eCommerce Archives - The Omni Channel

Beyond Abandoned Cart: 3 Overlooked Email Automation Triggers

Email personalization is now widespread – but still shallow. While 71% of U.S. marketers report sending some form of personalized messaging, according to eMarketer, 39% admit the majority of emails they send are not tailored, and just 34% say they personalize a quarter or more of their campaigns.

Boosting that percentage should be a top priority, given that shoppers increasingly expect brands to deliver individualized products and offers. Two-thirds of consumers say contextual relevance is important, according to Adobe – and more than 15% say they spend less if companies fail to deliver.

One way to meet expectations is through intelligent automation. Thanks to tools powered by machine learning, merchants can now combine pre-set contextual triggers with personalized content and products to create aptly-timed, ultra-relevant messages in real time.

Abandoned cart email is the best-known use of such triggered messaging, which is highly effective: triggered campaigns earn an open rate 76% higher and convert at double the rate of regular marketing campaigns, according to data from Epsilon.

Given such strong performance, 60% of marketers plan to expand their triggered email automation, eMarketer found. There’s room for growth: currently less than half of marketers send triggered campaigns, and of those, fully a quarter only use the technology to send “welcome” messages when shoppers first subscribe to email updates.

There are numerous other possibilities for triggered, personalized campaigns – but to respect consumers’ privacy concerns and demonstrate practical relevance, merchants should prioritize a solution-oriented approach. Triggered emails can help shoppers:

Use products better.

Links to installation manuals and how-to videos in transactional videos can be followed by replenishment reminders at a cadence specific to the product in question. Maintenance reminders, service and upgrade offers, and ideas for accessorizing can all help customers make the most of what they’ve purchased.

Stay current on favorites.

Not every personalized recommendation needs to be generated by sophisticated AI algorithms; shoppers can also explicitly choose to receive updates about specific products or categories. Merchants can build on signups for sneak peek previews and back-in-stock alerts with broader offers in relevant categories.

Navigate the calendar.

Merchants should adopt a gifting strategy that extends beyond the fourth quarter and send reminders about other red-letter dates relevant to their audience, from high school graduation to Single’s Day. And they can help shoppers discover new events worth calendaring by combining location and product preference data to suggest relevant happenings at local stores.

How is your business using triggered messaging?

Online B2B Marketplaces: Beat Them or Join Them?

Online transactions are on course to make up nearly half of all business buying by 2020; as B2B grows, so does the activity on third-party marketplaces, aka an online b2b marketplaces, geared toward corporate purchasing. Indeed, Gartner predicts that by 2022, some 75% of companies’ “tail spend” will occur on third-party marketplace sites. This is because businesses look to streamline purchasing of non-strategic, increasingly-commoditized products such as office supplies and IT equipment.

Dominant eCommerce brands are already well-positioned to take advantage of this trend. Chinese juggernaut Alibaba offers a B2B marketplace and has partnered with Office Depot to smooth distribution within the U.S. Meantime, Amazon Business now claims $10 billion in annual sales, with 50% of its revenue coming from third-party marketplace transactions.

As B2B marketplaces rise, business suppliers are asking themselves the question that has long dogged B2C sellers: Can we beat them, or must we join them?

While answers will vary, every B2B seller’s online strategy should at least acknowledge the growing role of marketplaces. To develop the right approach:

1. Accurately Gauge Vulnerability for Online B2B

B2B vendors should assess their product lines and their current customers’ purchasing patterns to understand how much exposure they have to competition on marketplaces. Vendors with products that are highly technical, customized, or specialized are likely to be less vulnerable to the self-service, commoditized environment of a marketplace.

2. Set Strict Parameters for Marketplace Selling

Marketplaces can be a double-edged sword: even as they can boost brand visibility with new audiences, they can inhibit loyalty, since ownership of customer data often belongs to the platform, not the seller. The downward pricing pressure common to marketplaces is a concern for B2B vendors accustomed to offering custom catalogs to their customers; A third of B2B sellers fear pricing transparency on the Web could undermine their business, according to B2BeCommerce.

Vendors who do proceed with marketplace selling should restrict activity to set categories unique enough to withstand price pressure, without cutting into core sales. This includes specialty items that have “long tail” appeal within the industry, for example, or hard-to-find accessories or components.

3. Use B2B Marketplace Efficiencies To Test New Markets

B2B vendors looking to reach new audiences abroad or to test prototypes in new categories may find marketplaces advantageous for their quick visibility. This can make marketplaces a more cost-efficient way to launch initiatives than developing comprehensive new eCommerce offerings.

