How to get hybrid shopping right
FROM DRIVE-IN cinemas to drive-through restaurants, Americans love doing things without getting out of their cars. During the covid-19 pandemic they have taken to shopping in a similar fashion, too. Kerbside pickup, where buyers’ vehicles pull up to retail outlets and dedicated staff help load online orders into the boot, helped supermarket chains notch up a banner year. One in two American shoppers used kerbside or in-store collection last year, according to a survey by ShipStation, a maker of shipping software.
No big retailer in America can do without kerbside pickup. Those that had it before the pandemic, including Target, Walmart and Kohl’s, have expanded their offerings. On March 2nd Target reported record digital sales, which accounted for two-thirds of revenue growth last year. These were powered by such “drive-up” purchases, which ballooned more than six-fold in the final quarter of 2020. Shops that lacked kerbside operations hurriedly created them from scratch. Some analyses have found that around 60% of American retailers now have the service, twice the share 12 months ago.
Even malls, which were struggling before the pandemic added to their woes as self-isolating consumers moved en masse to online purchases, are giving it a whirl. Sarah Fossen, head of marketing at Rosedale Centre, a mall near Minneapolis...