Before shoppers make a final purchase decision online, many refer to peer reviews to ensure their product of choice has glowing reviews. However, if a shopper is already in a store and has narrowed down their selection to a few items, gathering an outside opinion may be difficult.
DownEast, a women’s apparel retailer, is helping brick-and-mortar shoppers facing this challenge by implementing the “Shopping Decisions App,” developed by ThisThat.
The app is designed to help shoppers make smarter and more confident shopping decisions by engaging their friends for instant advice on potential purchases. Specifically, shoppers can use the app to send photos of DownEast products to friends, who can then vote and comment on which products they like best. Shoppers can request advice via social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or through other means such as text messaging, email or app-to-app.
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DownTown East partnered with ThisThat to discover how new technologies and social media can converge to “improve the shopping experience and improve sales in store locations,” said Klane Murphy, CEO at DownEast. The retailer tested the app in 10 stores, promoting the technology by strategically placing decals on dressing rooms and jewelry display mirrors. The yellow, circular decals are emblazoned with the slogan: “Can’t Decide? Ask your friends for advice and get special rewards.”
ThisThat also provided training to DownEast store associates so they could effectively educate consumers about the app and encourage indecisive shoppers to download it.
“It seems like the feedback customers are getting is helping, because they are making those decisions to purchase something, as opposed to just leaving and putting the item back,” Murphy said. “The associates have said that the people who are using the app seem to enjoy the value that it brings. The trick is to continue to get the word out and have more people use it so that it becomes a more common platform for soliciting feedback and making purchasing decisions.”
ThisThat released its newest version of the app in January 2014, which is available for iPhone and Android. The app developer also has manufactured a barcode scanner that is presently being used by a retail partner.
“It’s a win-win,” said Sue Horvath, Head of Sales and Marketing at ThisThat. “The bottom line is, people make more purchases when they’re with a friend. It gives an indecisive shopper that confidence to become a buyer.”
According to research from ThisThat, 58% of “indecisive” shoppers who used the app decided to buy a product after using the app. In addition, 5,900 impressions are generated for every 50 shoppers using ThisThat, which Horvath noted confirms the fact that “people want other people’s opinions so they can make good decisions.”
