Buy Online, Pick Up in Store: When BOPIS Actually Saves You Money (and When It Doesn't)

Is skipping the delivery fee worth the drive to the store?

Usually, yes — if the store is already on your route and you walk out with only what you ordered. Buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) cuts the delivery fee to zero and often gets the item into your hands the same day. But the model has a catch built into it: 85% of shoppers buy something extra when they go to collect an order, according to Capital One Shopping's compilation of retail data. The fee you save can be smaller than the impulse buy you never planned.

Figures in this post are survey results and retail sales estimates as of November 2026.

BOPIS in 2026: the quiet default

Store pickup is now the only delivery method still gaining share every year. It did not fade after the pandemic. It kept growing while every other fulfillment option flattened.

• 29% of US digital buyers picked up an online order at the store in May 2026, up from 22% in 2023 — the only fulfillment method to grow every single year, according to Bizrate Insights and EMARKETER (June 2026 survey of 999 US adults).
• US click-and-collect sales are estimated at $177.9 billion in 2026, up 15.3% from $154.3 billion in 2025, and projected to reach $291.9 billion by 2030. Click-and-collect will account for 11.6% of US e-commerce sales in 2026.
• 87% of retailers now offer a BOPIS option, and 97.2 million Americans — 34.2% of US consumers — use it regularly.
• Grocery is where pickup already won. 31% of online grocery shoppers now use click-and-collect, versus 29% who choose home delivery (FMI and NielsenIQ), and up to 78.7% of all click-and-collect sales are grocery items.
• Lockers are the newest variant. 25.4% of click-and-collect consumers use pickup lockers or kiosks (BOPIL — buy online, pick up in locker), for orders they can collect outside store hours.
• Why people choose it: 48% mainly to avoid shipping fees, 77% to see the item before taking it home, 46% to save time, and 35% to get it the same day.

The way shoppers find products is changing too — AI assistants now shape what goes into the cart before pickup or delivery is even chosen. See how AI shopping assistants are changing what you buy.

The real math: what a $60 order costs three ways

On a $60 order, pickup saves roughly $7 — unless the trip itself becomes a shopping trip. The example below uses stated assumptions, not a price survey: a $5.99 delivery fee and a $3 tip are typical for grocery delivery, and the gas figure assumes a 12-mile round trip in a car getting 25 miles per gallon at $3.50 a gallon. Your numbers will differ, but the shape of the comparison holds.

Option	Extra cost on a $60 order	When you get it
Home delivery	About $9.00 ($5.99 fee + $3 tip)	1–3 days
In-store pickup	About $1.70 in gas	Same day, often within hours
Curbside pickup	About $1.70 in gas	Same day, without entering the store

The $7 saving is real, but it is small. The decisive number is not in the table. It is what happens after you walk through the door: 85% of BOPIS shoppers make an additional purchase during pickup. If the unplanned extra averages even $15, the "free" pickup costs more than the delivery fee it replaced.

When pickup wins

Pickup wins when the fee you avoid is the whole story — no detour, no browsing, no second basket.

• The store is already on your route: if pickup adds five minutes to a commute or an errand run, the gas and time costs round to nearly zero, and the $7 saving is pure gain.
• You need it today: a phone charger, a birthday gift, a part for a repair — pickup is often ready within hours, while standard delivery takes days and same-day delivery carries a premium fee.
• You want to inspect it first: 77% of BOPIS users cite seeing the item before taking it home. For clothing, electronics, and anything where color or condition matters, that check is worth more than the fee.
• The order is heavy or bulky: large or heavy items often carry the highest delivery surcharges, so the saving grows with the size of the box.
• You are dodging porch theft: an order handed to you cannot be stolen from a doorstep, a real consideration for shoppers away from home during the day.

When delivery still wins

Delivery wins when the trip costs more than the fee — in money, time, or willpower.

