New Study from Ipsos Unveils Brands Best Adopting In-Store Pickup, Curbside and Delivery Offerings

Ipsos, the global research firm, announced the launch of the E-Commerce Experience Report: a mystery shopping study on buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS), curbside and delivery offerings of major brands nationwide. With consumers still anxious about leaving their homes amid the Covid-19 pandemic, many are opting for more contactless shopping experiences. This inaugural report evaluates how retailers—from Target to Nordstrom and Whole Foods to Walmart —are shifting to a stronger e-commerce business model, while offering consumers safe and healthy means of shopping.

Ipsos conducted a two-pronged study, first surveying 2,000 Americans to understand usage, attitudes and perceptions of consumers regarding pickup and first-party delivery of products from retailers in the current retail environment, followed by thousands of mystery shops that measured the performance of brands nationwide and regionally on pickup and delivery attributes. Mystery shoppers audited retailers’ performances through all phases of the experience, from account creation to ordering to pickup and delivery. Through the consumer portion of the research, Ipsos found the strongest drivers of curbside and in-store pickup were having a designated pickup location, easy online account creation, providing contactless order pickup and that orders were ready when promised.

“Use of BOPIS and curbside pickup has increased for 78 percent of shoppers since Covid-19 began and 69 percent expect to continue using it at the same or higher levels after the pandemic subsides,” said Carlos Aragon, Vice President of U.S. Channel Performance at Ipsos. “As we continue to see the adoption and usage of these new digital offers rise and continue to stick, it is important that brands have the mechanism to ensure they deliver a seamless and safe customer experience for these new users. The Ipsos E-Commerce Experience Report allows retailers to better understand how to cater to customers in an increasingly virtual/touchless world.”

Key Findings

The top brands in buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS) in the grocery category were as follows:

1. Walmart performed the strongest across all measured attributes. Most notably, Walmart excelled at posting visible signage directing consumers to the grocery pickup area in 86 percent of locations audited.
2. Target performed exceptionally well against the categories surveyed and had grocery orders ready when promised at 98 percent of visited locations.

The top brands in curbside pickup in the grocery category were as follows:

1. Sam’s Club ranked first with a near perfect performance and notably for providing designated curbside parking at 100 percent of locations audited.
2. Kroger closely followed in the categories customers noted caring about most and had orders ready when promised at 97 percent of locations.

The top brands in delivery in the grocery category were as follows:

1. H-E-B ranked first in grocery delivery for their 99 percent accuracy rate on delivery orders.
2. Whole Foods closely followed, with a 95 percent order accuracy rate.
3. ALDI performed well across the board and predominantly excelled at providing delivery notifications on 95 percent of orders.

Some key callouts from the apparel category:

• Target led the pack in the apparel category and posted clear, visible signage directing consumers to the in-store pickup area at 83 percent of locations.
• Nordstrom, also a strong contender, offered a contactless pickup experience at 65 percent of locations, making them one of the best in the category for contactless pickup.

Key considerations and opportunities for improvement

As e-commerce offerings expand, brands must continue taking steps to ensure consumers have a positive end-to-end experience. While several retailers have started shifting to meet consumer demand, there is still a tremendous growth opportunity for all brands offering BOPIS, curbside and delivery. Across the board, customers look for clear communication but more than a quarter of all pickup and delivery shoppers say there is room for improvement with communication.

• When it comes to brands offering delivery, order accuracy is critical and 9 percent of shoppers say their order was not accurate.
• Retailers providing pickup need to denote designated locations and visible signage and make it easy for consumers but 27 percent of BOPIS locations were poorly marked or difficult to find.

Ipsos will be conducting Wave 2 of the E-Commerce Experience Report, looking into curbside retail shopping just in time for the holiday season and 3^rd party delivery fulfillment for grocery and food and beverage.

For more information on Ipsos’ E-Commerce Experience Report, visit here.