In the fulfillment center Warehouse.si among other things, they offer their partners (online retailers) the opportunity to offer their customers personal pickups at their address in Ljubljana.

Therefore, in cooperation with Ceneje.si and Valicon and their in-depth analysis of Slovenian online sales E-commerce Report Slovenia, we decided to try to answer the question - does it make sense to offer personal pickup to online shoppers or not?

The analysis is done in real time, among random online shoppers after completing an online purchase using the CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing) method.

Improving the customer experience

In the ever-changing e-commerce industry, online stores must constantly innovate and be different from others to stay competitive. One way to do this is by offering personal pickup in the store or in a frequented location where the largest number of customers stay.

In-store pickup allows customers to order online and pick up their purchases at a physical store when it's most convenient for them. It fixes problems such as slow delivery time, additional postage costs and the risk of package loss or damage. In fact, it combines the best of online and physical shopping experiences.

Building stronger relationships with customers

This direct interaction can lead to increased customer trust and loyalty, even if they don't end up choosing to pick up in person. Namely, as a result, the buyer considers that the trader (especially if it is a smaller and less well-known trader) is confident enough in the quality of its own products, if it also allows its customers to personally pick up and view the product before purchase.

At the same time, the buyer in this case is sure that the merchant actually has the item in stock and it's not just an "error in the online store", which online customers are already used to with a variety of online stores, when they end up waiting a couple of weeks for the product in stock. As a result, even customers with bad experiences (and unfortunately there are many of them) often do not believe the information about the stock in the online store.

Reducing costs and increasing sales

Uvedba osebnega prevzema v trgovini lahko privede tudi do prihrankov tako za spletno trgovino kot za kupca. S tem, ko se izognejo dostavnim stroškom, lahko spletne trgovine te prihranke prenesejo na svoje kupce in jim ponudijo bolj ekonomično nakupovalno izkušnjo ali pa ta del namenijo v povečanje marketinških aktivnosti.

In addition, this strategy can often lead to increased sales. When customers visit a pickup location to pick up their purchases, they are more inclined to make additional impulse purchases or buy more of the same item (you know the statement "if I'm already here, give me two").

Hello, I would like to order, but I need the product today because it is a gift. Is it possible to pick up in person somewhere in Ljubljana?

Adapting to changed consumer behavior

Finally, in-store pickup is a proactive response to changed consumer behavior. Today's customers value convenience, flexibility and speed. They appreciate the opportunity to shop at their own pace and on their own terms. In-store pickup meets these requirements while providing a personal touch that demonstrates your online store is attentive and flexible to customer needs.

How long is our customer willing to wait for delivery?

According to the previously mentioned analysis of the Slovenian online market, the results are as follows:

As many as 11% of customers will make an online purchase only if the online store offers same-day delivery. An additional 30% will make the purchase only if they are sure that the package will arrive within 1-2 days. An important point here is that buyers must be sure about this - you can actually deliver all packages the very next day, but your buyer may not believe that he will receive the package on time and therefore will not decide to buy online and wait for delivery.

If you do not meet this condition, then you will lose 11% or even 41% of your sales!

Can you imagine what it can mean for your business that with one simple move (enabling personal pickup at a frequent location) increase sales by 10-40%?

Which customers will I definitely lose if I don't have personal pickup?

While the above statistics are only related to delivery time and customer expectations, we also have information on which type of delivery is currently being chosen by customers in Slovenia:

In addition to classic delivery with Pošta Slovenija and delivery companies, the analysis confirmed 16% of customers in Slovenia picked up the product in person. If you consider here that the product could only be collected in person by those who bought in stores that offer personal collection (a number of stores still do not offer this), it is easy to conclude that the desire for personal delivery is much higher (if only all merchants offered it).

Here again, we invite you to a simple calculation of what you are losing at the moment if you do not offer personal pickup - let's look at a fictional example:

• • If you currently send 10 packages per day (without personal pickups), that means you send approx. 300 packages per month.

• • If we take into account that at least 16% of customers (but there are certainly more) require personal collection, by offering personal collection you can send 350 monthly packages instead of 300 or as many as 600 yearly packages more than now.

• • With a margin of €10 per product, you can therefore gain an additional €6,000 annually just by introducing personal pickup.

Problems in the introduction of personal pickups and solutions for them

After talking with our partners, who do not offer personal pickups to customers, we detected 2 main problems:

• • Webshop company is located in a less frequent location, outside the main cities, where customers do not want to drive.

• • The retailer has insufficient salesto be able to afford to operate a collection point in a frequent location (in Slovenia, for most retailers, this means collection in Ljubljana).

Conclusion - How can we help you?

On the basis of the above research, which confirms the fact that a large number of customers in Slovenia want to pick up the product in person, and on the basis of the fact that personal pickup increases trust in the online store and also suits customers who want to get the product the same or the next day, we can conclude, that enabling personal pickup is a good and sensible business move for most online stores that do not offer this at the moment.

Personal pickup is not just an additional service for online stores; it is a strategic business decision that can significantly improve customer satisfaction, improve operational efficiency and increase sales. Offering in-person pickup is a step in the right direction as it shows customers that your online store is committed to providing the best shopping experience possible.

If, for the above reasons, you do not have the possibility to offer personal pickup to your customers, you can always contact one of the fulfillment centers that offers this in Slovenia, e.g. Warehouse.si – you entrust them with dealing with your stock and at the same time agree that they become your new pick-up point in Ljubljana!