Causes and consequences of ‘order online pick up in-store’ shopping behavior

Abstract The emergence of the Internet as a retail channel has made it cost-efficient for store-based retailers to offer 'order online pick up at store' (OOPS) service via their websites. This paper examines: (a) the role of purchase-occasion-specific goals and constraints on consumer decision to use OOPS relative to store and online delivery; (b) its impact on purchase deferral, purchase size, and repurchase intention. Proposed differences between OOPS and online/store-only users are examined through a quasi-experiment at a commercial multichannel retailer that offers OOPS at a limited number of stores. Multiple sources of data are used: (1) a web-based survey at the retailer website, (2) a paper-based survey at retailer's stores, and (3) purchase transaction data from consumers. Empirical analysis shows that purchase constraints like price-consciousness and time pressure are positively associated with OOPS usage but purchase goal of minimization of effort shows mixed results. Purchase size and repurchase intentions are higher for a retailer offering OOPS, which suggests that offering an OOPS service acts as a competitive differentiator enhancing a retailer's ability to respond to customers' service needs at each purchase occasion. Keywords: channel switchingcross-channel retailermultichannel retailerorder online pick up in-store Notes 1. Names, loyalty card numbers, credit card information and other identification information were blackened out to meet stipulations set by the Human Subjects Institutional Review Board.