Golf fans looking for a new outfit to pair with their golf game for next spring can now take advantage of convenient pickup options being offered through Via.Delivery.
The buy online, pickup anywhere (BOPA) delivery technology company, has inked a deal to provide its services to Perry Ellis and its associated brands, including An Original Penguin by Munsingwear, Rafaella, Cubavera, Callaway and GolfApparelShop.com. GolfApparelShop.com supports six golf and tennis brands, including PGA Tour and Jack Nicklaus.
“Shoppers are more price conscious than ever, right now, and our online shoppers are looking for ways to balance shipping costs with speed, convenience and security,” said Jay Nigrelli, senior vice president of e-commerce at Perry Ellis International.
Via.Delivery offers more than 21,000 pickup locations, including inside pharmacies, grocery stores, gas stations and convenience stores. The Menlo, California-based company leverages technology to offer e-commerce shoppers convenient pickup at physical store locations. It has more than 190 pure-play e-commerce merchants on its platform.
Nigrelli noted that offering BOPA through Via.Delivery will help the company, and by extension its customers, avoid peak-season surcharges common among the major carriers such as FedEx and UPS.
“Via.Delivery’s concept of delivering to commercial locations eliminates residential surcharges that are further increased during the peak holiday shipping season,” he said.
Mitchell Nikitin, CEO and co-founder of Via.Delivery, noted security as a key BOPA convenience. With more than 200 million packages stolen off porches last year, according to research from Safewise, and with 64% of consumers a victim in 2021, BOPA helps eliminate theft and keep costs lower for everyone.
“During peak season, there is always a surge in package deliveries. More packages equates to more opportunities for theft,” Nikitin said. “Shoppers can protect themselves from porch pirates by having their online orders shipped to one of our BOPA pickup locations. Each one of our locations accepts and securely holds packages for up to seven calendar days.”
Earlier this year, Via.Delivery released its first BOPA Index, which showed that 18% of U.S. online shoppers chose BOPA when offered that choice at checkout and 50% of those using BOPA saved money on shipping when compared to residential shipping options.
BOPA is popular in Europe, where as many as 70% of consumers choose that option when offered, Via.Delivery has previously said.
According to the BOPA Index, 54% of online shoppers who chose BOPA were within a mile of a pickup location. The index indicated that 93% of Americans currently live within a 5-mile radius of a BOPA location.
The service allows pickup locations — often retail store locations — to bring in additional foot traffic. It also helps reduce porch piracy, something that 30% of consumers cited as a reason for using Via.Delivery’s service.
Via.Delivery found that 50% of those choosing BOPA do so for the cost savings, while 15% cite added security and 15% name convenient delivery as reasons for choosing the option. Another 15% say they used BOPA as a way to keep gifts a secret.
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