ZDNet’s Tom Steinert-Threlkeld recently covered some of the great work Zappos is doing in the social shopping field. As followers of ZDNet’s Between the Lines blog and the news they post regarding emerging IT trends in retail and other business categories, we were excited to see Tom’s commentary, and even more excited to see that he took the “real-time” leap after seeing our ShopTogether technology.
Tom is someone that clearly gets the direction that technology in retail is headed, in both online and offline environments. His post last month on Systemax Technology Group talks about brick-and-click merchandising, i.e., stores integrating more online capabilities (search, price comparison, reviews) into physical retail stores like CompUSA and the benefits it gives consumers in the process of deciding what products to buy and how much to spend.
At DecisionStep we’re working towards the same goal of facilitating a shopper’s decision making process, but in the reverse. We help bring the fun and interactivity of shopping in the physical world to businesses online.
In yesterday’s story, Tom gives an overview of our ShopTogether social shopping application and concludes:
…These features won’t go away. Expect, over time, that all shopping sites will have closets with social communication built-in. And real-time chat on product images, specs and more, as well.
Welcome to Shopping 3.0. If you can’t make up your mind on your own, the barriers are being taken down. (Read the entire story here.)
The stark differences that once characterized offline and online shopping are quickly going away, and we’re thrilled to be working with those businesses leading the charge.