Study: Canada lags global average on providing BOPIS services

E-commerce shoppers love curbside pickup for its convenience and transparency, but retailers in Canada are lagging behind other countries in providing the service, according to an industry survey released today.

Just 31 percent of Canadian retailers offer click and collect shopping, also known as buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS), compared to 37.6 percent of global retailers, the survey says. That ranking puts the Canadian market in second to last place, behind only the U.S., for the amount of in-store pick up options, trailing the U.K., Australia, France, Germany and Austria.

@OrderDynamics Finds Only 31% of Canadian Retailers Offer Buy Online Pickup In-Store (BOPIS) https://t.co/FxxOfElSOC pic.twitter.com/J0H9x1zL9n

— OrderDynamics (@OrderDynamics) January 30, 2019

The numbers come from "Omni-2000 Research: Canada," a report produced by OrderDynamics Corp., a Richmond Hill, Ont.-based provider of cloud-based order management software that was acquired in 2018 by the supply chain management software firmTecsys Inc. for $13.4 million.

The survey studied Canadian BOPIS practices by collecting data from 281 retail chains in Canada with a minimum of 10 store locations apiece. Other key findings include: 

• 82.9 percent offer some form of free shipping 
• 34.5 percent of all retailers offer basic, active inventory visibility
• 13.9 percent of all retailers provide free return deliveries
• 74.7 percent of omni-channel retailers offer Buy Online Return In-Store (BORIS)
• 71.2 percent of retailers have a mobile responsive site 
• 19.5 percent of omni-channel retailers have an active shop on Instagram

"Canada has taken the steps to positively develop its omnichannel retail capabilities, but room for improvement still exists, especially when it comes to areas such as selling via social media," OrderDynamics President Nick McLean said in a release. "In order to live up to growing expectations, retailers will increasingly need to provide solutions in a world that continues to be altered by e-commerce."