Retail TouchPoints: Charlotte Russe Takes Social Shopping A Step Further with ShopTogether
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is an excerpt of a current article from the Retail TouchPoints website.
While many retailers are cultivating a presence on social networking sites, like MySpace and Facebook, Charlotte Russe has created in-store signage directing customers to their MySpace page for the latest fashion, accessories and even the option to shop. Taking it a step further, the retailer has added a component to its e-commerce site giving visitors the option to ShopTogether.
Created by DecisionStep, the technology is designed to allow online customers to share synchronized shopping sessions with friends and family. The integration allows shoppers to share and compare items as well as communicate via a chat feature. GNC and Lillian Vernon are also currently using this technology.
Consumers trust friends above experts when it comes to product recommendations (65 percent trust friends; 27 percent trust experts), according to Yankelovich Research.
While technologies like ShopTogether seem like a perfect fit for teen and young adult shoppers, a similar application is helping Art e-retailer Novica give its more sophisticated customers the ability to share their artistic insight and preferences. Novica has partnered with Sesh, a technology providing group web browsing and visual communication. Novica Sesh enables customers to view the same web page, at the same time, from different computers.
"Offering some sort of discount to current shoppers for bringing friends to shop with them online makes a lot of sense," said Jarrod Rogers, CEO, Sesh. "Shoppers are likely to spend more time and while doing so they will share their excitement firsthand about the products, turning their friends into buyers."
Although Charlotte Russe has adopted the ShopTogether platform, it is not widely promoted. For optimal results, these efforts should be paraded in-store, and most importantly, on the homepage.
"Email the user lists and feature it on Facebook fan pages," suggested Andy Lloyd, CEO of Fluid, Inc., a developer of social shopping platforms for Vans, Jansport and Chaparral Motor Sports. "We also expect in the future that Fluid Social will be a mechanism where brands push promotions to users, to reward their most dedicated consumers. For example, when someone invites their friends to comment on a product using Fluid Social, which draws new shoppers to the site, it makes sense for retailers to reward this behavior with special promotions such as offering 10 percent off to both shoppers when one arrives via Fluid Social."
Mr. Lloyd said there is great value in friend-based merchandising. "Using the Facebook integration, it is trivial to invite specific friends to comment on a product," he said. "This is much easier than the current standard, which is email to a friend, since you can simply click on a friend's picture and invite them to comment without needing to manually enter their email address. Further, unlike email to a friend, those comments are stored and available on the site forever."
Discussion questions: What do you think of the potential of ShopTogether and other online social/collaborative shopping technologies? How do you see these techniques changing the dynamic of online shopping?