Store Locator vs Store Pickup for Magento 2: What's the difference & How to set up

After 88% of local mobile searches result in a store visit within a week, getting customers from your website to your physical store has never mattered more (Think with Google). But many Magento 2 merchants still confuse two tools built for exactly this: Store Locator and Store Pickup for Magento 2. This guide breaks down the difference and shows how to set both up in one extension.

Store Locator for Magento 2

Help customers locate all physical stores by displaying unlimited store locations on a separate page

(13 reviews)

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Store Locator vs. Store Pickup — What’s the Difference & When Do You Need Each?

Many Magento 2 merchants ask the same question: “Do I need Store Locator or Store Pickup — or both?” They sound similar, but serve two completely different purposes.

Store Locator helps customers find your physical stores — showing locations on a map, store hours, and contact info. It works at the discovery stage, before a purchase decision is made.

Store Pickup is a shipping method at checkout that lets customers choose to collect their order in-store instead of having it delivered. It works at the conversion stage, when the customer is ready to buy.

Let’s check this quick comparison table:

So when do you need which?

• Store Locator only: You have showrooms or dealer networks and want to drive people to visit in person, but don’t sell directly online. Want to understand the full value of Store Locator for your business? See 8 reasons why your website needs a Store Locator.
• Store Pickup only: You sell online and want to offer in-store collection as an alternative to home delivery.
• Both: You run an omnichannel operation. Customers find their nearest store via the locator, then choose that store as their pickup point at checkout. This is where the two tools truly complement each other.

How to locate stores via Store Locator in Magento 2?

• Enable the module
• Set a Title and URL Key for the locator page (defaults: Find a store / find-a-store)
• Choose where to display the link via Display Link On
• Enable Get Direction so customers can navigate to your stores
• Upload a Head Background Image and Head Icon to match your branding
• Enable Pagination to show stores in pagination.
• Enable Search By Area to allow customers to search for stores using attributes such as Store Name, Street Address, Country, City, Zip/Postal Code, State/ Province. The Reset button will reset and display all stores.

This is only the general settings, so for further steps, you can take a look at the full full configuration guide.

How to configure Store Pickup in Magento 2?

Though the default Magento 2 also provides a pickup at store option, it is not enough for stores that need to customize and streamline the process. Now let’s see how to configure using the Mageplaza module.

Go to Stores > Configuration > Sales > Shipping Methods > Mageplaza Store Pickup.

• Enable the module.
• Set a Title and Method Name that customers will see at checkout (defaults: Select Store to pickup / Store Pickup)
• Set Price and Handling Fee — both default to 0 if left blank
• Set Pickup ready after X days to control preparation time — leave blank to let customers choose any available time slot
• Set Sort Order to control where this shipping method appears relative to others at checkout

• Show Methods if Not Applicable so that Store Pickup still appears at checkout even for ineligible addresses, paired with a custom error message to explain why
• Ship to Applicable Countries: restrict Store Pickup to all allowed countries or specific ones
• Applied Payment Methods to limit Store Pickup to certain payment methods only
• Sort Order controls where Store Pickup sits in the shipping method list; lower number = higher priority

Store Pickup for Magento 2

Allow customers and shop owners to prepare in advance for store pickup

(13 reviews)

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The bottom line

Store Locator and Store Pickup are not the same tool — and treating them as such means you’re likely missing opportunities at one end of the customer journey or the other.

Store Locator brings customers to your door. Store Pickup removes the last barrier at checkout. Used together, they create a seamless path from discovery to order collection, exactly what an omnichannel Magento 2 store needs.

With Mageplaza, you don’t need to stitch two separate extensions together. Both are built into one, designed to work as a complete solution out of the box.

Ready to set it up? Check out this detailed user guide if you need to learn full guidance in detail. Feel free to share with us your thoughts and comments by contacting us.