G-Star is aiming to bring together the best of the online and in-store shopping experience for its customers using Apple’s App Clip technology in its shops along with the Highstreet Mobile shopping app platform.
App Clips give instant access to a part of the G-Star app without having to download the full app. This means that customers can scan a QR code or tap an information tag (NFC) on one of the shop-window or in-store mannequins to instantly obtain all the information about the outfit on display.
This includes price and the different colours and sizes available both in the shop itself and online. Users can also directly order online and make a mobile payment via Apple Pay with just one single tap.
See the video below for App Clips in action
Online shopping from shop window
With App Clips, G-Star partially transfers the physical shopping experience to the smartphone. The shop serves as a showroom, yet the consumer is also offered the benefits of online shopping.
As direct contact with shop assistants and other customers can be reduced, G-Star is also helping consumers who want to shop safely at a physical location during COVID-19. With App Clips, G-Star does not only ensure an improved customer experience in the store, it also guarantees that customers can digitally visit a store after closing time.
Downloading apps now redundant
The App Clips are quick, transient, and eliminate the entry barrier to downloading an app from the App Store. G-Star’s App Clips remove this threshold by offering native-app functionality, without customers having to download the entire app.
The App Clips furthermore automatically remove themselves after thirty days if no longer used. This ‘preview’ gives consumers the opportunity to try the G-Star app before choosing to download it.
Omnichannel
Klaas Buist, Digital Director Operations at G-Star, explains: “The G-Star RAW app is very popular as it offers, among other things, look books and inspiration. Our brand stores in turn yield other advantages: consumers can touch and try on clothes here, with personal advice from our stylists. With Apple’s new App Clips, we connect the best of both of these worlds. As the digital product information from the App Clips is available in physical stores, consumers can easily see what a garment looks like when worn by a model. They can then try the item on themselves in store or purchase it online, in any size or colour. In this way, we gain the full potential from our omnichannel strategy.”
“App Clips are an important development,” continues Highstreet Mobile’s CEO Thijs van Schadewijk. “Consumers have always preferred app experiences on a mobile but downloading is a well-known barrier. Entirely native apps can, with just one single tap, now be streamed directly to the consumer’s mobile phone. App Clips will in the coming years become even more potent, as the mobile internet becomes much faster with 5G.”
Highstreet Mobile’s solution based on App Clips will be offered first in the G-Star stores in Amsterdam and Utrecht in the Netherlands.