• The store is a special trip: a 20-minute drive each way burns the $7 saving in gas and time before you reach the counter. If pickup is not on your route, delivery is the cheaper option.
• The order is small: on a $12 item, a $5.99 delivery fee stings — but so does a dedicated drive. Either way, the right move is usually to wait and bundle the purchase with a larger order.
• You know you will browse: if walking past the shelves reliably adds items to your basket, delivery removes the store entirely. The fee becomes a guardrail, not a cost.
• Your time is worth more than the fee: thirty minutes of driving and queuing to save $7 is a bad trade for anyone whose hour is worth more than $14.

The trap built into free pickup

The pickup counter is placed where the store wants you to walk past everything else. Retailers offer free pickup because it works for them: the customer who comes in to collect an order is already in the building, and 85% of them buy more. The grocery numbers show the mechanism clearly — 44% of BOPIS grocery shoppers buy additional items at pickup, 24% shop the rest of the store while they are there, and 20% add something at the register.

Three checks keep the saving saved:

1. Shop from a written list, and check the total before you leave

Decide the basket online, where prices are visible and comparable. If the pickup total is higher than the online total, something unplanned got in.

2. Use curbside when willpower is thin

Curbside pickup delivers the same zero fee without the walk through the store. It is the version of BOPIS designed for people who know their own browsing habits.

3. Treat the hold window as a deadline, not a suggestion

Most retailers hold a pickup order for only a few days before cancelling it and refunding you. If you cannot collect it in that window, do not place the order — a cancelled pickup wastes the trip twice.

What goes wrong with BOPIS

Most pickup failures trace back to one thing: the website's inventory count is not the shelf.

• The item is not actually there: stock counts lag behind real shelves, so an order can be cancelled or partially filled after you have already driven over. Check the "ready for pickup" message before leaving, not just the order confirmation.
• Grocery substitutions surprise you: when an item is out of stock, many grocers substitute a different brand or size. Set your substitution preference in the app before ordering, or you may pay full price for a replacement you would not have chosen.
• The pickup desk queue: at busy stores the pickup counter can be slower than a normal checkout, especially during holiday peaks. Curbside or locker pickup avoids the line entirely.
• Returns are easier — and that cuts both ways: returning a pickup order in store is free and immediate, which is a genuine advantage over mail returns. But the same trip that handles the return is another chance to buy something extra.

The holiday test

Pickup peaks exactly when delivery cannot be trusted — the last days before Christmas. On December 23, 2024, 37% of all online orders were BOPIS, and click-and-collect made up 17.5% of e-commerce during the holiday season. When shipping cutoffs pass, the store becomes the only way to guarantee a gift arrives on time.

That makes pickup the right call for late holiday shopping — with two conditions. Order early enough that the item is actually in stock at your store, and expect queues at the pickup counter in the final days. Holiday spending is starting earlier and getting more selective this year; see the early signals for the 2026 holiday season.

Key Takeaway

Buy online, pick up in store is the cheapest fulfillment option on paper — no delivery fee, same-day availability, and a free in-store return if it does not work out. The 2026 numbers back that up: nearly a third of digital buyers use it, and the sales behind it are growing 15% a year.

The catch is not hidden. It is the store itself. The fee you save is only a saving if you leave with what you ordered and nothing else.

Pickup wins when the fee you save stays saved — the store is on your route, the list is fixed, and you use curbside when willpower is thin.

Sources

• Bizrate Insights and EMARKETER, "Shoppers keep heading back to the store to grab their orders" (July 24, 2026) — emarketer.com
• Capital One Shopping, "Buy Online Pick Up In Store Statistics (2026): BOPIS Trends" (compiled from U.S. Census Bureau, eMarketer, and Statista data) — capitaloneshopping.com
• FMI and NielsenIQ grocery pickup data, as reported by EMARKETER (July 2026) — emarketer.com
• Pitney Bowes, "What is BOPIS and BOPIL? The Definition and Examples for Ecommerce" — pitneybowes.com

Figures in this post are survey results and retail sales estimates as of November 2026, not final outcomes. The $60 worked example uses stated assumptions (a $5.99 delivery fee, a $3 tip, a 12-mile round trip at 25 mpg and $3.50 a gallon) and is an illustration, not a price survey.