Why Did Shoppers Choose Local Pickup? Ask Before Extending Store Hours

A bookshop gets 40 online orders for collection on a Friday. The owner considers keeping the shop open two hours later. But those shoppers might be on a lunchtime walk, dodging a shipping charge on one paperback, or trying to collect a gift before a party. Opening later solves only some of those problems.

The order tells you the chosen fulfillment method. Use a thank-you-page poll to ask what pickup offers that delivery didn't. That timing captures a decision the shopper has just made. Questions about how easily they found the counter belong after the visit.

Ask for the reason that tipped the choice

If the survey is visible across online orders, first ask “Are you picking up any part of this order at a store?” Continue after a yes. This includes buyers with an order split between collection and shipping wherever the store offers that option.

Then ask “What mattered most when you chose store pickup today?”

• I needed the item by a particular time.
• I wanted to save on shipping.
• The store is on a route I already take.
• I'd rather collect the parcel than have it delivered.
• I wanted to visit the store for another reason.
• Something else.

Avoid putting “fast and free” into one answer. Speed suggests a staffing or inventory decision. A shipping fee suggests comparing a delivered basket against the store's collection offer. If a buyer picks a deadline, an optional follow-up can ask “When were you hoping to collect it?” Make clear that the ready-for-pickup notice confirms when to come in. Shopify lets merchants configure a location's processing estimate and the instructions in its pickup notification. Shopify's pickup setup guide

Turn answers into a store-hours decision

Imagine 70 pickup buyers reply during a trading week. Twenty-eight cite a deadline, 20 shipping cost, 14 an existing route, five parcel security or preference, and three another reason. Look inside the 28 deadline responses. If 16 people hoped to collect at lunchtime and only two mention evening, the first trial could be preparing a midday batch earlier. Buying additional evening coverage would miss the busiest stated need.

Pull a week's timestamps for orders placed, marked ready, and collected if your operations records contain them. A noon pickup requires stock and staff time before noon. If orders are already ready by 10 a.m. but customers keep calling, check where the collection instructions appear and what they say. A clear note about the entrance or the ready message could be more valuable than another shift.

Keep the store and the sales channel straight

Review replies per location when you can establish the actual location. A downtown counter on a commuter route and a suburban shop with parking may support completely different routines. Pair each location's respondent counts with its total collection orders. Ten answers from one shop can flag an issue, but they are a thin basis for a permanent schedule change.

For feedback at an in-person sale, use the separate Shopify POS survey guide. For an online buyer collecting a gift, the gift-service poll can help settle a different operations question, such as whether to stock gift receipts at the counter.

Create the eligibility question and pickup follow-up with OrderSurvey on the Shopify App Store. Make one pickup test purchase and one shipped purchase, then try both paths. The pickup buyer should see the question only after the order is complete, and the shipped buyer should be able to finish without answering anything about a store visit.

Frequently asked questions