenient for them.

With Fluent Order Management’s Product Availability you can show customers what’s in stock across your store network, even from the product page. What’s more, you can use dynamic rules to control the flow of orders to your stores. This way no store receives more in-store pickup orders than it can handle, so you can maintain a high quality customer experience.

Equally important as features like product availability is whether your OMS is truly cloud-based. Only platforms that were purpose-built for the cloud are suited for rapid deployment as well as easy customization. With a cloud-based OMS, you’re not getting a one-size-fits-all approach, but rather a system that can be fully customized to suit your brand needs and order fulfillment strategy.

These numbers confirm that the promise of the omnichannel shopping journey is finally being met. Whether you meet this challenge head on by adopting the right technology, or simply hope that your OMS is good enough to meet customer expectations, is up to you.

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