Dive Brief:
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Seattle-based Nordstrom has offered a buy online, pick-up-in-store service for seven years, well ahead of many other department stores, and now it’s testing curbside pickup in 20 of its stores.
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Online purchases are made ready within an hour, and customers are given a number to call or text when they’ve arrived. The retailer has worked with mall operators to reserve parking spots for the pickup service.
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Meanwhile, the retailer also announced that Nordstrom brothers Blake Nordstrom, Pete Nordstrom, and Erik Nordstrom would share the presidency of the company, with no change to their compensation.
Dive Insight:
Nordstrom has been ahead of the curve with its online order/in-store pickup option. But as other retailers work to blur channels, having customers schlep to the back of the third floor to pick up an order suddenly seems like a lot to ask.
“We’re trying to make shopping more convenient,” Jamie Nordstrom, president of stores at Nordstrom, said in an interview with PYMENTS.
In its Seattle flagship and elsewhere, that customer-service pickup center on the third floor has whole new digs. The retailer unveiled major renovations to its Seattle, San Francisco, and Chicago stores to make them what it calls “international destinations.” The stores are more lit up, thanks to more streaming natural light, and wooden terrazzo floors, according to initial observations by the Seattle Times.
