Fashion retailer Oasis this week announced the appointment of multi-channel marketing company Solocal Group, to launch ‘My Personal Stylist‘ – its personalised shopping service.
Through Solocal‘s real-time booking platform Timendo, Oasis customers can now arrange in-store personal shopping appointments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Visitors to Oasis‘ website will be able to book a consultation with a personal stylist across 15 flagship stores in the UK via Timendo. The online booking solution also lets each store control their own calendar in order to arrange appointments convenient for both the personal shopper and the customer.
Oasis does well in embracing omni-channel initiatives, from 90 minute and nominated time slot deliveries to mobile gift vouchers, it offers a fairly enriched shopping experience. Now the contemporary fashion brand has directed attention to its personal shopping service.
Personal shopping services have been a longstanding preserve of high-end retailers and department stores, now non-luxury brands are adopting the concept to deepen connections with customers and drive sales.
Mirroring the mood of nightclub and gentleman‘s clubs‘ atmospheres, brands like Selfridges and even premium shopping destination Westfield, have invested a considerable amount on personal styling environments for shopping and socialising
Retailers including Reiss and John Lewis have employ dedicated tastemakers to offer these services, which can take up to 2 hours or more. Even pure-play e-tailers including Net-a-Porter and Asos attempt to echo the offer online.
Last month, fast fashion retailer Topman rolled out a digital version of its personal shopping service to give customers unable to attend its Oxford Circus branch access. It provides sessions to fashion conscious customers via Google+‘s Hangout video conferencing technology.
Customers can request specific styles they would like to try before their Google Hangout session and a personal shopper will then pick out a selection of clothes.
In an ever improving retail landscape, personal shopping is a notable strategy that should be considered by retailers across sectors.