How is your business navigating the B2B marketplace conundrum? Learn more with the help of Kibo.

Millennials want to visit stores. Really! 5 ways to improve store experience

Millennial stereotypes suggest they do everything on their phones, but in truth they still favor stores as much as other generations – if merchants provide the right store experience.

Some 82% of Millennials prefer shopping in-store, according to data from Accenture. The top reason? Like every generation, Millennials say only stores offer the chance to try items before purchasing them, Deloitte found.

The Millennial difference kicks in once they’ve inspected products in person, when they exercise their options as connected consumers. Some 56% place orders online after a store visit, according to research from Euclid. At the same time, some 48% of Millennials say they’re prone to making impulse purchases without prior research – more than Baby Boomers or Gen X, a survey from Bronto found. To cater to these dual online/offline sensibilities, stores should provide:

1) Product test drive capabilities.

Just seeing and touching items on the shelves isn’t enough. Retailers should do their utmost to deliver immersive “test drive” experiences that empower shoppers to put gear and electronics through their paces and to move around in apparel and footwear, not just appraise looks in an unflattering mirror.

2) Pop-up shops.

Temporary stores within stores that showcase a particular brand or even a seasonal theme are popular with Millennials, with two-thirds saying they’re likely to visit a pop-up store, Euclid found. Pop-ups fulfill Millennial expectations for novel store experiences, and 30% say associated discount offers are a draw as well.

3) Fast, free in-store wifi as the basis for mobile enhancements.

More than two-thirds of Millennials expect retailers to assist their in-store research habits with support for mobile technology, Bronto found, so merchants should offer a strong wifi signal. That connection can form the basis for innovative store experiences such as augmented-reality store navigation to personalized picks, smart shelf labels that connect to online resources, and quick mobile checkout.

4) Knowledgeable store associates.

More than a quarter of Millennials say they’re likely to enjoy interacting with store associates, and 11% say interactions with store staff strongly influence buying decisions. This is more than double the percentage of Gen X buyers who feel the same way, Euclid found. Shoppers should be able to summon store staff via their phones, and associates should be empowered to consult online resources and order histories.

5) Flawless BOPIS execution.

Millennials are more likely than their older counterparts to use Buy Online, Pickup In-Store, aka BOPIS; 47% say they use the service more than 40% of the time, according to Euclid. Merchants need to support seamless and efficient BOPIS shopping, starting with accurate inventory visibility online, which 89% of Millennials said influences store visits, Accenture found. Once in stores, the pickup process should be as efficient as possible; solutions include merchants vetting signage and adequate staff pickup and return counters.

How are you providing an immersive store experience for your customers? Learn more with Kibo.

GDPR Requirements: Why Merchants Should Stay Ahead with Privacy Practices

Last year marked the start of a new wave of digital privacy regulation that has now reached U.S. shores. To successfully navigate the changing tides, merchants should embrace both the spirit and the letter of new GDPR requirements and institute transparent privacy controls across touchpoints.

As of last May, Europe’s GDPR requires companies to request consumer consent prior to collecting data; in addition, they must provide the tools for severing the agreement at any time. The year prior, Canadian anti-spam legislation went into effect, impacting not just email but social media and SMS practices.

In the U.S., the start of 2019 marked implementation of a Vermont law regulating online data brokers;next year California will enact what is set to become the strictest data privacy law in the country. Several other states have passed new data collection rules, leaving merchants who are increasingly reliant on consumer data for personalization wondering how they can navigate the choppy legislative waters.

Happily, regulatory compliance can also satisfy consumers’ dual desire for control and relevance. Deloitte found that 73% of consumers are willing to share data if they have control. Furthermore, 6 in 10 consumers say they’d like to receive individualized discounts or promotions. To strike the right privacy balance, merchants should:

Explain GDPR Requirement Practices Plainly, Early and Often

Merchants should parse the legalese in their privacy policies into plain English for GDPR requirements; this succinct version then can be used in a pop-up box or even on-page to quickly summarize their company’s data collection practices and obtain consent.

Implement Best Practices for Email

Email firm Litmus found that the majority of GDPR-compliant brands saw their list size decrease by 10% or less. Nonetheless, merchants should carefully vet their signup and sending protocols, and apply double opt-in routines as well as prominent opt-out language.

