From June 8th through July 7th 2013, shoppers in some parts of New York City will be in for a special treat touchscreen shopping windows which will allow them to purchase the goods displayed without, walking into the shop or interacting with any human.
The 'shoppable windows' are the brainchild of auction site eBay who is working closely with large retailers to come with innovative ways to sell more goods to their online and mobile shoppers. This latest shopping experience is in collaboration with Fifth and Pacific Companies Inc., the company that owns the Kate Spade brand and will feature 30 items from its new line - Kate Spade Saturday, which will be displayed in four shop windows that are currently unoccupied in the city's bustling Soho and Lower East Side locations.
Each window will be fitted with a special screen that will transform it into a touchscreen and all a potential customer has to do is select the product he/she wants to buy and place the order. WIthin an hour, a courier will deliver it to the destination of their choice!
If the experiment proves to be successful, the touchscreen windows may become the norm across the country - in not just empty shopfronts but also the existing stores - Fifth and Pacific Inc. is already planning to extend them to their existing Kate Spade, as well as, Juicy Couture stores. According to Steve Yankovich, the head of eBay's innovation and New Ventures Group it is a win-win for all - Customers get a hassle free shopping experience and shops get to test out new brands, without going through the expense of opening physical stores. Window shopping just became a tad more interesting!
Resources: news.yahoo.com, dailymail.co.uk