Lowes Foods ensures customers collect on time after they click

Carolina grocer Lowes Foods is sharpening coordination of click-and-collect online grocery orders with the help of location-based solution provider Radius Networks.

Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Lowes is implementing Radius’ FlyBuy Pickup service, which use proprietary machine-learning technology to calculate the customer’s arrival time and on-premise location for curbside and in-store pickup programs. Radius said FlyBuy enables Lowes to execute the click-and-collect process more efficiently for its Lowes Foods To Go curbside pickup and delivery services, in turn providing a frictionless experience for shoppers and store associates.

“The Radius Networks FlyBuy platform gives our hosts a new level of visibility into a guest’s journey to our store which is significantly decreasing wait times at pickup,” according to Chad Petersen, senior director of e-commerce at Lowes Foods, which operates 74 supermarkets in North and South Carolina.

Plans call for Lowes to go live with the FlyBuy technology at all of its Lowes Foods To Go locations by the second quarter of 2020.

“In addition to the time-saving benefits for our guests, the geolocation data provided by FlyBuy helps our personal shoppers spend their time more efficiently inside the store,” Petersen added. “This has a dramatic impact on our service levels and efficiency while aiding in our continued focus toward developing a more proactive operation overall.”

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FlyBuy enables Lowes to execute the click-and-collect process more efficiently for its Lowes Foods To Go curbside pickup and delivery services.

FlyBuy Pickup works by facilitating two-way communication between customers and the store designated for pickup, according to Washington, D.C.-based Radius. When an online grocery order is ready for pickup, shoppers are notified and prompted to share their location when they’re ready to drive to the store. Store associates automatically receive alerts during the customer’s trip so they can prepare and carry the order to the car as soon as the customer pulls into the pickup area.

“Our goal at Radius Networks is to help our partners improve the customer and staff experience with the growth of their click-and-collect programs,” explained Jeff Baskin, executive vice president of global partnerships at Radius Networks, which serves the restaurant, retail and hospitality sectors with its location technology.

“With online grocery baskets three times larger than in-store baskets, and the incremental revenue tied to decreasing wait time, we understand the importance of getting the curbside pickup experience right,” Baskin noted. “We have built our solution to provide customers with location updates along their journey and, more importantly, provide accurate updates to Lowes Foods’ hosts so they can be as efficient as possible while creating a second-to-none customer experience.”

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