Let the retail industry try putting lipstick on a pig when sales don’t meet investors’ expectations. The latest shade of lipstick sounds really attractive. Have you heard the false claims that the BOPIS trend is accelerating? What is BOPIS, you ask? BOPIS = Buy online to pick up in store. We are told that this ever-growing trend will save brick and mortar retail. “Really – oh, please tell me!”

You see, the only reason more consumers are doing this ‘online shopping and store picking’ is because they have no other choice. When you shop at a retailer expecting to find what you are looking for, it is not there. Why? Because retail chains are not profitable and they cannot afford to store merchandise in their stores. We all know why, and we can say it out loud in unison if you like; Amazon.

An article on BizTech Online (12/2018) says; “Enabling customers to buy online and pick up in store, also known as ‘click and collect’, is here to stay.” Another article in Dallas Market Center News published on January 9, 2019 titled; “2019 Retail Trend: Buy Online, Pick Up In Store (BOPIS)” states that “BOPIS is one of the fastest growing trends in the retail sector and a strategic tool for physical retailers trying to compete with sellers in line purely “.

Now the first item makes it look like retailers are doing the customer a favor by “allowing” customers to shop online and then conveniently shipping it to the store for pickup. Well, this is not a strategy, rather a tragedy. The main reason you would go to a physical store in the first place is to verify what you are buying, review it, make a decision and then make your purchase and leave the store with the merchandise right then and there. .

Face it, retailers are not doing this because they want to serve the customer better, no, they are doing it because they are failing and cannot compete with online sellers, without the costs of leasing high-priced retail spaces, selling the same product for less money. I wouldn’t call this a trend so much as you would call it proof that major retailers are on their last mile. For many of them, failure and bankruptcy are eminent.

Of course, retailers could promote their so-called BOPIS strategy in their quarterly earnings reports as if this trend is preferred by customers and satisfying to consumers. Truth be told; it’s not. The old Sears Catalog strategy was something similar. You can buy many of the most popular items in their department stores and order anything else through their catalog and pick it up at their stores. Tell me my good friend and retail expert; How is Sears doing today?

Consumers don’t shop with BOPIS because they prefer, no, they do so because they often feel like they have no other choice. Retailers who intend to specialize in various categories, such as commercial products, home decor, pet supplies, shoes, etc. but they don’t have the actual products in their stores that are ripe to become the next bankruptcy of the retail chain.

It is not convenient to go to a retailer and hope to find something, only to find a large store with lots of extra space and a selection of inventory with few clothes. Then he was told; “Sorry, but you can order it in our online store” and pick it up here tomorrow. That means you probably have to go home, connect to the internet, order it, and then come back. Are you telling us this is “convenient” and a new retail trend and strategy? WHY do retail executives smoke? They should never have legalized that.

This bogus BOPIS strategy does not compete with Amazon. It just goes to show that Amazon has won the retail war. It’s time to ditch the retail stocks from your portfolio. If you work in retail, it might be a good time to hone your resume. Don’t shoot the messenger, I’m just saying