Curbside pickup is no longer a stopgap. It is a reliable way to serve customers who want speed and control. When it runs on a connected pos system, curbside is accurate, fast, and cheaper than many delivery options. Below is a practical guide for retailers to make curbside routine.

1. Why Curbside Still Wins
2. The Flow: Click → Pick → Park → Collect
3. Your POS System Is the Backbone
4. The Numbers That Keep It Honest
5. Conclusion: Make Curbside Routine with iVend Click & Collect

Curbside works because it removes the tasks customers dislike. No hunting for items. No queues. Drive up, confirm, load, go. In supermarkets, a parent can collect a full weekly shop in under ten minutes. Fresh and frozen items are staged correctly, so ice cream stays hard and lettuce stays crisp. In electronics, launch days bring crowds. Curbside lets a buyer reserve a console online and collect it by appointment. No long lines and fewer arguments about stock. In fashion, customers buy two sizes online and return one at the curb a day later. Staff handle the exchange on a handheld and the pos system adjusts stock immediately. In thrift stores, almost every item is unique. “Hold for pickup” windows make sense here. The store can commit the item to the order and prevent a double sale on the floor.

Curbside also trims cost. Home delivery adds miles and schedules. Pickup shifts more work to the store, where you already have people, space, and a retail pos. Associates can pick during quiet hours, batch orders by aisle, and hand off in minutes. That means you can protect margin on low-ticket baskets that would be unprofitable to ship. It also protects conversion. Many shoppers abandon carts when delivery windows are long or shipping fees appear late. Showing accurate local availability and a realistic pickup time reduces that drop-off. The final win is predictability. With curbside time slots, you can spread demand across the day, which makes labor steading and store traffic calmer.

Click. The order starts online. The site shows store-level availability, not catalog stock. That requires a live link to the pos system. In a supermarket, the site shows “2 left” on a popular snack and suggests an alternative if stock is below a limit. In electronics, it will not oversell a serialized camera. In fashion, the size grid reflects store stock, so a medium shown as “ready today” is truly in the building. For thrift, the product is a one-off. Once added to cart, the POS should reserve it.

Pick. The store receives a clear pick list on mobile. Supermarket teams use wave picking by aisle. Cold and frozen items are picked last and staged in temperature zones. In electronics, a picker scans serial numbers against the order so pickup and warranty match. Fashion pickers verify size and color at scan. For thrift, the device guides staff to a specific rack and confirms the unique tag. If an item is missing, the device prompts a pre-approved substitute or flags the order for a quick call or text. Accuracy matters more than speed here. A good pos for retail tracks each scan to the order.

Park. The customer taps “I’m on my way” and later “I’m here.” They select a bay number or share car details. Clear signage helps: bay numbers large and visible, a short code to text, and a QR for app users. The system timestamps arrival and prioritizes the queue. Supermarkets may assign a runner per bay during peaks. Electronics and fashion can rotate one or two trained associates. Thrift may use a door-side handoff with a simple “Reply 1 when parked” SMS.

Collect. An associate brings the order, confirms name or order ID, and completes the handoff. If payment is still due, a handheld mPOS finishes a contactless sale at the car. For age-restricted items, ID is checked. For electronics, the serial number on the box and receipt must match. For fashion, an on-the-spot size exchange is common. For thrift, if the customer changes their mind, the retail pos should reverse the hold and return the item to sellable stock. Receipt and status updates go out automatically. The order is closed, the space is freed, and the next car pulls in.

Curbside fails when systems disagree on stock, status, or payment. A modern pos system prevents that by acting as the single source of truth at pickup.

Inventory truth. Web and store must see the same number at the same time. Supermarkets need item-level accuracy and simple substitutions. If milk brand A is out, brand B should be offered in the same size. Electronics need serial capture at pick and at handoff. Fashion needs sizes and colorways tracked per store. Thrift needs hard reservations because items are unique. In all cases, the POS updates stock as items move from shelf to order, to staging, to trunk.

Order orchestration. The store needs one clear queue. Orders appear with priorities, time slots, and notes. Supermarkets pick in waves and stage by temperature. Electronics stage locked, labeled bins near the curb door. Fashion uses rack labels by order number and size. Thrift uses a simple “Ready” shelf with time stamps. Each scan moves the order forward. When the customer arrives, the order is easy to find.

Payments and approvals. Prepay is clean. Pay-on-collection still happens. Your pos for retail should support both without workarounds. Contactless helps at the curb. Returns must go back to the original tender. This shrinks fraud and saves dispute time. For high-value electronics, the POS can require a manager approval at handoff. For alcohol or age-restricted goods in supermarkets, the device should enforce ID checks.

Receipts and proof. The store needs a record: who picked, what changed, when it staged, who handed off, which tender, which terminal. That is not bureaucracy. It is how you fix a missed item or prove a return. It is also how you coach staff. A retail pos that logs each step makes it simple to see where time was lost or where errors occur.

Returns at the curb. Many curbside trips include a return. In fashion, a size swap is common. In electronics, a change of mind happens. In thrift, customers may return a non-working item within a short window. The POS must tie back to the original order, update tax and tender correctly, and sync stock in real time. If the item will be shipped to a central return, the system should still reflect that instantly so availability stays honest.

Track a small set of KPIs that your team can read in ten minutes. Most of these live in your pos system and ecommerce reports already.

Fill rate. Items fulfilled as ordered. Supermarkets target a high fill rate and use smart substitutions when needed. Electronics prefer no substitutions at all. Fashion may allow color swaps within the same style. Thrift has a binary case: either you found the unique item or you did not. If fill rate drops, stock signals or pick accuracy need attention.

Wait time at the curb. Time from “I’m here” to handoff. Supermarkets see traffic spikes after work. A small, visible timer on the pick device keeps urgency without pressure. If queues build, text an updated ETA. Electronics and fashion can use appointment windows. Thrift may offer a simple two-hour pickup window and work to beat it.

Substitution rate. Useful by category. Grocery shoppers accept brand swaps on basics but not on baby products. Electronics buyers rarely accept subs. Fashion may accept a color change if the size is correct. Track customer acceptance of subs, not only the rate you propose them.

Pick accuracy and productivity. Lines picked per hour and errors per 100 lines. Supermarkets improve both by grouping picks. Fashion reduces errors with size and color scans at pick. Electronics confirm serial numbers. Thrift uses clear location tags. If accuracy drops, check signage, bin labels, and device prompts.

On-time SLA. Time from order to “ready for pickup.” Promise what you can keep with current labor and layout. If you miss the SLA often, adjust time slots, batch picks more often, or refine staging space.

Cost to serve. Include picking time, packaging, staging, and handoff minutes. Supermarkets can keep materials simple. Electronics need protective packaging. Fashion benefits from pre-printed size labels for speed. Thrift can avoid heavy packing altogether. The retail pos helps by reducing rework and by turning partial refunds into quick, clean transactions.

Repeat purchase lift. Many curbside users return quickly. Measure how many buy again within 30 days. Supermarkets see weekly patterns. Fashion follows paydays and launch drops. Electronics spike with product releases. Thrift can build habit with “new stock” alerts tied to pickup buyers.

Curbside should feel routine. That happens when ecommerce, store operations, and the pos system speak the same language. iVend Click & Collect connects online orders to in-store picking, staging, and handoff. Inventory updates in real time. Holds and substitutions are tracked. Associates see a single queue with clear tasks. Mobile POS finishes contactless payment at the car and handles exchanges or returns tied to the original sale. Because iVend is built for omnichannel, it keeps tax and tender rules consistent and sends clean data back to finance.