Survey: The most popular new fulfillment channel during COVID-19 is…

More than half of retailers have invested in a specific new omnichannel method for fulfilling customer orders since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the “2021 Bringg Barometer: State of Retail Delivery & Fulfillment” report from delivery technology provider Bringg, more than half (51%) of surveyed retailers have launched curbside pickup during COVID-19. Other popular omnichannel fulfillment options retailers have investigated since the beginning of the pandemic include BOPIS (33%), alternative pickup locations (28%), and same-day delivery (27%).

In the next six to 12 months, the most popular omnichannel fulfillment options respondents plan to add are alternative pickup locations (30%) and BOPIS (24%). However, fewer than half of the retailers surveyed work with a technology vendor to streamline operations.

Additional survey findings include:

• The biggest pain points when it comes to scaling delivery are working with multiple fleets (36%), scheduling delivery times with customers (30%), and lack of real-time visibility once the order is out for delivery (20%).
• Lack of visibility (39%) and lack of brand control (31%) are the biggest pain points when it comes to working with external fleets for delivery, followed by cost (29%).
• When it comes to pain points associated with delivering on time, retailers reported the number of driver available (29%), dispatch and routing issues (20%), and travel distance between warehouse, retail location, etc. and delivery point (19%).

Bringg surveyed 1,000 U.S. enterprise retailers and brands.