Imagine going on a trip to the mall with friends from across the country — and not leaving home to do it.
That’s what a Beltsville company envisions for its online social shopping tool that debuted recently on niche Internet retailer NetShops.com.
“We’re bringing back the piece that’s been missing from shopping. Online retail has been great for comparison shopping and convenience, but what has been lost is the social aspect,” said John Jackson, president, CEO and co-founder of DecisionSteps, a Beltsville Internet technology company started in 2000.
The tool allows two people at different locations to shop together on a Web site. Each person can shop independently, and then click on a thumbnail picture that opens up a link of what the other is viewing at the time. The two can save favorite items in a shared window, and a chat feature enables them to communicate.
The “Shop Together” product is used in situations where “you have two people making a purchase or where you have someone needing either technical advice or subjective advice,” Jackson said.
The tool can be used for sharing products with friends and also receiving help from customer service representatives in finding a product.
Right now, the tool is only used by NetShops.com, a company ranked fifth on Inc. magazine’s list of top retail companies for 2007. Jackson said he is negotiating deals with five other online retailers, which he hopes will be finalized in early 2008.
On NetShops.com, about half of the time the tool is used for customer service purposes, and the other half for social shopping. Eventually, Jackson expects the tool will be used primarily for shopping with friends.
Jackson hopes the tool will improve the online retail market, but he doesn’t think people will stop going to malls. “I think the impacts of online retail [on the overall retail market] are pretty well stabilized,” he said.
The one area of growth Jackson does see is the nexus between social networking and online retail. With Shop Together, consumers can interact in real time, which is different from most networking sites, he said. There also is the potential to organize online shopping events with large groups of people.
