It’s been a while since a story about social retailing has caught my eye. So I was interested to read an article on Adage titled “Online Shopping Goes From Solo Experience to Social Interaction“.
For those of you not familiar with the concept of social retailing, first a little background information. The consensus in the retailing world is that off-line shopping is a collaborative experience while shopping online is a solo endeavor, devoid of the interaction many consumers seek. You don’t get a group of people huddled around a computer monitor discussing whether an outfit would look good on someone.
Retailers believe that making the online shopping experience more social will increase online sales. With that goal in mind, Adage reported on two technologies that are being rolled out to big-name retailers, including Vans, Lucky Brand Jeans and Warner Entertainment. These technologies are called friend-based merchandising that involves Facebook and collaborative shopping .
The collaborative-shopping technology, which is now live at Vans.com allows consumers who are building custom shoes on the site to chat with friends in real time about the product design. The customer clicks on a link saying, “Invite friends to design with you,” giving them the ability to access friends through AIM, e-mail or any other service a link can be sent through. Assuming the friend is also at a computer, she can join a chat on the Vans site to give a thumbs up or down on the design, as well as make her own suggestions.
“Facebook has chat integrated, so chatting within a page is now something people are comfortable with,” Andy Lloyd, CEO of Fluid said. “The ability to elicit someone’s opinion at the point of decision is an important thing.”
In the week that the collaborative shopping technology has been live, Katie Bongiovanni, Vans’ director of e-commerce, reports sales and traffic are up.
“It’s preliminary, but the customers who have talked to us about it have been really happy with it,” she said. “This is really how our consumer lives online right now. The collaborative part of it is resonating.”
The second piece of technology, friend-based merchandising, is now live at Jansport.com. When shoppers are viewing a product, they are given the option to “Share on Facebook” by adding the “My Favorite Jansport” application. Once the shopper has added the application, she can invite friends to comment on and rate Jansport products. As the application gains steam, customers will be able to view comments and favorites from their friends. The technology does not use Facebook Connect yet, but will in the future.
David Polinchok, chairman of Brand Experience Lab, said this type of interactivity could mean fewer abandoned shopping carts.
“You get more people to make decisions on the spot,” he said. “Right now, either you can chat with the retailer or save something [to look at later]. I’ve got a wish list at Amazon.com, but I probably haven’t been to it in a year.”
What do you think about social retailing? Will you use either the friend-based merchandising that involves Facebook or the collaborative shopping technologies?
Is social retailing ready for prime time?: It’s been a while since a story about social retailing?has caug.. http://tinyurl.com/d6nzur