Shopify BOPIS is easier to launch than it used to be. Shopify's native pickup in store now shows pickup availability on the product page in supported themes, lets a customer ship some items and pick up others in the same order, and can send Shopify POS a push notification when a pickup order arrives. For a brand with a handful of stores, that may be enough to start.
For a retailer with dozens of stores, the harder questions come after launch. Is the availability on the product page accurate enough to promise? Does an associate start the order before the customer walks in? What happens when the item is not on the shelf? These questions decide whether buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) lifts conversion or creates cancellations.
We have worked with brands such as Perry Ellis on their Shopify pickup in store programs. Here are eight things we recommend checking before you launch, what Shopify covers natively, and where larger store networks usually need more.
1. Show accurate pickup availability on the product page
Shoppers decide how to buy on the product detail page (PDP), not at checkout. If they only learn that pickup is an option at checkout, some have already left to buy elsewhere. Shopify's supported themes, including Dawn and the Horizon family, can show whether a product is available for pickup and an estimated pickup time on the PDP.
The number behind that message matters just as much. Shopify reads the inventory recorded at each location. If a store has two units and one is the last display piece that walk-in shoppers are handling, the PDP still offers both. Base pickup availability on what the store can actually sell online: units on hand, minus units already reserved for other orders, minus a safety stock held back for walk-in customers.
Here is how Perry Ellis shows which products are available for pickup at specific stores.
2. Help shoppers find the right store quickly
On the Shopify PDP, customers can click Check availability at other stores to see a product's availability at every location. For a retailer with 50 stores, a full list is a lot to scan, and a shopper who cannot find a nearby store quickly may give up.
Let shoppers find nearby pickup stores by zip code or their browser location, sorted by distance, with each store's hours for that day. Then let them save a preferred store, often called My Store, so repeat customers do not search every time.
Once a shopper has a My Store, take it a step further with a Store Mode. Instead of opening one product page after another to check pickup, the shopper browses product listing pages filtered to items available for pickup today at their store. Perry Ellis uses this to show shoppers what they can pick up immediately.
3. Offer same-day pickup instead of two-day pickup
Many Shopify merchants say they offer store pickup, but when we ask how long a pickup order takes, the answer is more than one day. Usually they cannot trust store inventory, so they ship the product to the store from a warehouse first.
That is a ship to store strategy, not BOPIS. It is a good fallback when a store is out of stock, but a true pickup order should be ready the same day, ideally within a few hours. Shopify lets you set a processing time for pickup at each location, so set it to what stores can actually meet, and invest in the inventory visibility that makes same-day pickup possible.
4. Plan for orders that mix pickup and delivery
Customers sometimes want some items delivered and others picked up. Shopify now supports this: according to its pickup in store documentation, a customer can have some items shipped and some picked up in the same order.
That solves the checkout problem and creates an operational one. One order now has two fulfillment paths. The pickup items go to the chosen store, the shipped items need to be routed to the best location, and customer service needs to see both shipments on the same order. Before launch, check that your order management setup tracks each shipment separately and tells the customer which part is ready.
Perry Ellis lets customers combine pickup and delivery items in one order.
5. Alert store associates the moment an order arrives
If you offer same-day pickup, aim to have orders ready within about two hours. That only works if the store knows about the order right away. Shopify POS can send push notifications to a store device when a new pickup order arrives.
An alert is a start. A store running dozens of pickup orders a day needs a workflow behind it. First, a new-order notification on the associate's device as soon as the order is placed, so preparation starts before the customer leaves home. Better still, announce new orders out loud in the store, so the team hears about an order even when nobody is looking at a screen. Then reminders for open orders nobody has started, so an order does not sit unpicked during a busy shift.
Associates also need a simple app to pick, pack, and hand over orders, ideally inside Shopify POS so they do not switch between apps. Picklists should show handling instructions such as gift wrapping, and the handover step should record who collected the order, with proof such as an ID check, a signature, or a pickup code.
Customers need to hear from you too. Send the ready-for-pickup email only once the order is actually packed, and let associates resend it as a reminder when an order sits uncollected. A customer who missed the first email is less likely to cancel after a nudge. For the full set of messages, see our guide to emails for Shopify in-store pickup orders.
6. Save pickup orders instead of canceling them
According to the Auburn University RFID Lab, the average level of inventory accuracy for U.S. retailers is 65%. More than a third of the time, the system and the shelf disagree.
Most retailers accept pickup orders by checking store inventory in the system. When the shelf does not match, the order fails at the store, and the default response is to cancel it. That loses the sale and sends the customer away disappointed.
Give customers another way to get the item instead: pick up from another store, switch to home delivery, or have the item transferred to their original pickup store. Our post on handling BOPIS fulfillment failures covers each option.
7. Log inventory variances when an item cannot be found
When an associate cannot find a pickup item, the store's inventory record is wrong. If that correction never reaches Shopify, customers keep ordering a product the store does not have.
Record the variance at the moment the associate rejects the item, with a reason, so the store stops showing the product as available. Reviewing those reasons by store and product shows whether the problem is a count issue, a receiving issue, or a store process issue. Our guide to tracing a failed BOPIS order walks through that review.
8. Use dashboards to measure the success of your BOPIS strategy
You cannot manage what you cannot measure. Many retail brands see high cancellations right after launch, and a store dashboard helps the team find where the problems are.
Some metrics to include in your dashboard:
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BOPIS fill rate
A high fill rate means stores are fulfilling most pickup orders with few cancellations. A low fill rate is the signal to dig into the reasons, such as inventory inaccuracy or store staffing, by product group and store.
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Orders not yet picked up
Orders that sit uncollected tie up inventory that could sell to someone else. Tracking them helps stores follow up with customers before the pickup window closes.
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High-performing stores
Identifying and recognizing stores that fulfill pickup orders well encourages adoption across the network.
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Top-performing products
Knowing which products have the highest pickup demand helps the merchandising team with allocation planning.
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Shopify's native pickup in store covers the basics. The eight points above are where store networks usually need more, and they are what HotWax Commerce adds. HotWax Commerce is an omnichannel order management system that integrates with Shopify and Shopify POS. Online ATP feeds pickup availability after reservations and store safety stock. The BOPIS PDP app adds store search sorted by distance, My Store, and Store Mode browsing. The BOPIS Fulfillment App embeds in Shopify POS and gives associates new-order push notifications, audible new-order announcements in newer releases, open-order reminders, picklists, pick, pack, and handover with proof of delivery, and a one-tap pickup reminder email to customers. When a store cannot fill an order, Request Transfer and a customer re-route link save the sale instead of canceling it. The BOPIS documentation covers the full workflow.
Request a consultation with the HotWax Commerce team to see how these steps work for your stores.
Frequently asked questions about Shopify BOPIS