Offer a Comprehensive Preference Center

Savvy merchants have long offered email subscribers “preference centers” for throttling messaging cadence and content. Now they can use the same concept to offer easy access to a broad set of data preferences: from email to SMS to stored size and color picks. To make these controls prominent, merchants should take a page from StitchFix and other popular subscription services; requiring shoppers to build — and maintain — a “style profile” ensures relevance.

Prepare to communicate proactively about data breaches.

In the event of a data breach, the fallout in lost sales and reputation damage can be significant. Sellers should have a response plan at the ready that spells out at least the nature and extent of the breach. Additionally, the response plan should show what steps the brand is planning to take to repair security in the future, and what services will be offered to data theft victims.

What steps are you taking to prepare for privacy regulatory compliance?

Learn how Kibo approaches GDPR requirements for the businesses and consumers.

O2O: 4 Easy Ways To Drive Online to Offline Store Visits Via Social Media

As online mobile shopping grows, omnichannel retailers should take advantage of social media’s dominance to promote the benefits of online to offline commerce.

Mobile devices play a role in a third of all retail transactions at some point on the path to purchase, with mobile purchases making up 40% of all online sales, Adweek reported. Many of those transactions take place offline, as shoppers browse products online and purchase offline. Four in five consumers who want an item immediately prefer to purchase in a store, and 61% prefer shopping with a brand with physical outlets as well as an online presence, Google found.

To reach mobile O2O consumers, retail brands have optimized their mobile sites and launched shopping apps. But mobile also strengthens marketers’ arguments for investment in social media.

The hunt for direct ROI on social investments has long bedeviled merchants – but on mobile, there’s no doubt that social media dominates. Three-quarters of the minutes U.S. adults spend interacting with social media occur on mobile devices, according to Nielsen. Facebook and Facebook Messenger are the top two mobile apps; ranking slightly below, Instagram and Snapchat make the top 10, comScore found, while the only retail app to make the top 20 is Amazon’s.

That means social platforms give retail brands an unmatched opportunity for visibility, especially among new audiences who might not otherwise navigate to a brand’s mobile Web site or app. Consequently, because mobile device content can be context-aware, promoting unique store experiences is a natural fit. To do so:

Increase Foot Traffic: Offer store-specific coupons, scannable direct from the smartphone.

Sprout Social found that special discounts or coupons are what consumers want most from brands on social media; incidentally, merchants should give followers access to store-exclusive discounts to encourage foot traffic.

Personalized Interactions: Localize social messaging for customer service.

Two in three consumers say they use social media to contact brands, according to Social Media Today. Built-in messaging tools such as Facebook Messenger can help merchants meet high expectations for swift response times. Messenger aids with routing inquiries to local staff which not only addresses questions more meaningfully than a call center response, but connects shoppers with local names and faces in the process.

Some leading brands are even localizing social messaging chatbots to schedule in-store services such as repairs, stylist appointments, and classes, as Sephora does with its Facebook Messenger chatbot.

Drive Conversions: Promote store events using Stories.

Viewership for Instagram Stories, which link images and videos in a short sequence, may soon beat the News Feed as the top social media viewing mode. Merchants should use Stories to spotlight store activities like:

In-store events
How-to videos showcasing local staff expertise
Interactive polls gathering input on store displays
Local specials

Grow Store Revenue: Consider localized social media ad plays.

As organic reach declines due to stiffening competition and algorithm changes, merchants are increasing ad spend to guarantee visibility. Retailers can keep costs in check – and deliver ultra-relevant messaging – by availing themselves of increasingly-refined tools, such as Facebook’s location-based ad options. This helps reach shoppers with offers mapped to store locations.

Whatever your goals are for online to offline revenue, Kibo’s unified commerce software can enable you to achieve results where you are now experiencing pain points. Learn more here: https://kibocommerce.com/company/contact-us/

All Talk, No Action? 4 First Steps to Win at Voice Search

If Santa brought you or someone you know a “smart speaker” for Christmas, you’re not alone. Use of Amazon Echo and Google Home devices is skyrocketing, with Adobe estimating some 40% of U.S. consumers would own one by the end of 2018.

Hands-free voice commands are even more popular for mobile devices. More than half of U.S. consumers have used voice assistants on their phones, PwC found, and 90% are at least aware of the voice capabilities their devices offer. Marketers have scrambled to follow the shift away from text-based search and position their brands for maximum visibility in the world of Siri and Alexa.

Although voice search marketing is still nascent, 2019 brings a growing number of opportunities for you to gain exposure on voice search. Here are a few strategies to get you started.

Focus on natural language, not keyword stuffing.

