Dive Brief:

• Lowes Foods has selected Radius Networks’ FlyBuy pickup curbside solution for use at all of its 80 stores, according to a press release.
• FlyBuy uses location tracking technology to alert a retailer when a customer is approaching to collect their online grocery order and where they are located in the parking lot. The FlyBuy app also enables two-way communication including notifying a customer that their order is ready.
• The technology will allow Lowes to improve its click and collect Lowes Foods to Go program featuring curbside pickup and delivery, the company said. The retailer plans to have the FlyBuy technology available at all of its Lowes Foods To Go locations by Q2.

Dive Insight:

As retailers fine-tune their curbside pickup offerings to compete with leading players like Walmart, addressing customer pain points like order wait times has become a key way to secure loyalty and good reviews. 

Waiting around in a parking lot for ten minutes or more is a common occurrence under traditional order pickup systems. Geofencing technology, as its known, can cut that wait time down to zero. Large players like Walmart and Target have already incorporated this innovation into their pickup programs, so it's less of a differentiator these days. But it's still a convenient tool that gives Lowes customers a reason to stick with the company, and maybe even spend more.

SpartanNash has also tapped Radius Networks’ FlyBuy technology, which reduced average wait times from eight minutes to nearly zero, e-commerce director Matt Van Gilder said during an industry presentation last year. Grocers are also focusing on less technical methods for cutting down wait times such as painting designated parking spaces for order pickups near their stores.

Grocery posted slower pickup wait times compared to other industries like quick-service restaurants in a recent study by Rakuten Ready. According to its research, the average wait time for curbside grocery pickup is 5 minutes, 21 seconds, with only 7% of orders ready in less than two minutes and 66% of orders ready in less than six minutes. H-E-B and Whole Foods boast some of the fastest pickup times. Both companies use an app to let customers alert the store when they are on their way to pickup their order and uses designated parking spaces.