By
Jeff Winsper, Black Ink Technologies
There’s a
rising tide of online competition for independent dealers, but there are a few
choices retailers/dealers can make to try and get, keep and grow their customer
base. One of those techniques is called BOPIS — Buy online/pick up in-store.
This approach
isn’t truly a “pure play” e-Commerce method, because the buyer does make the
commitment to go to a store to pick up the inventory. Let’s call it a hybrid
model. BOPIS can be sponsored and executed at the OEM/Brand level, by providing
the digital “air cover” to promote its product and eventually drive traffic to
each of their representative dealers (to fulfil the transactions). The inverse
approach can happen too, in which the responsibility for the customer’s experience
falls on the local dealer that has its own digital BOPIS web asset (branded at
the store level) offering up key brands available to be “bought” online.
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BOPIS
implementation is seemingly making traction for all age groups — especially the
elusive digitally oriented younger demographics. Of all the various digital
engagement options available (such as check local store inventory, scan-and-go
and mobile payments to name a few), BOPIS is the most widely adopted according
to an Alliance Data Analytics study called “The Great Divide — Connecting
Brands to the Real Needs of Today’s Consumers.”
Of course, some
organizations are not ready for actually collecting payments online and are modifying
the process to being more akin to “Reserve Online and Pick Up In-Store.” The
experience would be similar to an e-Commerce buying process, however they would
put in a credit card number simply for symbolic commitment (the merchant wouldn’t
charge the card until the goods are physically exchanged at the POS).
Nevertheless, this approach still is more effective than not having any online
purchasing option, and is more seamless to implement than pivoting to pure play
e-Commerce.
One of the
challenges facing smaller independent retailers is not being able to understand
how to process and display their on-hand inventory online, in real time, to
avoid consumers’ frustration at assuming what they bought online actually was
available in stock. Connecting your Dealer Management System (DMS) that manages
the POS is one way to bridge the gap.
Lastly,
independent dealers are not necessarily prepared (technologically speaking) to
provide the internal IT resources required to complete the cycle. The
OEM/Brands seemingly are not either, despite the consumer’s desire to utilize a
more digital approach — which is a growth opportunity staring them right in the
face.
Hardware dealers
seeking to get, keep and grow their customer base investments are required to
meet the needs of growth requirements. Take a hard look and ask if you are
truly an expert in retailing, in addition to IT development. If the answer is
clearly “no,” then outsource the function so you can focus on what you do best.
Jeff Winsper is the President
of Black Ink Technologies,
which helps the premier manufacturing industry sell more, faster and smarter.
The SaaS platform provides more visibility across the entire supply chain — from
a manufacturing plant, to distributor, to territory managers, to dealers, to
the local marketplace. Black Ink combined the best of CRM, business
intelligence, geo-mapping, data management, industry-specific data, and
pre-built library of statistical models in one easy to use and affordable
platform. This helps accelerate customer acquisition and customer relationship
management — and that helps the OEM, their distributors and the dealer grow. Connect with him @jeffwinsper, [email protected] and on LinkedIn.
