No, seriously, Squad Shopping offers courses on the social nature of shopping – RetailWire

07 Jul 2021

By special arrangement, presented here for discussion is an excerpt from a current article from the Aptos blog.

Team shopping – essentially the use of video and / or screen-sharing technology to shop online with friends and family – can be much more than a phenomenon fueled by a pandemic targeting young people women aspiring to social purchasing relationships.

The practice briefly made headlines when Squadded Shopping Party launched in May 2020 and again when Verishop followed suit with its own version.

The retail industry, however, doesn’t pay much attention to the concept. Some of the early Squadded users include Sephora France, Goddiva in the UK, and Mia Jewelry in India, among others.

These brands have a strong appeal with younger women, who coincidentally have never really experienced life without FaceTime. They are much more comfortable with video calls than with audio calls, and their phones are always close at hand.

What’s more, studies consistently show that reviews drive conversions and trusted reviews drive more conversions exponentially. And what is team shopping if not an opportunity to collect reliable reviews from friends – on items that are already in their cart? Clearly, the immediacy and contextual relevance inherent in team shopping nights combine to form a powerful elixir of conversion.

Yet the main lesson to be learned from the team shopping trend is not that it is about to become mainstream, but rather that it is a reminder of the value of shopping as a social activity. For centuries, shopping together has allowed us to bond, seek validation of our purchases, and make memories with friends.

Team shopping, whether it thrives or fades, is just one embodiment of all of these things. The same is true of smart mirrors in dressing rooms when they help us solicit feedback from friends and in-store workshops that bring people together to interact with products and with each other.

Whatever the medium, it is this return of trust, this validation and these common experiences that really matter. Because these experiences have a significant impact on conversions.

Team shopping teaches us that we must constantly look for new and creative ways to make it easy for our customers to shop together, and to do so in a way that offers contextual and immediate relevance.

When we make it easier to shop together, we make it easier to shop together. And this is serious business.