Strategy

How ShopShops highlights a brilliant quick win for retailers

Interactive Retail - Mcommerce

Sometimes companies can be founded off the back of the simplest ideas. The ideas that brands and retailers could easily do themselves but discount – or don’t spot the opportunity for.

ShopShops is one of those companies. It takes the idea of presenter-led shopping and hyping, ala TV shopping channels, and sticks it in the store. That’s right – ShopShops host events in real-life stores with presenters who showcase the products stocked there. The events are livestreamed online and viewers can order the products shown.

It is such a simple idea, but it completely turns the online shopping thing on its head. For years there’s been this discussion about the disconnect between buying on a website and buying in a store. This is a step towards something much more immersive than some images or model shots.

One of the genius bits of it is that a lot of the events are currently targeted at shoppers in China (because ShopShops is a Chinese company) but they take place in the stores of brands in the US. For a start, because of time differences the events usually happen after the store has closed for the day, which means the brand is squeezing more value out of its real estate.

Video In Retail - Livestreaming

What’s more, the ShopShops presenters are able to communicate with the watching shoppers in their own language and physically show them the products they can buy. That is a much easier and more enticing offer than trying to translate an overseas website. Questions about fit, quality, materials etc can all be asked and answered in real-time.

And at the same time, it gives them a little window into the stores themselves – stores those shoppers might never visit. This goes for a lot of us, right? How cool would it be to be able to shop in the world’s greatest flagship stores? To take a peek into shopping in Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, New York, London, Paris, Berlin or anywhere else?

Of course, you could do this yourself. That’s the beauty of it. We have been enthusiastically suggesting this to some clients for a while now. It doesn’t require masses of investment or equipment or even time.

Why not get your most enthusiastic member of staff – that aspiring YouTube star – to make a video to put on YouTube? It could be a great use of time during a quiet period in store. Or you could film it during a busy day and make it a bit of a draw. The likelihood is that shoppers on the ground will also be interested in the products if they see you filming them.

A quick win all round then.

Want more quick win ideas in retail? Here’s 31 ways to boost the ROI of your retail store. If you want more content like this, or to keep up with the latest retail trends, click here to join our community.