Convenience and accessibility are key drivers of consumers’ behavior, never more so than today, when they expect to be able to find, order, and receive products at the touch of a button. For some shoppers, even having to take the extra step of visiting a retailer’s website or app represents too much effort. Accordingly, growing trends enable them simply to text their requests to service providers that locate and ship the products with literally no further effort required.
This service offering takes two main forms. First, some providers have developed a model that relies primarily on text-based ordering. A concierge service called Jetblack requires a $50 monthly membership fee. For this price, members can text the service with a description or picture of virtually anything they want. Then the service will perform the work of finding the item, charge the consumer’s credit card (held on file), and ship it. Thus busy professionals who need a gift for a party or who find that their local store has stocked out of a fashionable item they want can simply text their needs to Jetblack and then wait for it to arrive.
Another option along these lines leverages existing social media to make the connections. On Instagram, visitors already can click on desirable products, which takes them to a retail website where they can purchase the product. But some sellers also are finding that their sales increase even more when they include a WhatsApp link. Because the link enables visitors to place the order quickly and easily, with a text message instead of having to visit a separate site, people appreciate the ease and appear more likely to complete the purchase.
Second, some sales professionals are using text messages to establish a new form of personalized connection with their best customers and facilitating their shopping task in the process. At high-end retailers such as Prada and Celine, as well as department stores such as Bloomingdale’s, sales clerks request shoppers’ phone numbers. Once they have them, they can send out alerts when a desired product gets restocked or remind shoppers of a new shipment arriving at the store.
As mobile shopping continues to increase, reaching a value of $210 billion according to some recent estimates, making it easy for people to shop however they prefer continues to be a priority for retailers. If it can enable consumers to shop via text, a seller might enjoy a notable advantage in the competition for mobile shoppers.

Discussion Questions:

1. How have texting options changed the way some people shop?

Source: Rebecca Malinsky, The Wall Street Journal, December 17, 2018