Lessons from Home Depot: How BOPIS is transforming e-commerce expectations

Home Depot’s BOPIS Success is Changing the Game

Home Depot has turned BOPIS into a competitive advantage. The home improvement retailer discovered that many customers prefer swinging by a store to grab purchases, rather than waiting for delivery, especially for bulky or urgent-need items. Sometimes you need a power drill and just can’t wait! As a result, roughly 45% of Home Depot’s online orders are now fulfilled through in-store pickup. This is an astonishing share. Essentially half of Home Depot’s e-commerce volume flows through stores.

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This model marries online convenience with immediate gratification. Customers can check a product’s availability online, purchase it, and often have it ready at their local Home Depot within a couple of hours. Home Depot even offers curbside pickup, letting shoppers remain in their cars. The retailer benefits, too: BOPIS foot traffic frequently leads to impulse buys in the aisle. One survey found 85% of shoppers made additional in-store purchases when picking up an online order. In Home Depot’s case, a contractor might order supplies online and then grab extra screws or tape when collecting the order. These add-on sales are a nice bonus and illustrate why this shopping structure has retailers excited.

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Perhaps more importantly, Home Depot’s success has raised the bar for customer expectations across the industry. Shoppers who enjoy the speedy pickup at Home Depot now want similar options from other retailers. Convenience and speed are the driving forces, and our team at Rebelution is the first to agree. Our Rebels order groceries online from Aldi, pick up home goods at Target, allergy medication at Jewel, and much more.

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The message to retailers is clear: offering BOPIS isn’t just a perk, it’s becoming expected. Home Depot’s omnichannel model, blending online ordering with 2,300 store locations, shows that traditional retailers can compete with Amazon by leveraging their physical presence.

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Amazon and Whole Foods: Blending Online and Offline

Amazon built its empire on home delivery, but even the e-commerce giant recognizes the value of BOPIS in certain categories. Since acquiring Whole Foods, Amazon has rolled out free one-hour grocery pickup for Prime members at all Whole Foods locations. You can order your organic veggies online and have store employees bag them for quick pickup; in many cases, customers who check in via the app wait just about one minute after arriving to receive their order. (Speaking from personal experience as an in-store Prime shopper at WF in April 2020, this remains true). This ultra-fast service shows how Amazon is setting new expectations for speed – even matching the instant gratification of in-store shopping. According to Amazon, over 40% of Whole Foods pickup orders each month come from first-time users trying the service, indicating that shoppers are rapidly embracing this new hybrid model.

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Amazon has also transformed Whole Foods stores into mini fulfillment hubs and service centers. Besides groceries, many Whole Foods locations feature Amazon Lockers for picking up packages, and dedicated counters for easy returns. During the holiday rush, Amazon expanded the ability to drop off Amazon returns at all 500+ stores, giving customers more free and convenient drop-off points. This move again highlights the BOPIS playbook (or perhaps “BORIS”,  Buy Online, Return In Store). The convenience of handing off an unwanted Amazon item at the grocery store on your weekly run is hard to beat. Amazon’s strategy is to weave itself into everyday routines, and physical retail partners are key to that.

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That said, Amazon’s foray into brick-and-mortar via Whole Foods hasn’t been all smooth sailing. The company installed lockers and offered Prime benefits at Whole Foods to encourage cross-shopping, but the results have been mixed so far. Converting a pure online shopper into an in-store impulse buyer is a challenge. Still, Amazon’s commitment to omnichannel experiences (including experiments like Amazon Fresh stores and Amazon Go convenience stores) underscores a broader industry truth: even digital natives see that the future of e-commerce is hybrid.

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Kohl’s and Amazon Returns: If You Can’t Beat ’Em, Join ’Em

Kohl’s, the department store chain, took an unconventional approach to ride the e-commerce wave: it partnered with its would-be rival, Amazon. Since 2019, Kohl’s stores have accepted Amazon returns nationwide, hoping that people dropping off packages will browse and buy something on the way out. The move did succeed in driving new foot traffic resulting in about 2 million new customers in 2020. That’s a huge influx of potential shoppers walking into Kohl’s for the first time, illustrating how blending online and offline services can expand a retailer’s reach. For Amazon, it was a win too: they instantly gained hundreds of convenient return sites (without building physical stores) by leveraging Kohl’s real estate.

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From a customer’s perspective, this collaboration set a new expectation: hassle-free returns in person for online purchases. No box, no shipping label, no trip to the post office – just hand it to a Kohl’s associate. Shoppers love it, and many now actively look for retailers or services that offer easy local returns. This is another way e-commerce is meeting consumers where they are. It’s not exactly BOPIS (since it’s about returns rather than pickups), but it’s the flip side of the same coin, a seamless omnichannel experience. Shoppers increasingly assume that if they can buy online, they should be able to pick up or return in store.

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Kohl’s experience, however, also shows the limitations of these partnerships. While the Amazon returns initiative boosted store visits, it hasn’t yet translated into a significant sales lift for Kohl’s. Kohl’s is now testing pausing Amazon returns in some stores to see if the sales impact differs. The lesson for retailers is that foot traffic is great, but you still need a strategy to convert those visits into purchases. Nonetheless, Kohl’s bold move earned it new customers and good will, and reinforced the idea that convenience is king. For brands selling on platforms like Amazon or Walmart, it suggests that partnering with brick-and-mortar outlets (or offering your own store pickup/return options) can enhance customer experience and loyalty.

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