Charlotte Russe Brings Shoppers Together
Specialty young women’s apparel retailer Charlotte Russe is expanding its ShopTogether
social shopping program. Partnering with technology firm
DecisionStep, Charlotte Russe is adding connectivity to social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.
ShopTogether allows groups of online customers to pick out and discuss items together in real time. From the ShopTogether toolbar, shoppers can send friends a link to a specific product or an invitation to shop through
Facebook,
Twitter,
MySpace, email or IM. Once they accept the invitation, ShopTogether connects them for a joint online shopping session. Customers can chat, view products, collect mutual favorites and share ideas that help lead to buying decisions.
In a press release announcing the latest edition of ShopTogether, Charlotte Russe calls itself the first fashion retailer to offer social shopping. Charlotte Russe initially launched ShopTogether in fall 2008.
Among retailers of any vertical, broadline retailer Sears has been a leader in developing social shopping functionality. In spring 2008, Sears offered customers looking for prom dresses
social shopping capabilities on its
Facebook page [reg. req'd.], although it is not currently offering the functionality. Last month, Sears launched a
group gifting service called
givetogether which enables a group of customers to select and give a gift online.
In March, Sears announced it would expand its
global online strategy and work to build more meaningful customer relationships and improve the customer experience. The announcement came as Sears purchased Israeli social networking engine
Delver. Sears has not said whether it used any Delver technology in creating givetogether.
Other retailers who have been offering online social shopping functionality for a year or more include online technology retailer Dell, which launched the
regeneration.org site to allow the company and its customers to share information, including personal artwork and messages, related to environmental issues. Dell uses the site to promote its own eco-friendly activities and links visitors back to Dell.com. In addition, specialty apparel retailer Victoria’s Secret, which could be considered a fashion retailer, has been running its
PINK page [reg. req'd.] on Facebook, which lets users download a widget to their page to share information and link to online shopping pages, for more than a year.
