Free Curbside Pickup May Be A Thing of the Past
COVID-19 pandemic has led to a significant increase in e-commerce sales, and many retailers have had to adapt to the new changes. Curbside pickup has become a popular option for customers who want to shop online but prefer not to enter stores due to health concerns. It's a convenient and easy way for customers to pick up their orders without leaving their cars. Customers can drive to a store or designated pickup location, make a phone call to notify the staff, and the staff will bring their order out to their car. This service has increased in popularity during the pandemic and is likely to continue to be a popular option for online shoppers even after the pandemic is over.
According to a survey of merchants' delivery services conducted by CouponBirds, now 54% of the merchants offer curbside pickup for customers.
The research shows that over 20% of merchants are food or fast food restaurants, 18.52% are department stores, 16.67% of the retailers sell clothes while 11.11% of them sell products for home and garden. Beauty, crafts, grocery, office supplies, and sports each account for 3.7%.
Over the past year, 40% of Americans tried a new shopping method and nearly three-quarters of people have tried curbside pickup. Curbside pickup helps customers bridge the gap between online and in-person shopping by giving customers a chance to enjoy a similar in-store shopping experience.
Although more merchants are providing curbside pickup nowadays, this contactless delivery is not free all the time for customers. Recently, Sam's Club has announced that starting June 28th, they are ending free curbside pickup for basic Sam's Club members. Sam's Club curbside pickup will still be free to Plus members. And more retailers now charge for this delivery service.
According to CouponBirds' data, 20% of the merchants charge for the contactless delivery service or offer free curbside pickup only when customers meet the conditions, such as the minimum ordering requirement. Retailers like Kroger offer free curbside pickup for orders totaling $35 or more and Michaels charges $9.99 for a curbside pickup.
The current labor shortage and rising wages forced merchants to find a way to mitigate their costs. There is a cost to retailers of providing curbside pickup indeed and it is estimated that fewer retailers will offer free curbside pickup and more merchants will charge more for the items selected, have a curbside pickup fee, have a minimum ordering requirement, or a combination of these.
Reference
1. Tamara Charm, Becca Coggins, Kelsey Robinson, and Jamie Wilkie, "The great consumer shift: Ten charts that show how US shopping behavior is changing".
2. Alli, "Free Sam’s Club Curbside Pickup Is Ending for Basic Members on June 28th".
