Pros of pickup points in eCommerce

This resulted in users is 1.66 K millions shoppers placing orders worldwide (and in many cases, more than one request a year) added to all the online stores being part of a sales channel. This is far from touching the ceiling. 

This is an opportunity, but also a challenge in this regard. Online stores must be able to cope  successfully with all  that involves working with thousands of orders, in time deliveries, being sure to have the right logistic partner, process and manage returns both logistically and administratively... 

This is very popular among retailers click and mortar retailers that besides shop online have a physical store. It just consists of choosing pickup in store when making the purchase process. 

The user manages the collection quickly (almost immediately if there is stock in the selected store) and also it is indirectly generating rotation in the store with the possibilities of increasing sales. 

Although they require a large infrastructure and a certain complexity, we can find such lockers like Amazon Locker or City Pack postal service for a while. 

They are often located in public places such as malls or transportation stations (and even private, such as the common areas of the neigbourhood associations). 

The user goes there and enter a bar code that allows him to access his delivery. 

The main disadvantage of this type of services is that they are limited in size and weight according to the locker´s dimensions. 

In this case, the collection points work similarly to the collection in store, but with one important difference: we do not need to have an own store to deliver the order. 

You would work with a network of partners across different areas so that the customer checks the available list and can choose which best suits him to pick up his order during business hours. It may be the stationery in the corner or a driving school next to his office. 

In Oleoshop, we think that this type of collection points are really eficient. Therefore, our shops have been integrated with Puntopack and its network for months, with over 6,300 associates. 

Since the beginning of e-commerce boom, online stores were "forced" to go hand in hand with logistics companies. For these it supposed a real jump too. 

Anyway, it must be understood that until Internet sales became popular among the general audience, these services were practically raised as B2B probably 80%. In other words, what worked mainly, was shipping between companies. This has slowly changed, progressively, increasing shipments to individuals. 

It must be said that most of this type of services have been adapted, they have extended their delivery schedules until late at night, beginning to deliver orders at weekends or making deliveries on the same day. Why do they do that? Due to a very important reason: users ask for flexibility. 

Unlike companies that have more or less fixed opening hours, schedules of customers and their needs are so varied that they can change from one day to another. They need orders to be delivered when they are at home or office. 

The option of collection points is a very interesting choice because it makes the own buyer who decides when to collect his order and integrate delivery into his routine without having to wait at home or office until the courier arrives. 

It does not mean that purchases that are made online are necessarily of "sensitive" products, but there are many assumptions on which the user may prefer a discreet pickup which is guaranteed thanks to collection points. 

It can be from professional reasons, as in the case of companies that do not want workers to receive shipments at the office, or circumstantial (imagine that you have made the purchase of a gift for your partner and you do not want to the parcel to be delivered at home). 

Although I have left it to the end, this is one of the most interesting reasons for integrating pickup points in your eCommerce. 

Anyone being responsable for logistics of an online store knows that this is one of the biggest points of friction with the client. The courier arrives home on several occasions and he cannot find the customer there. Therefore, the item is returned to our warehouse and this has a cost and a risk for the product which can be damaged due to so much handling (and that with domestic shipping If we add the variable international all this is twice as risky). 

It does not mean that pickup points avoid100% this factor because you may have a customer who does not pick up his order, but it minimizes significantly because it is he who proactively manages his time and availability.