Topman experiments with bespoke online shopping experience

Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - 14:40 by Paul Tissington

High street fashion chain, Topman, is working with Google+ to bring the experience of having a personal shopper to assist you with your retail needs to the world of safe shopping online, according to The Drum.

The retailer will be using the Hangouts feature of Google’s social networking service, to help customers liaise with a team of style consultants who will then provide them with the latest fashion news, style tips and clothing combos with which they can experiment.

Because the hangout session will occur in real time with an actual representative of Topman, customers will need to schedule theirs in advance. And by providing information ahead of the virtual meeting, it will be possible for the experts to come up with some ideas before they engage with customers directly.

Spokesperson, Jason Griffiths, said that adding the ability to use a personal shopper in an e-commerce context was something that could only be achieved thanks to Google+, because of course, for a retailer to create this kind of infrastructure and interface on its own would be prohibitively expensive.

He went on to state that the process should be a simple one for customers to follow, while also pointing out that Topman is the first British brand to integrate direct online hangouts with its e-commerce offering.

Initially, only customers in the UK will be getting access to this Personal Shopping program, although if it proves to be a success here, then Topman is intending to roll it out to other parts of the world where it operates online.

The internet provides retailers with an almost unlimited number of ways to engage with consumers and offer them new services, with this latest scheme being just one example of the many great platforms and experiences available today.