One of the main reasons why people shop online via various e-commerce platforms is because of convenience and the fact that they can get their delivery done at doorsteps. However, it is worth noting that a new study suggests that US is following a reverse trend as compared to most other countries around the world. According to a study done across six countries and 13,300 consumers around the world, it has been noted that there was an increase of cubrside pickup or in-store pickups in the US by 66% since the data was last gathered in 2021. The complete reason as to why this is the case is not known yet but the data suggests that some do it for saving money and sometimes for other reasons.
As per this study, the US and Brazil saw their curbside pickups grow from 23% in 2021 to 31.5% in 2022 and 18% in 2021 to 24.7% in 2022 respectively. Apart from these two countries, all the other countries’ data shows that their store pickups have either been the same or slowed down. The statement made after this study reads, “the U.S. is home to the largest and fastest-growing pickup economy of all six countries in our study per capita. Nearly one-third of U.S. eCommerce shoppers — a projected 16.4 million consumers — picked up their most recent online purchase via in-store or curbside pickup, and that number represents a 37% increase from the share of eCommerce shoppers who did so in 2021. No other country has seen anywhere close to this growth rate in their pickup economies in the past year.”
The detailed study on why in-store pickups have grown in the US has not been done yet but early analysis suggests that the reason behind it is mostly cost-saving. While you get free delivery on most items, there is a charge levied on certain items that fall outside the free delivery window so customers opt to pick it up themselves rather than paying for it. Also, the delivery times could be one of the reason as well. Picking up their own purchases means that they can get it faster and whenever they want rather than having delayed delivery or getting delivery when nobody is available.
