How “Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store” Gives Retailers an Edge

The pandemic has rapidly accelerated the digital transformation of retail — but as lockdowns come to an end and the economy recovers, many firms are wondering what the future will hold. Customers are unlikely to go back to their old ways of shopping, and yet adapting to online options has posed serious challenges for retailers, many of whom viewed these services as merely stop-gap measures, not long-term solutions. What can retailers do to stay relevant in the post-pandemic world while still retaining the advantages of tried-and-true strategies? In this piece, the authors discuss forthcoming research that suggests that the “Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store” model may be the best option, as it provides many of the advantages of online shopping without many of the downsides of other types of digital shopping experiences. They go on to suggest that many companies could likely benefit from conducting analyses on their own data, similar to the analysis described in the authors’ research, in order to identify the best strategies for their unique contexts and business needs.