The War of Retailers: pickup against courier delivery

Major players such as Walmart, Best Buy, and Target will try to bypass Amazon, focusing on the service of self-pickup of goods previously ordered through the Internet.

Today, few people doubt that the future of retail is online commerce. This area is rapidly developing, and the coronavirus pandemic has only spurred this process. For a giant like Amazon, who initially worked in this area, the golden times have come. But other large retailers do not want to lag and are actively developing services that help protect customers from the need to visit a physical store.

At the same time, such giants as Walmart, Best Buy, and Target are putting a significant emphasis on self-pickup services. Thus, centers for self-pickup today appeared in almost all Walmart stores, and they can pick up a variety of goods, including freshly frozen food. Target does not lag. Also widespread in the past few months has received a delivery service to the parking lot.

Large retailers are hoping to play on the possibility of a quick order receipt. Instead of waiting for the courier or fearing theft of goods delivered to the threshold, customers can get everything they need in an hour after they click on the "Buy" button on the site. At the same time, there is no delivery fee. There is also another advantage - you can pick up your order in secret from home, which is crucial if you want to make a surprise purchase.

During the pandemic, the demand for such services has increased, as seen from all major retailers' reports. But whether this will allow them to compete with Amazon is still difficult to judge. According to a recent survey conducted by Accenture among more than 1500 consumers in the U.S., 77% of respondents prefer to ride right to the threshold. And only 11% said they like to pick up.

The issue of speed is also significant. If retailers can't debug self-delivery outlets, minimizing wait times will significantly reduce this service's value. This issue will be especially acute in the coming holiday season.

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