Image courtesy: Google
The shift from brick-and-mortar purchases to an online shopping experience is a paradigm shift that continues to perplex many. Just when we thought that we’d figured it out with eCommerce comes Google with its next innovation that’s called Shoploop – a platform designed to introduce customers to new products within 90 seconds.
That may sound crazy at first glance, but Shoploop’s founder Lax Poojary believes that it is an idea with a future because that’s what Area 120, Google’s internal R&D division highlights when it pickles up and tests new ideas with a predefined public base. Poojary already brings all of his experience as a trip planner into Area 120, which last year fructified as Touring Bird and moved beyond the ken of the R&D division into the mainstream.
The research team now believes that Shoploop too would have a life of its own as the idea is based on how consumers use a combination of social media and eCommerce when thinking of buying a new product. They could oscillate between Instagram to check out images to YouTube that offers a demo or tutorial and then visit a review website before making the purchase.
But, the idea of a video shopping experience isn’t novel by any stretch of imagination. There are several startups offering it and even some big names have come up with their own version of such an experience.
Amazon Live has been around for some time, though hardly any of it is available in India. There is also YouTube’s own ad format that allows direct shopping by clicking on links placed right below the video. There’s live shopping on Facebook as well which went live last year post an acquisition. Facebook Shops allow users to create their own digital stores in minutes and its subsidiary Instagram too runs its own shop.
So, while we do accept that Shoploop hasn’t really discovered the charm of video-led shopping the fact remains that it’s trending and we don’t mean just hashtags. We hear that Shoploop too offers an interactive experience where users aren’t just scrolling through product images and text but checking out videos that allows creators to showcase stuff they feel is appropriate to generate a purchase decision.
Just to study the efficacy of this model, Google plans to kick start Shoploop with products such as makeup, skincare, hair and nails etc. For, the point is quite obvious that women are much more discerning than their male counterparts when it comes to stuff that matters to them.
