The BOPIS meaning is simple: it stands for "buy online, pickup in store." It's a fulfillment option where a shopper orders on a retailer's website or app and collects the order at a nearby store instead of waiting on shipping. It's also called click and collect.

Your customer's path to purchase almost never runs in a straight line anymore. She might discover a product on Instagram, price-check it on your site over lunch, then decide she wants it in her hands today rather than in three-to-five business days. That last impulse is exactly where BOPIS lives, and it has become a fulfillment option many shoppers look for.

BOPIS (buy online, pickup in store) blends the convenience of e-commerce with the immediacy of your physical footprint. Instead of choosing between "buy online" and "buy in store," your customer gets both at once. And the numbers say she wants it: U.S. click-and-collect retail sales hit an estimated $154.3 billion in 2025 and are projected to reach $177.9 billion in 2026, up 15.3% (much of it grocery), according to Capital One Shopping Research (June 2026 update).

If you manage a fleet of stores and you're not offering BOPIS (or you're offering it badly), you're leaving both revenue and foot traffic on the table. Here's how it works, who is doing it well and how to stand up a program of your own.

What Is BOPIS in Retail?

BOPIS is the quintessential example of modern omnichannel shopping: the customer uses your website or app to place an order, but for one reason or another it suits her better to collect the item herself at a nearby store. In other words, she purchases online, but the fulfillment of the order happens in person. And that fulfillment option may be the very reason she bought from you instead of a competitor.

The appeal is easy to understand. BOPIS eliminates shipping costs, removes the wait and lets her retrieve her order on her own schedule. For the retailer, it turns your stores into fulfillment hubs and pulls customers through your doors, where good things tend to happen. In fact, 85% of U.S. shoppers surveyed said they had made an additional in-store purchase while picking up an online order, according to a December 2018 Doddle survey of more than 2,000 shoppers, as reported by Retail Dive. That's the opportunity: you fulfill one order and can sell a second.

Adoption has followed suit. For many brands with stores, this is no longer a nice-to-have. It's table stakes.

How BOPIS Works, Step by Step

Behind a smooth pickup experience sits a fairly simple sequence. Get each step right and the whole thing feels effortless to the shopper.

1. The customer shops online. She browses your website or app and, ideally, can filter or see real-time inventory for the store nearest her.
2. She selects "pickup in store" at checkout. She chooses her preferred location instead of a shipping address and pays online as usual.
3. Your system routes the order. The order lands with the right store, and your inventory updates so the item is reserved and taken off the sellable floor count.
4. The store team picks and preps. An associate pulls the item, stages it and marks it ready.
5. The customer gets the "ready for pickup" message. A clear notification (email, SMS or WhatsApp) tells her the order is waiting and how to collect it.
6. She picks it up. She shows ID or an order confirmation, grabs her order, and, more often than not, browses on her way out.

The magic is in the connective tissue: accurate inventory, fast pick times and proactive communication. When any of those break, the experience curdles into a frustrated customer standing at a counter while someone hunts in the back.

BOPIS vs BOSS vs BORIS: What's the Difference?

BOPIS has a few cousins in the omnichannel fulfillment family, and the acronyms get thrown around interchangeably. They aren't the same thing. Here's a quick reference.

Many mature programs run several of these at once. The more of these options you support, the more of the multi-channel shopper's preferences you can meet, and the harder it becomes for her to justify buying anywhere else.

Why BOPIS Matters for Omnichannel Retailers

BOPIS truly benefits everyone, which is rare in retail operations. For the customer, it creates optionality, kills shipping costs and puts her in control of timing. For you, the upside stacks up fast:

• It drives foot traffic. Every pickup is a reason to walk into your store, and every visit is a fresh sales and marketing opportunity. With 85% of surveyed U.S. shoppers reporting at least one add-on purchase at pickup, that traffic can convert.
• It cuts fulfillment costs. Shipping a package to a customer's door is expensive. Having her collect it from a store you already operate can cost less, though pick-and-stage labor is a real cost to track. BOPIS turns your existing real estate into a distribution advantage.
• It supports your omnichannel strategy. BOPIS is one of the clearest signals that your online and offline channels talk to each other. Retailers leaning into omnichannel retail fulfillment are meeting demand in a U.S. click-and-collect market projected at $177.9 billion in 2026, much of it grocery.
• It builds loyalty. A fast, transparent pickup experience is a small delight that customers remember. Nail it consistently and you deepen customer loyalty for the long haul.

The BOPIS experience spans both the ordering and the retrieval moments. Your customers need a frictionless way to indicate their pickup preference online, and a genuinely pleasant experience collecting the item in person.

Examples of BOPIS in Retail Done Right

If you're refining an existing program or building one from scratch, these brands are good models.

Nordstrom

When Nordstrom launched Nordstrom Local, the concept seemed to run counter to the entire reason department stores exist. Nordstrom Local locations are tiny in square footage, and when the concept launched they carried no sellable inventory at all. Instead they're built around services, including online-order pickup, alterations, returns and styling. Placed in neighborhood locations, they give shoppers a pickup and service point without the cost of a full store.

Lululemon

Lululemon's in-store pickup program is available at select stores, letting customers collect an order from a nearby location instead of waiting on shipping. When the order is ready, the customer gets an email with her pickup deadline and the store's details, and she confirms with government ID or the confirmation email at the store. Simple and consistent.

The Reformation

Reformation goes a step further on the discovery side. Shoppers can use Reformation's in-store pickup filter on category pages to see which products are available at a store near them. This is a smart feature because it caters to exactly the customers who are most ready to buy and have an urgent need, and it removes the guesswork about whether a trip to the store will pay off.

