Best Practices | Buy Online, Pick Up In Store (BOPIS) and Curbside Pick Up
Buy Online, Pick Up In Store (“BOPIS”) and Curbside Pick Up options have become increasingly more important for retailers with physical locations. This unprecedented need has set many marketers scrambling to set up the digital infrastructure to accommodate the process. Read on for best practices to optimize your BOPIS/Curbside Pick Up pages.
Buy Online, Pick Up In Store (BOPIS) Best Practices
BOPIS is typically a more popular purchasing option in certain markets, such as suburban areas, where transportation is efficient and convenient. Customers that are already frequent shoppers or loyal to a specific brand/store are more likely to use the BOPIS options than new customers.
BOPIS is a desirable sale method for brands since it is the least expensive way of getting a product to a customer. It is common for stores to offer coupon codes for those that utilize BOPIS for future purchases to help sell users on this option. Walmart’s website setup for BOPIS is an exemplary model for how to optimize a site to effectively highlight and utilize the BOPIS option.
Best Practice #1: A unique landing page for BOPIS should exist on the site. This page should...
- Be easily found in the site’s main navigation.
- Clearly explain how BOPIS works, providing step-by-step instructions for the online portion of the process and pick-up of purchased items at a store.
- Be linked to from any category or product page that mentions the BOPIS option.
- Include relevant schema markup for how to take advantage of BOPIS.
- Be featured on the site and include special promotions (such as back-to-school, holiday, etc.) for popular BOPIS products or seasons.
Best Practice #2: Product or category pages that offer the BOPIS service should...
- Clearly identify which location is being inventoried and give customers an easy way of toggling between locations.
- Include special messaging to indicate that BOPIS is pending in-store inventory.
- Include relevant schema markup for in-store availability.
- Follow a consistent template for how BOPIS is displayed.
Best Practice #3: Local landing pages for physical stores should be optimized to include...
- Information about what BOPIS is or a link to the site’s main, unique BOPIS landing page.
- An option to browse product inventory based on that particular store’s availability.
- Proper schema markup and the completion of relevant fields in Google My Business.
Best Practice #4: Take additional BOPIS-related technical steps, such as...
- Verifying that the site and BOPIS filters, features, etc. are all mobile-friendly and accessible on all devices.
- Setting up analytics to track BOPIS conversions separately from regular online purchases.
- Leveraging other channels, such as paid search and affiliate, to help support and drive BOPIS traffic and sales.
Curbside Pickup Best Practices
One popular consumer response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been to pick up online orders curbside without having to physically enter a store and with minimal interaction with employees. This time-sensitive trend presents temporary opportunity and necessity for your brand to leverage the site’s curbside pickup option.
Search popularity for “Curbside Pickup” steadily increased throughout the month of March, peaking at a high score of 100 by the end of the month (based on Google Trends data score from 0-100, with “100” being the most popular). Prior to March, search popularity for this term was consistently scoring less than 5.
With the curbside pickup option being relatively new, especially for retail companies, it is important to understand what type of information users are seeking when decision-making and placing orders.
General information that should be clearly covered about the curbside pickup option includes...
- What curbside pickup is and its purpose (focusing specifically on the COVID-19 considerations and minimal exposure to public space or employees)
- How to choose the curbside pickup option at checkout
- Answers to FAQs about who can pick up the order, timing of the order, special cases surrounding the option, etc.
Reach out to Rise for more information from our SEO experts on how to update your digital presence for optimized BOPIS and curbside pickup options.