Windsale Unveils New Web-based Solutions That Revamp the In-store Retail Experience

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The website is engineered to be a one-stop solution that provides multiple benefits to both the shop and the shopper.

Brunswick, Victoria (PRWEB) October 16, 2013

The increasingly rampant practice of showrooming – wherein customers inspect a product in a brick-and-mortar store and later buys it online – has led to million-dollar losses for many companies offering their merchandise the traditional way. Instead of seeing online retail as the enemy, however, future-looking businesses are now learning how to integrate the virtual and mobile shopping experience to generate more in-store purchases.

Windsale, a leading marketing solutions provider, recently showed how it works with the launch of their new website that offers a powerful platform for driving in-store sales through innovative marketing techniques, allowing retailers to survive and thrive in the new world of retail. The website is engineered to be a one-stop solution that provides multiple benefits to both the shop and the shopper: for the retailer, an affordable and effective advertising option that’s relevant with the times; for the consumer, a fun and money-saving shopping experience.

CEO Dallas Mayne revealed that he first conceptualised the solutions offered by Windsale by drawing from his own experience as a consumer. “I like to be able to touch or try on things before purchasing to make sure it fits and it’s of high quality. I wanted to create a website where all people had to do is type in what they are going shopping for that day and up pops a list of stores in their area that are having a sale on it. That was how it started,” he said.

As he was fine-tuning the concept, however, it developed into a much more comprehensive solution that takes into consideration all parties involved in the shopping experience. “Now, we are going way beyond our initial idea. We have also thought of ways to allow retail owners to post their own sales and allow shoppers to request a sale at any shop in their city. This gives both retailers and shoppers a sense of empowerment and a voice,” Mayne says.

At the moment, the inventory on the website includes a wide variety of collections ranging from kids’ clothing to women’s clothing and shoes to men’s apparel to handbags and accessories to home and garden items to electronics. Using their member database information, Windsale is able to provide shoppers specific information about sales and shopping events according to their location and shopping preferences. This generates a more compelling campaign aimed at the business’s target market.

Shoppers could enjoy the following features by being a member:

• Use the search function to find sales for a particular product in a specific location
• Check-in to the store or register sale attendance to win prizes and discounts
• “Request a Sale”: Indicate the store, location and products, get over 50 likes on Facebook, and the Windsale team will try to negotiate the sale on their behalf
• “Try on to Win”: Contestants post a “selfie” photo on Facebook wearing the item on sale; randomly chosen winner will get a gift card equal to the item price

These features, contests, promotions and other engagement techniques can help retailers drive traffic to their store, expand their market base and earn more loyal customers. Moreover, by signing up for a retailers’ membership, they can also avail of specially designed sale campaigns built by the Windsale team that brings together the best advertising and sale strategies specific to their brand.

Today, Windsale receives around 30,000 unique visitors a month and enjoys a growing following on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. This online shopping community is expected to grow even bigger as the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is planning to offer the Windsale service to their more than 25,000 retail members in an effort to help small to medium size business owners promote their stores more effectively.

Mayne sees the Windsale platform as a great example of how traditional businesses are reinventing the retail experience through new technologies. “It’s fun and it’s social and it gets people into the stores in an interesting way,” he says. “If we can use sales events to help stores become competitive to online ones in price and make it engaging, it will help the retail industry’s future and make shopping in store more affordable and rewarding.”

Windsale is available for use by both shoppers and retailers at http://www.windsale.com.au. Interested readers can also check out their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/windsale.

Reference:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/business/retailers-lure-online-shoppers-offline.html?_r=3&ref=business&;.

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