Maximize Store Potential with Best Practices for Online Grocery Order Pickups

As consumers turned to online grocery ordering this year in record numbers, grocery stores worked harder than ever before to meet the growing needs of their customers. For many, online grocery ordering was available pre-pandemic, but the surge in use meant reevaluating the process—how to best store exponentially more orders than they did before, how to ensure customers’ orders were accurate and ready on time and more. One thing stores know is that if they can’t keep up with online grocery order demand, customers aren’t going to wait around for them to get it right—they’ll just shop somewhere else. So how can retailers maximize their online ordering potential? These best practices can help.

Ensure accuracy

With an increase in order volume, it’s understandable and perhaps even expected that some mistakes will be made—the wrong type of jam picked, a carton of ice cream forgotten. But for busy consumers who are relying on grocery stores to stock their homes with the foods and beverages they need, these mistakes are more than just frustrating. If orders are regularly incorrect or have missing items, it’s likely that those consumers will change the store they order from until they find a store that they can rely on completely. 

How can stores ensure accuracy? Having the right amount of space to store picked orders, while it may seem unrelated to order accuracy, can help. With Leer refrigerated grocery pickup storage, employees no longer have to deal with picking groceries the old way: picking the order, placing it in a tote, bringing it to a cooler and unloading the tote so everything fits, then reloading totes when customers arrive to pick up their orders—and hopefully get all the right items into the bag. By having refrigerated space that’s specifically designed to fit grocery totes, workers can simply pick the order, put it into a tote, then put the tote into the cooler. When customers arrive, workers grab the tote and deliver it to the customer’s car—no missing items, no repacking bags and best of all—no stress. What’s more, ample storage space means workers are able to fulfill more orders in a day—with no limit to the number of orders a grocery store can take in a day, stores are free to grow.

Time order prep strategically

When there’s limited space to store picked orders, it can feel like a mad dash to get every customer’s orders ready on time—especially if there are a number of customers who are all arriving around the same time for their orders. Order picking should be planned strategically to give workers enough time to get through every order without missing an item or falling behind, which can lead to frustrated customers and long wait times.

Again, expanding storge space is key for this. Leer grocery units are customizable in size and can be placed wherever necessary—or wherever they fit—in stores. This helps maximize online grocery orders as well as efficiency. When there’s more storage space, orders can be picked farther ahead of time, so that they’re ready and waiting for the customer and not the other way around. Additionally, refrigerated space helps reduce waste and food loss from melting or spoilage. By being able to keep cold foods cold, stores won’t have to throw out items that thaw if a customer comes later than expected. Reducing food waste is another way stores can ensure they thrive.

Ensure refrigerated storage space is available

Finally, refrigerated storage space is crucial for maximizing online revenue opportunities from online grocery orders. Data from Statista shows that online grocery sales will nearly double in the next three years, so it’s critical for stores to be prepared for the future.  

Custom-sized solutions, such as those from Leer, give stores the flexibility they need to fulfill every online grocery order. Workers can pick complete orders and store them properly, rather than picking most of the order and waiting until just before customers come for pickup to pick the last refrigerated or frozen items. By being able to take care of a full order—not just part of it—grocery employees can feel confident they’re filling orders accurately and on time. Customizable refrigerated storage solutions from Leer can be placed virtually anywhere a store has the room for them, too, making them a convenient option for busy stores with limited space.

To learn more about refrigerated solutions from Leer, visit leerinc.com/grocery.