Uber is making shopping in stores a lot more like shopping online – by helping shoppers skip the actual trip to the store. Buy Online, Pick up In-Store (BOPIS) is popular, but with “Store Pickup via Uber Connect,” customers don’t even have to leave their home or office to pick up their items, and they can get their items quicker than waiting for ecommerce orders to arrive.
In a post Tuesday morning outlining various ways consumers could use Uber during the holidays, it included a section on Store Pickup:
“Let Uber be your Secret Santa this year. We know that 80% of consumers say they want same day shipping, and 61% want their items within 1-3 hours of ordering. With Store Pickup via Uber Connect, you can arrange for an Uber courier to pick up and deliver prepaid items for you.
“Once you’ve purchased items from a local store, simply upload the receipt and watch as a courier drops off those items wherever you’d like – with you, or with a loved one.”
It’s unlikely Uber will make a huge dent in any online-only merchant – its Store Pickup is live in 1,700 cities and towns, the company said. But Pymnts noted the service comes in time to capture consumers’ last-minute gifting occasions.
“The feature is available at stores not on Uber’s marketplace, expanding the company’s reach to enable it to capture occasions outside of its retail partners,” Pymnts wrote. “To make this possible, users upload receipts on the Uber app, which the courier can then show to the retailer to confirm proof of purchase. The service has a price cap of $200 and a weight maximum of 30 pounds.”
In October, Uber launched a service to make it easier for buyers to return unwanted items ordered online.
“The service has a price cap of $200 and a weight maximum of 30 pounds.”
Oh…..so no big screen TV then? Bummer!