Boscov’s Wins Gold in Retail TouchPoints 2018 Store Operations Superstar Awards

Boscov’s Wins Gold in Retail TouchPoints 2018 Store Operations Superstar Awards

Boscov’s Wins Gold in Retail TouchPoints 2018 Store Operations Superstar Awards

At Kibo, we pride ourselves in working with each and every customer to serve as a trusted partner and guide them in the age of digital transformation by driving innovative solutions for our customers. As the saying goes, “our customers are our most valuable assets,” and we love to see their hard work and innovation be recognized by notable industry watchers. As such, we were thrilled to hear that Retail TouchPoints recognized Boscov’s as a Store Operations Superstar Award Winner for its work in Last Mile Fulfillment!

Established in 1914, Boscov’s is the oldest family-owned department store in the U.S., with 47 stores in the Mid-Atlantic region and a commitment to thoughtful, prudent growth strategies and fostering customer loyalty. It’s this focus on smart growth that makes Boscov’s an industry outlier. In a landscape where department stores are shuttering, Boscov’s continues to grow and thrive.

“It’s about loyalty to the Boscov’s brand,” says Toni Miller, Boscov’s Senior Executive Vice President. “We’re their local store, and have been for generations. They see us and say, ‘That’s my Boscov’s.’”

In an effort to meet their customers’ needs for more flexible online order fulfillment — as well as remain competitive in an evolving retail market — Boscov’s worked with Kibo to launch a meticulously-planned initiative to roll out a buy-online, pickup in-store program in 2016.

Impetus for Change

Boscov’s made the move to online sales — offering ship-to-home — over 12 years ago. Since then, online sales have accounted for roughly 5% of their total sales. Soon after launching their eCommerce platform the merchandising team tracked credit card purchases and found that their most frequent online customers were also reliable in-store customers — evidence of a base of truly multi-channel customers. Further exploration into these customers showed that they wanted a BOPUS option. In response to this demand for greater flexibility in online order fulfillment, Boscov’s launched an ambitious project to rollout BOPUS to all of its locations.

In keeping with their strategy of thoughtful, prudent growth, the Boscov’s team took a studied and deliberate approach to their BOPUS implementation. They began by undertaking a thorough investigation of other retailers’ BOPUS programs — including an extensive secret shopper project in which they carefully evaluated the end-to-end consumer experience offered by their competition.

When it came time to build out the technical infrastructure of their program, they partnered with Kibo to create a scalable platform that integrated with their in-house eCommerce solution and the handheld inventory devices used by their in-store associates.

When launching in-store pickup, the team rolled the program out in four phases, to ensure that every associate in each store was properly trained on both the software as well as the process behind the program. The implementation team, which included executives from the corporate office, spent many hours in each store working alongside the in-store teams to maximize program adoption. More than anything else, this focus on motivation and skills-building contributed to the success of their BOPUS program. Not long after launch, employees began holding friendly competitions to see who could fulfill in-store pickup orders the fastest.

Results and Next Steps

Since its full rollout, the Boscov’s BOPUS program has proven wildly successful — resulting in a 40% attachment rate, meaning that every $100 of BOPUS spend has resulted in an additional $40 of in-store spend when the consumer comes into the store to retrieve her order.

The BOPUS program is also expected to give Boscov’s an edge during the holiday season, by allowing their online shoppers to make last-minute BOPUS purchases that could not otherwise be fulfilled through conventional ship-to-home — effectively extending their online holiday buying season by an entire week.

And as an added benefit, the Boscov’s team has discovered that implementing BOPUS has increased the accuracy of its in-store inventory, which has in turn improved their ship-to-home efficiency as well. Finally, having successfully rolled out its in-store pickup program, the Boscov’s team is now looking to expand its use of the Kibo platform to manage their ship-to-home order fulfillment as well.

We are thrilled to see Boscov’s recognized for its innovative work in up-leveling its customer experience initiative through last mile fulfillment! Congratulations Boscov’s!

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