Fact: Curbside Pickup Is On The Rise
After all, one of the most important factors in today’s consumer-driven, fast-paced economy is convenience, especially when you’re talking about:
- Professionals with places to be.
- Parents with kids in tow.
- Mobile-crazed millennials
- Those who are sick or injured.
Or… literally anyone.
But, are you meeting consumer expectations and maximizing this golden opportunity?
The answer is no if you’re just learning the whereabouts of your curbside pickup customers when they are waiting at the curb. That’s a bad customer experience just waiting to happen; one that could easily derail your efforts and even drive your customers right into the parking lot of another store in the future.
So what CAN you do to make curbside pickup the successful and beneficial service it should be? Location, Location, Location. Yes, knowing where your customers are at all points along their journey will help you tackle these 3 key challenges:
1. What’s Their ETA? (Hint: It eliminates the guesswork for you and the customer.)
Did you know click-and-collect orders are 3x larger than those of traditional in-store shoppers? So when your customer has taken the time to place an order, you’ve got to deliver. Literally. But here’s the thing: nothing will ruin a customer’s curbside pickup experience more than having to wait (and wait and wait) when they arrive to get it.
The solution is to arm your staff with a customer’s real-time location from order to pickup. Flybuy® lets your team know… When the customer is enroute to the store, when they arrive on property, and when they land in your pickup zone.
This is key because knowing a customer’s whereabouts positions your staff to fulfill orders based on the customer’s estimated arrival so they can then have orders ready and waiting right at the curb. Which also leaves customers feeling prioritized and valued.
2. They’ve Arrived! (The staff dashboard tells you so.)
Manual check-ins might work for social media, but they’re a deal-breaker when it comes to curbside pickup. What if your staff is in the middle of filling another order and misses the text or call? What if your customer is on the phone when they arrive? What if they’re tending to a crying child? What if they simply missed the memo that they have to let you know they’ve arrived?
This can be simply and seamlessly remedied with our Flybuy location-based technology, which automatically alerts your staff via their interactive dashboard, integrated with your fulfillment platform and/or wearable.The customer never has to lift a finger because your team will be outside and waiting as soon as they pull up. The results speak for themselves…
As Matt Van Gilder from SpartanNash said, the Flybuy system “…has cut wait times from an average of eight minutes to practically zero.” It can’t get much better than that!
3. No More Hide & Seek (This isn’t a game.)
But what if your store has no (or few) curbside pickup spots? Won’t that mean your staff will still have to waste time hunting around the parking lot looking for customers?
Not anymore. We can do (a lot) better than that.
Flybuy creates virtual pickup zones that can span an entire parking lot or even serve as overflow if your designated curbside pickup spots are already taken. In both cases, your team will be automatically alerted when a customer parks and to the which specific spot they’ve parked in.
So as you can see, making your curbside pickup service what it can and should be at your store is as easy as knowing your customers’ location, location, location. Set your team up for success with Flybuy location technology that will allow them to easily and confidently deliver personalized curbside pickup experiences your customers will both remember AND come to depend upon.
