At the pharmacy, in-store pickup is the rule
For most e-commerce sites, in-store pickup is a secondary option. At Farmácia Indiana, it’s the primary option, and that changes the entire checkout process.
Many medications require a prescription, which is collected at the time of pickup, and therefore can only be dispensed over the counter. Customers who have already selected the store in their shopping cart shouldn’t have to enter an address. The delivery time shown on the product page must remain the same until the order is confirmed. And all of this happens on a smartphone, where most purchases are made.
Add to that a customer who comes back every month to restock on medications, and every detail of the customer journey repeats itself with each purchase. That’s where the opportunity lay.
“When we thought about the checkout process, our goal was to improve the overall shopping experience, not just to make the payment process faster.”
Lara Silveira Rocha, e-commerce coordinator at Farmácia Indiana
A withdrawal journey planned together with Indiana
Compra Rápida implemented its headless checkout integrated with the Indiana platform and, together with the chain’s e-commerce team, redesigned the pickup process based on actual customer behavior:
- The store selected in the shopping cart applies at checkout. Customers who have already chosen where they will pick up their order can proceed directly to payment without entering an address.
- The nearest store is preselected when the product is available for pickup only, with the full list available at the tap of a button to switch.
- Pickup by a third party: The customer specifies who will pick up the order.
- Automatically applied prescription rules. The item that requires a prescription is marked for in-store pickup only, with a clear notice at the top of the checkout page, and the rest of the cart can be delivered as usual.
- The pickup time is the same on all screens, with the same promise as in the storefront: ready in up to 30 minutes.
For those who return every month, 1-click checkout saves your information and preferences, and your next order takes just a few taps.
“Compra Rápida made sense for us because it offers simple and streamlined navigation that aligns well with our customers’ profiles and the convenience they seek when making a purchase. (...) The integration process was quick and secure, which gave us a lot of confidence to move forward with the solution.”
Results proven in an A/B test
The new experience was put to the test in an A/B test against the platform's checkout, with the results measured in Indiana's own Google Analytics:
- A 17.1% increase in the conversion rate for paid orders;
- 91% of customers rated the experience as “good” or “great,” with an average score of 4.6 out of 5;
- 100% of the website at the Compra Rápida Checkout after the test;
- a pickup process that has become the standard checkout method for Compra Rápida at other retail chains with physical stores.
More than just a checkout, a look at the entire journey
“The results were quite significant. We saw a 17% increase in conversion after implementation. But beyond the results themselves, the partnership throughout the entire process made a huge difference. We had close communication, support from the team, and data that helped inform our decisions. This allowed us to look beyond just the checkout process and consider the broader customer journey, identifying other opportunities to improve our customers’ experience.”
That’s the kind of partnership Compra Rápida seeks with each client: testing, measuring based on the client’s own data, and continuing to improve the customer journey once the results are in.
A checkout experience on par with a brick-and-mortar store
The case of Farmácia Indiana shows that checkout is not just a generic step. A pharmacy chain sells convenience, and the digital journey must deliver the same convenience as the counter: choose, pay, and pick up in minutes, without having to re-enter information and with no surprises regarding delivery times.
If you operate a chain of pharmacies or drugstores that offer in-store pickup, talk to our team and see how this process can work for your e-commerce business.