The artificial intelligence that powers voice search results replicates the human brain’s neural networks to interpret meaning, not just parse keywords – so thankfully, the days of cramming nonsensical paragraphs “above the fold” in value-added content are drawing to a close. Instead, merchants should use blog posts, buyers’ guides, articles, and how-to features to address common questions about products and provide answers to frequent customer service inquiries.

Structure value-added content for featured snippet visibility.

A study by Moz found that Google’s voice search results rely heavily on featured snippets, which extract page information for display directly on results pages. That makes SEO efforts more important than ever. Using “structured data” markup to tag content can help boost your visibility and open your content to featured and rich snippet display.

Add Shopping Actions to paid search plays.

Last year, Google launched Shopping Actions, which enables search and transactions across touchpoints, including via the voice-activated Google Assistant. With paid search positions available in Shopping Actions, a clutch of leading brands took the plunge prior to the holiday season. Merchants should watch these early adopters’ results closely and calibrate their paid search budgets to include Shopping Actions for key categories.

Enter the Amazon Marketplace – and play to win.

Unlike Google, Amazon so far hasn’t opened paid placements for its intelligent agent, Alexa. But merchants can win Alexa sales through participation in the online giant’s third-party marketplace. Earning the Amazon Choice badge and optimizing product pages increase the likelihood of Alexa recommendations. That means that merchants who enter the Marketplace should plan to invest wholeheartedly in meeting Amazon’s criteria.

How are you optimizing your online offerings for voice?

Making the Most of Holiday Return Season

Merchants may dread the surge of returns that inevitably follows the holiday season – but with a combination of transparency and omnichannel savvy, they can transform the process into an opportunity to earn loyalty.

The rise of online shopping has brought with it an increase in returns. Some 10% of all retail purchases are returned – and during the holidays, that percentage is higher, with some 28% of 2017 holiday gifts returned or exchanged, according to data from Red Stag and Optoro. Online, the percentage is higher still, with 44% of U.S. online consumers having returned a purchase in the past year, according to the 2018 UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper survey.

As we wade through returns season, merchants can convert these potential losses into new opportunities. Just as cart abandonment is now viewed as part of the research and consideration phase of the purchase cycle, so too can holiday returns become a means to winning new and repeat business. An overwhelming 95% of customers overall say they’ll buy again from a retailer offering a positive returns experience – including 54% of new customers, Narvar found.

To do so, sellers should focus on streamlining the process as much as possible across touchpoints, with clear messaging throughout. Among the tactics to consider:

Turn off the meter.

Many online buyers freely admit to buying multiple sizes or styles and keeping only those items that work. More than 40% of U.S. retailers say they’ve seen an increase in these “intentional returns” in the past year, according to Brightpearl. In response to this trend, in May Amazon announced it would shut down accounts of buyers who return items too frequently, and some 60% of merchants in Brightpearl’s survey said they were considering following suit.

But during the holidays, merchants should ease up on enforcement of such policies. Blameless gift recipients should be able to return or exchange unwanted presents without worrying about how the transaction will impact their standing with the retailer.

Communicate policies clearly.

Merchants should message returns timeframes, costs, and restrictions at multiple points on the path to purchase, and restate them clearly in post-purchase transactional messaging, as well as on gift receipts and package inserts. Given that nearly half of shoppers check return policies prior to buying, according to data from Narvar, it’s especially crucial for sellers to spotlight the information early and often.

Ramp up stores for BORIS, not just BOPIS.

Omnichannel merchants have a distinct advantage when it comes to returns, given that 58% of shoppers prefer to handle the process in a store, according to the UPS survey. Buy Online, Return in Store (BORIS) transactions should be as seamless as in-store order pickup, with store directional signage designating where to go for returns, and staff well-versed in holiday policies. The value of a good BORIS program should not be overlooked, as shoppers who enter a store with the intention to return an item very often leave having made a new purchase.

Re-circulate merchandise via store-to-store fulfillment.

More than half of returned merchandise goes back on store shelves, according to a Supply Chain Management Review survey; merchants with a distributed order management platform can boost efficiency by routing items to the outlets where they’re most likely to sell.

How are you handling holiday returns?

Cyber Week Takeaway: go all in on omnichannel … or go home

As the holidays enter the final stretch, strong results from the season’s peak week show that merchants must go all-in on omnichannel implementation to meet shoppers’ expectations.

Cyber Week results, from Thanksgiving on Nov. 22 until the following Wednesday, Nov. 28, show that merchants using Kibo saw their online sales grow between 8 and 12 percent over last year. And Kibo eCommerce customers experienced a healthy 21% increase in average order volume over 2017 numbers.

