Do you remember how 2020 seemed to last forever? Almost every business that didn’t have curbside pickup already improvised a way to do it. While most aspects of life have gone back to normal, curbside pickup has stayed with us.
Although the pandemic brought Curbside Pickup into the mainstream, it is anything but a new concept. According to The Balance, online retailing is one of the fastest growing segments expected to reach $1.3 trillion over the next decade. If you are in the restaurant, retail, or grocery business you simply cannot overlook the value of Curbside Pickup. Those starting brick and mortar store pickup operations for the first time may wonder how to properly set their businesses up for Curbside services—and that is why RubberForm is here to help. In this article, we’ll discuss how:
- Curbside pickup isn’t a temporary trend, It’s here to stay
- Your curbside service has both a digital and physical side
- Flexible signage will make your curbside service headache-free
- Clear signage and visibility will drive customers to your door
Why do Curbside Pickup at all?
It’s easy to imagine that running a business is all about improving your product or services. But I’m going to guess that whatever you’re delivering is already pretty great. Growing your business is probably more about reducing friction than anything else. You have something people want. You just need to make it really, really easy to get.
Curbside Pickup is just about the most friction-less process imaginable. Your customer fills out their order with all their information at their own pace. When they’re ready, they can head to your location and have their order brought right out to them. You’ve eliminated the wait and the hurry of speaking on the phone or in person. For a generation of young adults who want to minimize the number of people they need to speak to in order to get what they want, Curbside Pickup can be a critical asset.
How to Set Up Your Business for Curbside Pickup
Curbside Pickup isn’t hard to set up, even starting from nothing. It has two components: an online ordering system, and a physical place to pick that order up. Typically that means strategically placed portable sign base systems to mark designated pickup areas around your property or in your parking lot. These curbside sign bases include a base, signpost, and the sign itself. Below we will go over the steps that need to be taken to effectively set your business up for Curbside Pickup.
How Do You Choose an Ordering System?
Depending on the area where you live, there are a plethora of online ordering applications made for your consumers to use on mobile devices. For restaurant or grocery businesses, especially franchisees, you may choose to register your store in one of these pickup and delivery apps:
For Restaurants
For Grocery Stores
- Instacart
- Postmates
- Delivery.com
- GoPuff
- Peapod
- Shipt
- FreshDirect
- Your own online store
For retail stores, online ordering will typically be done directly through your e-commerce website. In this case it is imperative to ensure your website ordering process is mobile friendly and easy to use.
Create an Organized Pickup Procedure
To ensure a smooth curbside pickup process, you will need a plan in place for staff and customers alike. Curbside service is a brand-new service feature for some businesses, so employees will have to be trained on the new ordering and curbside pickup procedures.
Put together a dedicated team for curbside pickup that will be responsible for managing orders, customer arrivals and product delivery. The curbside team should constantly be in communication with each other from start to finish. The process will go something like this:
- Order is placed online
- Sales and customer service teams are notified and begins order process
- Order is packed and ready for customer pickup
- Customer arrives at Curbside Pickup area
- Customer checks in with customer service sales team via a phone call or online app
- Service team gathers package order and delivers to customer vehicle at parking spot with curbside sign base.
Establish a Dedicated Curbside Pickup Area
If you want an effective operation, you’re going to need a dedicated pickup area. You can’t put it just anywhere. Your location and property size will be the deciding factor on where to best guide customer traffic to the curbside pickup area.
If you are fortunate enough to have a parking lot connected to your business, then you are at an advantage. Parking lots allow businesses to section off specific parking areas for curbside orders, giving your pickup customers a clear area to go to while they wait for their orders to be brought out to their vehicle.
If your business happens to be located in a heavily-developed metropolitan area, you may have a slightly more difficult time creating a designated pickup space. To help local businesses operate easier within new regulations, city officials across the country have recently started allowing businesses to extend operations onto sidewalks and even portions of the street in some areas. Owners are now able to do things like allow temporary parking in front of their building and put-up signage on sidewalks.
What kind of signage should I use?
You could use permanently mounted, in-ground bollard signposts. But if you ever need to make a change, those permanent sign posts will need demolition just to remove, then new construction to place somewhere else.
Portable signage is much handier. It means you can put your pickup zone anywhere in your lot. You can have variable numbers of spots dedicated for pickup. A lighter night might just use 3 spots, while a busy one could use 8. If your parking lot expands or needs to be repaved in the future, your curbside pickup signage can change with it.
Our RubberForm Curbside Pickup Sign Base System might just be the simplest curbside system in the world to implement. Once you’ve got the sign posts pushed into the sign bases and the signs attached, all you need to do is tip them over and roll them into place. Need to tear down your curbside pickup zone? Just tip each sign again and roll them away. This means that you could implement a temporary or time-dependent curbside pickup with minimal hassle.
RubberForm Curbside Pickup Installation
- Pound in sign post
- Attach sign
- Tip sign base over
- Roll to desired location
So, you’ve got your online ordering system. And you’ve trained your team on the proper pickup procedure. And you’ve got an incredible RubberForm Curbside Pickup Sign Base System.
You’re ready for the final step
How do I advertise my curbside service?
RubberForm Portable Sign Bases make an excellent choice for not only promoting your curbside services but also creating an effective environment to coordinate curbside pickup with safety, control, and a great customer experience.
RubberForm’s Curbside Sign Base System provides easy visibility that allows your customers to see exactly where they need to go upon arrival at your location. Competing signs often sit much lower to the ground, meaning they can be difficult to see from a taller vehicle. We provide everything you need for curbside pickup services, starting with the sign base all the way up to the signage, and everything in between for a great customer experience. Custom recycled aluminum signs are designed with your specifications to display all the necessary details of your curbside procedure. With our ready-to-go logistics and shipping services, we are positioned to fulfill any requirements your company needs for your curbside operations.
Why Choose RubberForm?
We are the home of the Original Sign Base (first made in 2005). Our sign bases have been put through the ringer under every possible trial: searing heat, freezing cold, rain, ice, snow, and all the heavy vehicle traffic you can imagine. They won’t chip, crack, crumble, or corrode on you. That means you’ll have reliable curbside pickup for years to come.
If you want the simplest, safest, most sustainable curbside solution on the market, give us a call. All our sign bases are made from 100% recycled rubber right here in Lockport, NY. We source all our materials from within the US too (no more than 500-1000 miles away). That means with every curbside system you buy, you’re helping keep our shared backyard clean.
When you’re ready to get your curbside pickup setup started, give us a call!
Date Published: January 7, 2021