Home Depot

Home Depot lets website visitors filter products by "Pick Up Today" availability at a local store. When you're a major retailer, the gap between online catalog and in-store stock can be enormous, so surfacing local availability streamlines the decision. It's a model to borrow if your catalog runs deep.

Target

Target has made same-day fulfillment a major part of its digital business. Its same-day ecosystem spans Drive Up, in-store pickup and same-day delivery. In fiscal 2025 it generated more than $14 billion in sales and accounted for about two-thirds of Target's e-commerce sales, according to Digital Commerce 360. The lesson: when fulfillment is fast and effortless, shoppers use it heavily.

How to Launch a BOPIS Program

Ready to stand up your own BOPIS program? You don't need a Target-sized budget, but you do need the fundamentals in the right order.

1. Get your inventory visibility straight. BOPIS lives or dies on accurate, real-time stock counts per location. If your site promises an item the store can't find, you've manufactured a bad experience. Sync your e-commerce platform and in-store POS so both show the same numbers.
2. Add a clear pickup option at checkout. Let customers choose a store and see availability before they commit. The less friction here, the more orders will choose pickup.
3. Build a tight in-store pick-and-stage workflow. Decide who picks orders, where staged orders live and what "ready" means. Speed matters: the faster you can turn an order around, the more you can promise same-day pickup with confidence.
4. Communicate proactively. Send an order confirmation, a genuine "ready for pickup" alert and clear instructions on where to go and what to bring. This single step heads off many pickup complaints.
5. Design the handoff. A dedicated counter, a locker or curbside can all work; make the physical retrieval obvious and quick. Train associates to treat it as a service moment, not a chore.
6. Measure and refine. Track pickup times, in-store add-on rate (how often pickups turn into extra purchases) and customer satisfaction. Then tune the weak links.

The operational side is only half the job. The other half is what you do with the relationship once the customer is standing in your store.

Ready to turn pickups into repeat customers? Start your free 14-day trial of Endear and see how a connected CRM makes every BOPIS visit a chance to sell more.

BOPIS Marketing: Turn Every Pickup Into a Relationship

Here's where many BOPIS programs underperform. They treat the pickup as a transaction to be completed rather than a relationship to be built. A customer walks in, grabs a bag and walks out as anonymous as she arrived. That's a wasted moment.

Good BOPIS marketing changes that. When your store team knows who is walking through the door, what she just bought and what she has bought before, the pickup becomes a clienteling opportunity. An associate can greet her by name, mention that the jacket she's been eyeing is back in stock or suggest the exact item that pairs with her order.

This is exactly what Endear's clienteling platform is built for. Our AI Opportunity Engine surfaces a ranked daily queue of outreach opportunities and drafts brand-aligned messages that your associates review and approve before anything sends.

So once a BOPIS order is placed, your team can send a quick, personal note ahead of the visit, or follow up afterward with a relevant recommendation. That's how a single pickup turns into a second purchase, and eventually a loyal, high-value customer.

Pair that with Endear's messaging and campaigns across email, SMS and WhatsApp, and your customers have a real person to reach about their order, not a support ticket. They stay updated, they can ask logistics questions, and your team gets a natural reason to keep the conversation going long after the bag leaves the store.

Frequently Asked Questions About BOPIS

What does BOPIS mean in retail?

BOPIS stands for "buy online, pickup in store." It's a fulfillment option where a customer purchases an item on a retailer's website or app and then collects it in person at a physical store location instead of having it shipped.

How is BOPIS different from curbside pickup?

Both start with an online order. With traditional BOPIS, the customer walks into the store to collect the order. With curbside pickup, an associate brings the order out to the customer's car, so she never has to leave the vehicle. Many retailers offer both.

What is the difference between BOPIS, BOSS and BORIS?

BOPIS is buy online, pickup in store. BOSS is buy online, ship to store (used when an item isn't stocked at the local store and needs to be shipped there for pickup). BORIS is buy online, return in store. They're related omnichannel fulfillment options that often run together.

Is BOPIS worth it for retailers?

For most brands with physical stores, yes. BOPIS reduces shipping costs, drives foot traffic and creates upsell opportunities. With 85% of surveyed U.S. shoppers reporting at least one add-on purchase at pickup, according to a 2018 Doddle survey reported by Retail Dive, the incremental sales can offset part of the cost, so measure them in your own data.

How much is the BOPIS market worth?

U.S. click-and-collect (BOPIS) retail sales reached an estimated $154.3 billion in 2025 and are projected to hit $177.9 billion in 2026, up 15.3%, per Capital One Shopping Research.

What do you need to offer BOPIS?

At minimum you need real-time inventory visibility per store, a pickup option at online checkout, an in-store workflow to pick and stage orders, and a reliable way to notify customers when their order is ready. A connected CRM helps you turn each pickup into a longer-term relationship.

How do I increase sales from BOPIS customers?

Treat the pickup as a clienteling moment rather than a handoff. When associates know the customer's history, they can make relevant recommendations in person. Tools like Endear's AI Opportunity Engine surface those opportunities and draft outreach that associates review before sending, so every pickup can become a second sale.

Turn BOPIS Into Your Best Retention Channel

BOPIS isn't just a fulfillment checkbox. Done well, it's a repeatable way to pull customers into your stores, sell them a little more each visit and build the kind of relationships that keep them coming back. The operational pieces get them through the door. What you do next is what turns a one-time pickup into a lifetime of purchases.

Book a demo with Endear to see how our clienteling platform, AI Opportunity Engine and multichannel campaigns help your team make every BOPIS visit count, with an associate approving every AI-drafted message.