To achieve this success, merchants took advantage of real-time personalization techniques and omnichannel order management – technologies that are increasingly must-haves for modern brands. A deeper dive into the numbers show that merchants who go all-in on comprehensive implementations and plan for sustained peak holiday activity are most likely to succeed in 2019 and beyond.

For maximum sales growth, personalize far beyond product page cross-sells.

Throughout Cyber Week, personalization drove peak performance for Kibo clients. On Black Friday, the average order value was 99.85% higher for purchases that included real-time product recommendations versus those without them. For the week overall, the AOV boost for recommendations was 50.79% – tangible proof of consumers’ preference for tailored shopping experiences. To make the most of the opportunity, merchants should implement personalized recommendations widely, including:

On the home page. Kibo’s consumer trends report found that personalized home page displays were a purchase influencer for nearly two-thirds of shoppers.
In search results. Prioritizing products that match shoppers preferences can drive higher engagement – especially on mobile devices, which accounted for 45% of Black Friday sales and where shoppers are less willing to scroll to find relevant matches.

Upgrade fulfillment to handle peak weeks – not peak days.

Kibo order management clients saw an uptick of 40% in sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but Cyber Week overall notched still higher growth – 44%. Promotional efforts to transform red-letter sales days into week-long events are paying off, creating a high-volume period merchants must support with flawless order execution. They should:

Fine-tune BOPIS execution for extended timelines. Some 45% of consumers said in October they planned to use BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick-up In-Store) this season, according to Deloitte. Giving customers more time to claim orders boosts convenience, enabling them to avoid peak-day crowds.
Staff for the duration, not just Black Friday doorbusters. Demand for online order pickup and ship-from-store processing stays high throughout the peak week, rather than spiking for a single day; merchants must boost store staffing and invest in comprehensive training for fulfillment roles.

What are the holiday takeaways for your brand?

Photo credit: Jamie Adams – Wikicommons

5 Keys for Re-Engaging Holiday Shoppers In 2019

So far, the holiday season is exceeding expectations, with overall retail spending on track to grow more than 4% year over year, and online sales for Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday surging more than 20% on average, according to Forbes.

While the majority of holiday shoppers find gifts with sellers they already know, three-quarters of holiday shoppers say they’re open to trying new brands, according to Deloitte’s 2018 holiday survey. Those new customers not only boost immediate sales, but represent an opportunity to drive repeat business in 2019 and beyond. To do so, merchants must create distinctive experiences through a combination of brand storytelling, personalization, and omnichannel loyalty rewards. They should:

Win trust with transparency …

Given that fewer than half of consumers are comfortable sharing more than their name and gender with retailers, Deloitte found, it’s no surprise that the U.S. is following Europe’s GDPR lead when it comes to privacy legislation. As they attempt to woo back holiday shoppers, merchants should proceed with complete transparency. Email and SMS signups should follow double-opt-in protocols, while apps should disclose data collection and use.

… and reward sharing with personalized experiences.

Even as consumers balk at unfettered data access, 87% are willing to share some degree of information in exchange for a personalized shopping experience, according to Bond Brand Loyalty. Sellers should make the most of available data by prioritizing investment in personalization tools that deliver 1-to-1 recommendations and content in real time.

Promote loyalty perks in post-purchase transactional emails.

An overwhelming 86% of consumers said the availability of loyalty perks influences purchase, with interest growing more than 56% year over year, according to Kibo’s 2018 Consumer Trends Report. Merchants should use transactional emails to promote the availability of points on gift purchases and invite loyalty club sign ups with perks relevant to holiday shoppers, such as VIP pickup services in-store.

Bond with a brand story.

While rewards are an important driver of repeat business, consumers also hunger for a deeper connection with brands; this means that when the bustle of the season ends, distinctive, authentic voices will remain standouts. Social and environmental responsibility are top concerns, with two-thirds of shoppers willing to pay a premium for brands taking a stand, according to Deloitte.

Make loyalty mobile-first.

Whichever loyalty tactics merchants try, mobile should play a central role. Kibo data shows that 45% of Black Friday transactions were on mobile devices; as more shoppers use mobile checkout, redemption of loyalty rewards should be integrated. Mobile web and app experiences should personalize products and content based on past brand interactions, and given that email — long considered merchants’ top retention tool — is now primarily consumed on mobile devices, enabling SKU selection and even purchase within messages should be a priority to streamline return purchases.

How will you re-engage holiday shoppers?

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, pick-up 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!