Window-shopping from home in real-time.
Shopping has always been a very enjoyable time for my wife, one of the times where she can truly enjoy to her heart’s content. Unfortunately, with the pandemic, being physically present in a shopping mall or a store is simply a risk not worth taking. Sure, Amazon and eBay help a bit, but when we want to shop for something more personal like jewelry or clothes, the lack of personal interaction, assistance, and ability to ask questions, simply doesn’t cut it.
To our great surprise, a new way of doing business emerged where browsing goods and items are done remotely and virtually.
Innovative shops such as John Lewis and Très Bien, have been using Zoom to allow shoppers to make online shopping appointments where they can browse products, and be assisted by the shop’s clerks that are prepared to showcase each product piece and answer any shopper’ questions, all in real-time.
The concept relies more on establishing a connection between the shopper and the retailer, and less on shopping since there’s no purchasing option on Zoom.
From a business perspective, creating a platform similar to Zoom that supports online purchasing when window-shopping is a prominent idea. The platform should provide individual/group shopping appointments, virtual visitations to shops, selection of the areas the shoppers would like to visit. The key to the platform are the shop’s clerks. They are responsible for showing the shoppers around the shop, going through each piece of product the shoppers are interested in, and making product recommendations while being available to answer any of the shoppers’ questions.
The U.S., China, and the United Kingdom are the countries where online shopping (e-commerce) sales have happened the most, which means that these markets have the highest of transitioning to this new innovative way of remote virtual shopping.