Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began, it is not easy being a retailer. In the last 24 months, they have had a lot of difficulties in moving products from one location to another. If you take our opinion, we can safely say that their resilience and motivation keep them going from one local pickup to another. By going from one local pick up to another, they maintain the success of their retail firms and keep the online sales ticking. There is a reason why online sales have increased massively in the last couple of years.
You no longer have to be one-dimensional with your online sales in today's day and age. You must focus on innovative ways to maintain retail resiliency. You can keep the momentum going with your online sales by offering a specified pick-up location and keeping your revenue afloat. This signifies that customers do not just look at the new features of an online store or a shop. They plan for the long term. Giving your customers multiple ways to purchase products online will only do wonders for your sales potential.
What is a Local Pick Up?
If you want to succeed in the eCommerce world, you must understand local pickup. It is defined as an alternative option to the transaction methods that can take place within the same location. By having a specified product pickup facility, you can allow buyers to make purchases online and carry products from local vendors, which minimizes the shipping costs. This is a fantastic strategy to increase online sales and improve the feedback of your online store.
Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website
Pickup location may add to the local client experience and, most importantly, has zero drawbacks. If you add another fulfillment option to your store’s inventory, it can become a time-consuming process. If there is some hindrance within the communication panel with customers, it may hurt your customer feedback. However, if you have the right plans in place, you have a chance to become a genuine omnichannel retailer.
Things to Consider While Setting Up Local Pick Up
1. Objectives
When you establish an online store, you must specify purposes related to every feature and facility that you provide. For example, when we talk about a local pickup, your customers must know that this facility is specified. If your customers belong to one of those areas, they must know where to pick up. When you create an online store on Strikingly, make sure that you specify your objectives so that your target audience doesn’t get confused.
Image taken from Strikingly User’s Website
Strikingly enables you to include the “about us” section and mission statement as part of your online store. If you look at the retail websites established on Strikingly, you will realize that they have an “about us” section that enables the customers to understand what the retail store is about. The customers understand the origins of the business owner and what they should expect from them.
2. Communication
When you provide customers with a local pickup facility, the most significant talking point is the communication factor. As the store owner, you must make the shipping information available to your customers. Before they finalize their buying decision, you must know what kind of customers you are up against. If you provide them with the wrong information, don’t expect any favors from them in the review section. Ideal customer feedback is essential for the long-term growth of your online store.
Image taken from Strikingly
If your store doesn’t receive positive feedback, you will struggle not just to attract new customers but also to retain the current ones. You must tell your customers where to pick up in advance so that it doesn’t affect their overall schedule. You must also give them an estimated time when you will be delivering their purchased products.
3. Training
If you have prioritized local pickup by yourself, you must understand that you cannot do everything alone. To help you conduct a smooth product pickup process, you must hire trustworthy people as part of your staff. Your hired staff members must have knowledge of your local delivery business. You can communicate with your customers and represent your brand appropriately by having the right recruitment strategy.
4. Technology
You may have heard the phrase “Simplicity is genius”, but it doesn’t apply to an online store. When you browse the internet, you will see thousands of technological advancements coming to your mobile screen. While establishing a local pickup, you must have the same approach as you cannot afford to be one-dimensional with your customers. Additional technology can be beneficial for your local pick up facility for tracking purposes.
Image taken from Strikingly
Strikingly provides you with an evolution of tools and features while building your online store. We provide you with an effective order management system that keeps you and your customers aware of all the things related to the purchased product. Through this feature, you can conduct payments in multiple currencies. You can also receive money from various payment channels, such as PayPal and Stripe.
Establish Local Pickup on Strikingly
Strikingly is one of the free website builders that helps you create an online store with all the innovative shopping features. As you can expect, this website builder helps retailers establish a local pickup facility for the customers. Once you select the right website template from our provided collection, you can customize it and establish your online store. Afterward, you can add all the eCommerce products you want to display to your audience. Make sure that you include high-quality images and relevant product content for them.
Image taken from Strikingly
Once you are done building an online store, Strikingly allows you to include in-store product pickup. You can enable this feature by going through the following steps:
- Click on “Store” before clicking on “Shipping” from the drop-down menu. Numerous shipping alternatives can be found
- From the drop-down menu, click on “Add Shipping Option”
- Select the shipping rule and fill all the required fields related to it
- Click on the “Save’ button and activate the option
Once you are done establishing an online store and the shipping options, you can then make your website live and accessible to the audience.
Advantages of Local Pickup
For many online businesses, pick up locations can be a profit and a burden at the same time. However, there are more good things than drawbacks for a local pickup. The biggest benefit is the speed at which the products are delivered. The customers can get their hands on their desired product without having to deal with shipping costs. By making your customers aware of their order’s status, you can gain their trust for the long term.
Local deliveries decrease the chances of the products getting stolen or damaged. This increases your chances of obtaining a high customer satisfaction score while reducing shipping-related problems. As customers will put their orders online, they will also have the chance to interact with businesses in person, improving your store's brand loyalty. As your brand image improves, you will increase your chances of attracting other audiences.
Disadvantages of Local Pickup
As much as the local pickup facility has many things to offer, there are certain drawbacks that we need to be aware of. If you have a local pick up feature as part of your store, it may raise expectations within the customers. Your customers would want their orders delivered to their doorstep at the earliest. If they experience a five to ten minutes delay, they may have concerns about your online store.
As the customers want quick deliveries, it may increase the chance of traffic delays. Therefore, the retailers must optimize their delivery operations to accommodate everyone during peak hours. As a retailer, you must avoid making things congested for yourself. The most common drawback is that customers get their purchased product in the wrong place. If it is the case with your online store, your customers will vent their frustration at you.
Conclusion
Even though local pickup was initialized to protect the customers, it has become a massive trend across the eCommerce world. Many customers have started to believe that the retailers must prioritize a pick up location to give them better chances to purchase their desired products. The COVID-19 pandemic has allowed retailers to provide multiple shipping options for customers. As we see an evolution in customer behavior, customers will soon understand the importance of flexibility offered by pickup services.
A specified pickup location facility doesn’t just improve your online sales, but it helps you get to your business vision in the long run. If there is anything that the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it is resilience. We must always have the mentality to overcome obstacles within our online store and build toward a better future. So, without wasting any time, build your online store on Strikingly and make life easy for your customers by transferring their products.
