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The Post-COVID Consumer: The Future of Brick and Mortar Stores
4
Seeking out curbside pickup, home delivery and
BOPIS
Walmart first rolled out curbside pickup for groceries in 2014
as a complement to its nascent home delivery service. It
was a "nice to have" service most businesses didn't replicate
and most consumers never tried. It required companies to
imagine their stores as distribution centers, and it required
consumers to envision a completely new way to shop.
But when COVID hit, businesses that already offered
curbside pickup and delivery had a huge leg up on the
competition. There was already a contactless system in place
for customers to shop, buy, and receive their purchases.
Consumers actively sought out businesses that offered these
services, and those that didn't have it were left scrambling to
catch up.
Some retailers have always facilitated deliveries themselves.
They invested in inf rastructure and streamlined their systems
so they could offer same-day delivery. The pandemic made
these delivery models especially attractive to consumers.
Instead of risking a trip to the store or waiting days for
shipping, they could simply place their order in the morning
and have it delivered by the evening. Many retailers that
didn't previously offer delivery shifted the way they thought
about their brick and mortar stores, rapidly transforming
them into distribution centers.
