By Barley Laing, the UK Managing Director at Melissa
Customers increasingly want a wide range of pick up and delivery options for the products they order online – for convenience, speed and flexibility.
The predicted growth of ‘buy online pick up in-store’ (BOPIS) is proof of this. The global market for BOPIS was valued at $345 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $666 billion by 2028, according to ResearchAndMarkets.com. There’s similar growth forecast for kerbside pick up too.
Why BOPIS and kerbside collection?
The key attraction of both BOPIS and kerbside collections is that customers can often obtain products faster, rather than wait for shipping to their home. Also, it can often be more cost effective for customers because delivery costs that can sometimes be incurred on home delivery are usually not involved with these services. Additionally, for retailers, both fulfilment options can help to drive footfall in-store and reduce their own shipping costs.
However, there can be issues for retailers offering these services. These include misrouted orders, incorrect store assignments and inefficient pick up coordination that can all negatively impact on the customer experience.
Success powered by accurate address data
To avoid these problems recognition that successful BOPIS and kerbside collections depend on accurate address data – both for customers and the stores – is key. Without such accurate location data the fulfilment operation could fail, delivering a poor customer experience which could see retailers lose customers to competitors. Also, once you have the correct address data it’s possible to obtain geocodes, which offer latitude and longitude – rooftop level – coordinates, for even greater location accuracy.
On top of having accurate customer addresses and store location data, it’s also a smart idea to ensure that inventory data is accurately mapped in real-time to provide visibility on product availability. This way retailers have all the elements and insight to make BOPIS and kerbside collection effectively work.
With the correct address and inventory data retailers can precisely map store and customer locations, connecting customers to the nearest pick up point to collect the desired product, including those with the product in stock for immediate pick up. Additionally, retailers can enhance the process by allowing customers to see only pick up options within a practical range.
This means delivery errors, and therefore delays, are reduced for stores acting as fulfilment centres, with orders prepared and staged at the correct store.
Also, access to accurate address data supports enhanced communications for kerbside pick up, because precise pick up location details can be provided to customers, guiding them to the right parking spots for collection.
Address lookup technology
To obtain accurate customer address data a good place to begin is by using an address lookup or autocomplete tool. They provide accurate addresses in real-time at the customer onboarding stage, by delivering a properly formatted, correct address when the user starts inputting theirs. Utilising such methods reduce the number of keystrokes required, by up to 81 per cent, when typing an address. As a result, the entire onboarding process is speeded up, reducing the probability of the user not completing a purchase. Additionally, retailers can use address verification technology to ensure the accuracy of addresses in batch across existing customer databases.
Verified addresses help prevent fraud
For retailers, a further benefit of having accurate customer address data is that it helps to combat fraud, because address verification – having a consistently accurate, standardised address – is typically recognised as the foundation of contact data quality. Also, access to accurate customer addresses makes it much easier to match and verify identities across multiple sources, and prevent fraudulent orders.
In summary
BOPIS and kerbside pickup provide the convenience consumers expect today, but their success depends on precise location accuracy which supports efficient fulfilment. Address verification and geocoding in eCommerce helps customers to select the right store, supports the correct routing of orders, and smooths coordination with pick up. By leveraging both, and having access to up-to-date inventory data, retailers can minimise errors, streamline logistics, and create a frictionless omnichannel shopping experience.
Published 22/09/25
