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Reserve and Collect

Also known as: Hold and Pick Up | Classification: fulfillment-pattern

Context

A customer wants to visit a store to see a product in person before committing to purchase, but wants to ensure it is available when they arrive. No payment is required upfront — the item is held for a defined window.

Forces

Force Tension
Customer hesitates to commit online Wants to see/try product in person
Customer risks wasted journey Stock may sell out before they arrive
Retailer wants to avoid dead stock Item held too long could have been sold
Store must honour the reservation Customer experience depends on reliable hold

Solution

A soft reservation is created at the selected store with a defined TTL (e.g. 24–48 hours). The store is notified. The customer visits, tries the item, and either purchases (completing the transaction in-store) or declines (releasing the reservation).

Sequence

sequenceDiagram
    participant C as Customer
    participant Web as Digital Channel
    participant SIM as Inventory (SIM)
    participant Store as Store (POS)

    C->>Web: Select item + store + reserve
    Web->>SIM: Create Reservation (type: soft, TTL: 24h)
    SIM-->>Web: Reservation confirmed (exp: tomorrow 18:00)
    Web-->>C: Confirmation email with reservation code
    Store->>Store: Staff notified — item set aside
    C->>Store: Arrives before expiry
    Store->>Store: Associate retrieves item
    alt Customer purchases
        Store->>Store: Complete sale (POS transaction)
        Store->>SIM: Confirm reservation → release hold
    else Customer declines
        Store->>SIM: Release reservation
        SIM->>SIM: Inventory restored
    end

Business Objects

Object Role State Change
reservation Soft inventory hold reserved → confirmed (purchase) or expired/released (decline)
inventory-item Held stock available qty decremented during TTL
customer-profile Identity for notification reservation linked to profile
order Created only if customer purchases created → confirmed (at POS)

Capabilities Required

Capability Minimum Level Why
inventory-visibility 🟨 3 — Integrated Real-time store-level stock before reservation
inventory-reservation 🟨 3 — Integrated Soft reservation with configurable TTL
customer-identity 🟧 2 — Fragmented Link reservation to customer for notification
order-management 🟧 2 — Fragmented Create order if customer completes purchase
store-operations 🟧 2 — Fragmented Staff notified and item set aside

Trade-offs

  • Removes friction for considered purchases (furniture, fashion, electronics)
  • Drives store visits with high purchase intent
  • No payment gateway required — simpler than BOPIS
  • Reserved stock is unavailable for other customers during TTL
  • Low conversion rate on reservations wastes stock capacity
  • Requires reliable TTL enforcement to avoid indefinite holds
  • No-show rate: typically 20–40% of reservations result in no-show; TTL must be calibrated against peak selling periods
  • TTL policy: overly long TTLs during sale events cause significant availability suppression
  • Process: reserve-and-collect
  • Validation Rules: reserve-and-collect-requires-reservation, confirm-reservation-requires-reserved