Stationary stores are a key element of Empik's omnichannel ecosystem – about 70% of orders from Empik.com's own offer are collected there. Buyers also like to visit stores because they can do additional shopping at the same time.
Until now, collection in a brick-and-mortar store was only possible for orders from Empik. Now the company is taking another important step in its omnichannel development and expanding this delivery method to include orders from external sellers who list their offer on Empik.com.
This is a major market differentiator for the Empik platform:
– Since we opened Empik.com to external sellers, our priority has been to provide the customer with a consistent shopping experience. The ability to collect orders from Empik marketplace in brick-and-mortar stores is another milestone for us, and the successful pilot only confirmed that this is exactly what customers expect. Sellers also benefit from this – stores whose offer is covered by the new service record up to 100% increase in sales – explains Mirek Drab, Marketplace Director, and adds: Today we can say that we are the only truly omnichannel marketplace in Poland and we have further ambitious plans in this area.
The most advantageous delivery method. What does Empik offer?
Customers can collect orders from the marketplace at over 350 Empik and Papiernik by Empik stores. The new delivery method covers all categories available on Empik.com, such as Home and Garden, Toys, Health and Beauty, Fashion, Electronics, Household Appliances, Supermarket and many others.
Sellers with the highest service quality ratings were invited to participate in the program. At the moment, the "pick up in store" option is available for over 100,000 products from the marketplace offer, and this number is growing every week. However, delivery to stores does not apply to large-sized orders:
– We wanted to create the most intuitive solution possible for both our customers and sellers. That's why our system itself verifies which products should be excluded from this form of delivery, based on their attributes – says Mateusz Rokita, B2C Logistics And Customer Experience Director.
Picking up a parcel at a store is free if both the customer and the seller are members of the Empik Premium program. Otherwise, the cost of this service is PLN 8.99, which is still one of the cheapest options among all available delivery methods. Customers who pick up parcels at marketplace stores also receive an additional 20% discount on stationary purchases at Empik.
1/3 of marketplace buyers choose to pick up at a store
– We can see that customers have welcomed this new service – already 1/3 of marketplace shoppers decide to pick up at the store, if they have such an option in their basket. To start with, we have handled over 10,000 test shipments as part of the pilot, and our goal for this year is to exceed the threshold of 300,000 marketplace orders picked up at a stationary Empik store – adds Mateusz Rokita.
Further investments in logistics
This is not the end of innovation. Empik is focusing on further development of this favorite form of delivery for customers and is testing its own parcel machines. Empik machines, which allow for even faster and contactless collection of orders, have been placed in 4 selected stores: Legionowo Piłsudskiego, Warszawa Wola Park, Grudziądz Alfa and Włocławek City.
At the moment, the pilot covers Empik's own offer. In the current testing phase, the customer does not yet have the option of choosing delivery to a parcel machine on the shopping path. However, if the order with collection in the store meets basic criteria, such as dimensions, number of pieces or payment method, it will be placed in the Empikomat locker. The first results of the tests look promising – according to Empik data, over 75% of customers who used this form of collection rated the experience positively and prefer collection from a machine to a traditional visit to the checkout.
