Kibo Retail Clients See 563% Increase in Buy Online, Pickup In-Store (BOPIS) Orders During COVID-19

Kibo, a leader in cloud commerce, announced that the company’s retail clients received a 563% increase in Buy Online, Pickup In-Store (BOPIS) orders at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. BOPIS, which also includes curbside pickup, was gaining momentum as a popular new fulfillment tactic during the 2019 holiday season, but gained significant traction while social distancing regulations were in effect. Additionally, Kibo saw an increase in all online ordering of 194% at the peak.

“As people were ordered to shelter in place, retailers were tasked with adjusting to a dramatic shift in shopping behaviors from in-store purchases to ordering online with buy online pickup in store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup options. The added complexity of different rules at different store locations made it particularly complex for retailers to manage,” said Meyar Sheik, Chief Commerce Officer at Kibo. “We are delighted to have supported our retailer clients with frictionless order management during this record-breaking surge in customer demand for online and touchless fulfillment.”

With Kibo’s frictionless order management solution, retailers are able to quickly pivot to accommodate customer needs with targeted and personalized fulfillment solutions. Kibo is designed to scale easily with no change to the customer experience and no increased lag or load times for retailers.

While BOPIS became a hot option during 2019 holiday shopping, it was a truly necessary element in delivering products to customers during shelter-in-place orders. Even with a more than 5X increase in demand for BOPIS, with a peak in May of 890,579 orders, our clients were able to confidently rely on Kibo for their fulfillment needs.

Kibo's data shows just how quickly our retail clients were able to pivot to provide new fulfillment options to their customers. Total orders reached their highest rates in May with a total of 1,876,520, which was 194% above the same time last year.

The following trends in particular show that the rise in orders and new fulfillment options might have peaked in Q2, but are still going strong even as people return to stores:

• 563% YOY increase in BOPIS in April, and a 554% increase in May, compared to a 374% YOY increase for June

• 193% YOY increase in all online orders in April compared to a 183% YOY increase for June (despite a lessening in BOPIS demand)

• A significant reduction in BOPIS order share in the month of June…

• …which is compounded by 2019 data showing that BOPIS share of total orders rose during the same juncture last year

It’s important for retailers to watch trends in ordering and fulfillment region by region. While states are nearly all opening back up now, there are still limits on store capacity and hours. Additionally, it is unclear if COVID-19 cases will start to increase again in the fall. By reacting quickly to these changes, retailers can address rising demand and retain customers with reliable, flexible order management.

As illustrated by our data, it’s become an essential part of doing business today.