Dive Brief:
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Ace is the latest retailer to widely offer in-store pickup of online orders, the retailer said Wednesday.
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Customers will be able to look online to see if their local store has wanted merchandise in stock, and can pick it up that day if it does, with the option of paying online or in store.
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The service expands the hardware retailer’s pilot pickup program that it has offered in select stores since last year.
Dive Insight:
Look for more retailers to solidify, expand, or start same-day pickup from stores. It’s a service that customers want, and requires the kind of inventory management that retailers need anyway. For hardware stores, which often see customers in need of a tool or supplies that they need right away for something mid-project, it seems especially useful.
“Free Store Pickup enables consumers in neighborhoods across the country to complete their home maintenance projects more quickly and easily than they were able to before," said Ace Hardware Corp. spokesperson Jeff Gooding.
