Buy Online, Pick Up In Store (BOPIS) had been rapidly stood up at rue21, but not intentionally designed to support real-world store operations or customer expectations. I led a cross-functional initiative to evolve BOPIS across e-commerce and in-store systems, focusing on untangling fragmented data flows, improving online-to-store integrations, and designing operational workflows that worked reliably for both customers and store associates.
Challenges
The initiative surfaced three intertwined challenges:
Operational Trust: Store associates needed workflows they could rely on in fast-paced retail environments, while customers needed clear, consistent signals about order readiness and pickup timing.
Expectation Alignment: BOPIS required resetting assumptions across teams — from how quickly orders could realistically be fulfilled to what information customers and associates needed at each step to avoid breakdowns.
System Fragmentation: Online and in-store systems were loosely connected, with fragmented data sources and legacy workflows that made order status, inventory visibility, and handoffs difficult to manage at scale.
