Very.co.uk is taking its wares to the high street, with the help of technologies including near-field communications and QR codes.
The company has marked the Christmas shopping season by setting up a digital window shop in Liverpool’s shopping and leisure complex Liverpool One, where smartphone and tablet users can scan the clothes on show in order to buy online – with next-day free delivery promised for orders placed before 9pm.
Very.co.uk analysed the browsing and purchasing habit of its Liverpool customers in order to come up with the three themes showcased in the ads: Glitz and Glam, with sequins and metallics; Rock Chic, with black and leather-look fabrics; and Snow Princess, with pastels and shimmery textures.
The window shop, on Hanover Street, will be in place until January 6.
“As a successful pureplay etailer, bricks and mortar is not on our agenda,” said Gareth Jones, group retail director at Very.co.uk’s parent company Shop Direct Group . “But vacant shop windows offer a unique digital opportunity to get our brands and products in front of shoppers while they’re already on the high street.
“A third of traffic to the Very.co.uk website now comes from mobile devices and we are constantly innovating to enable shoppers to more easily engage with the brand and browse and buy our products while on the move.” He said improvements made to scan-to-shop functionality in the last couple of years made browsing and shopping via the Very.co.uk window “quick, easy and safe”.
“Depending on the results of this trial,” he said, “we may then look to roll out the concept into more cities in 2013.”
Very.co.uk’s five sister brands include Littlewoods.com, Isme.com and Woolworths.co.uk.
