Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. In some contexts it may be considered a leisure activity as well as an economic one.
The shopping experience can also be influenced by other shoppers. For example, research from a field experiment found that male and female shoppers who were accidentally touched from behind by other shoppers left a store earlier than people who had not been touched and evaluated brands more negatively, resulting in the Accidental Interpersonal Touch effect.
Well that’s straight out of one of the most trusted site Wikipedia.org and if you want to read more about shopping then here is your link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping but the point I’m trying to make here is that shopping has always been a social activity. It’s a leisure for most and need for many!
Yes! The way we shop has gone through many transitions from retail, wholesale, home-shopping to the most prevalent in today’s time – Online Shopping. So what is it about online shopping that within a few years of its advent, it has changed the way we have been shopping for ages.
Simply put, online shopping is all about convenience; saving of time (commuting time), money (deals & discounts) and resources(fuel etc); and lastly the experience. Isn’t everything all about the experience? Best example, I can share is the experience of buying an Apple product from the Apple Store. Isn’t it euphoric? Well maybe it’s just me and my wife would feel the same in a Gucci or Prada store but you get the point, Right?
Now coming back to online shopping, the experience has been really good if not great. There would always be sore points like bloated MRP’s and then discount applied on them, return issues etc. But more than anything, the lack of human touch or social element in the online shopping experience has been the most painful.
But guess what, there is a solution to enhance your online shopping experience manifolds thanks to these gentlemen – Raj Ramaswamy and Ashish Parnami. In fact, I was really fortunate to meet Raj in person and test ‘ShopInSync’ the product/service they have created.
In my interaction with Raj, we discussed how ‘ShopInSync’ is the most comprehensive online shopping platform that offers product listings, comparison across e-commerce websites, messaging platform for connected/social buying and the best curated list of deals.
Till e-commerce companies went into app-only model, I used to prefer shopping on my Mac as I could easily compare and open as many tabs. But now as most of the deals have gone app-only, it’s really cumbersome to install app for all e-commerce sites, then keep them open and then keep switching between them to compare. It’s as twisted as it would have felt while reading it!
With ‘ShopInSync’ online shoppers have a one-stop solution that can search for products listed across Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal, with an added social interaction opportunity to take decisions. Have a look at the screenshots of the app below to get a better understanding of how it works:
I’m sure by now you are curious to try it on your own, so all you need to do is head to the Android Play Store and search for ShopInSync or simply click here – ShopInSync Android App to download the app. Once the app is downloaded, the only thing you need to get started is your mobile phone number as that will be your profile ID. As soon as you launch the app, you would be prompted to put in your phone number and basis that you’d receive an OTP to confirm that it’s you. Enter that OTP and you will be in the app ready to shop, chat and share.
For iPhone users, the app will be out in the coming weeks and would have all the goodies of the existing Android app, plus enhancements as per the feedback shared by users.
If you are wondering what made Ex-Yahoo teammates Raj and Ashish think of this app and make it a reality? Then the answer is their own experience with online shopping in India. Even though it’s a product of Silicon Valley, it’s designed for Indians after researching how we shop and how to better our online shopping experience.
The app is as minimalist as the ShopInSync website, go have a look!
My Unbiased Verdict for ‘ShopInSync’ is that it’s a great step forward in the online shopping experience and the platform has a huge potential. What would matter is how Raj and Ashish can get a huge user-base to install and start using the app. And lastly, how they monetize in the future without killing the simple and fast UI and UX.
