Lever #1: Qualify the type of slot at the time of booking
A drive-through order pickup and an optician's corner appointment require different amounts of time, different staff, and different areas of the store. Having the customer specify the reason for their visit at the time of booking (order pickup, or an appointment at the optician, bank, insurance, or travel corner) allows the brand to prepare the right organization before they even arrive.
What this changes in practice:
- The drive-through team knows in advance how many orders need to be prepared for each time slot;
- The corner advisor knows the exact reason for the visit before the customer arrives (initial consultation, renewal, technical question);
- The two flows (pickup and corner appointment) remain distinct in the store's organization, without clashing during peak hours.
Lever #2: Automatically assign the right staff member
An order pickup does not require the same professional as an appointment at the insurance or travel corner. An automatic assignment rule, based on the required skill (drive-through staff, optician, bank advisor, insurance advisor, travel advisor) and the actual availability of the teams, prevents poorly sized time slots and corner appointments without an available staff member.
What this changes in practice:
- The corner customer meets the right advisor immediately, without waiting or being redirected;
- The drive-through team is never overwhelmed by a spike in pickups without advance reinforcement;
- Multi-service brands (drive-through, optician, bank, insurance, travel) gain efficiency without overstaffing.
Lever #3: Secure attendance with automated reminders
A missed curbside pickup slot ties up an order that has already been prepared; a missed in-store appointment ties up an advisor at one of the store's few truly profitable service points. In both cases, the customer's absence has a direct cost.
What this changes in practice:
- Automatic email and SMS confirmations and reminders, both before pickups and before in-store appointments;
- An increase in the rate of fulfilled slots and appointments, without needing to mobilize a team to make confirmation calls;
- Better utilization of curbside and in-store advisor time by focusing on visits that actually happen.
Lever 4: Creating a seamless transition between pickup and additional services
A customer coming to pick up a curbside order is also a potential customer for an in-store service point, provided the option is offered at the right time without them having to look for it. Conversely, a customer who has come for an in-store appointment should not have to return another day for a pickup related to their visit.
What this changes in practice:
- An in-store appointment offer directly linked to the order pickup confirmation, when relevant;
- A pickup or follow-up slot offered at the end of an in-store appointment, without the customer having to ask for it;
- A journey designed from start to finish, rather than managing flows (curbside, in-store) in uncoordinated silos.
Lever 5: Consolidating multi-store management
A network of thousands of points of sale like Carrefour, Leclerc, Auchan, or Intermarché manages dozens to hundreds of stores, each with its own mix of traffic (more curbside in some urban areas, more in-store foot traffic in others). Consolidated management makes it possible to identify, store by store, where pickup slots are under pressure and where service points generate the most value.
What this changes in practice:
- A consolidated view of the fulfillment rate for slots and appointments, by store and by type of traffic;
- The ability to temporarily reinforce curbside teams or in-store advisors at a store under pressure, based on informed data;
- Each store retains autonomy in its daily operations, without losing the big picture at the headquarters or regional management level.
What this looks like in practice
A leading European specialty retailer, operating over 1,700 points of sale across a hybrid network of corporate and franchise stores, has digitized its in-store expert appointments: automatic assignment based on skills and location, automated reminders, and consolidated management across more than 100 stores. The result: over 50,000 appointments booked annually, fully automated, with teams spending less time on the phone and more time with customers.
This isn't a mass-market retailer, but a player in the nature, pet supply, and wellness sector; however, the principle is directly transferable: high-value time slots and appointments in a multi-site network where every flow (pickups, specialized corners) must remain coordinated to avoid unnecessary wait times or underutilized staff.
In summary
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