Developer harnessed the power of mobile to help convert browsers into shoppers

Developer harnessed the power of mobile to help convert browsers into shoppers

Portaltech, a UK e-commerce systems integrator and consultancy, has announced it has enhanced its StripeyLines iPhone app with the official release of StripeyLines version 1.0.

Originally launched at the end of 2009 in beta (Jan/Feb 2010 Retail Technology, Innovations), StripeyLines is fast becoming the essential shopping companion for bargain and info-hungry shoppers who want to ensure they are getting the best deal for a product, wherever that deal is, online or on the High Street.

StripeyLines allows shoppers to instantly scan the barcode of goods in-store to compare pricing, or to check product and customer reviews. Shoppers can also use the app to create wishlists of products they want to buy at a later date, or share their new finds on Facebook and Twitter with friends and family.

Shoppers can also use StripeyLines to instantly link a scanned CD to iTunes and listen to that CD while in store. The customer then has the option to choose to buy in store, download straight to their iPhone from iTunes, or go to Amazon or Google to check pricing and customer ratings.

Merging off and online with in-store

With StripeyLines v1.0, the developer said shoppers can synchronise everything scanned on their app, with http://stripeylines.com, allowing them to continue their research or buying at home, or over a cup of coffee in a local cafe.

It added that StripeyLines is getting rave reviews from users on the iTunes app store, with a massive rating of four stars since the upgrade.

StripeyLines is well timed, as a recent report by Eurostat found that 64% of customers are using the internet to research a product and 50% of customers use the internet to browse before purchasing in store. This trend is only likely to grow, as a recent Admob report stated that 50% of phones in the UK would be smart by the end of 2010.

Portaltech is reaching out to all major UK retailers to get involved in providing price and product data for StripeyLines. The company is keen to ensure that users of the application have all the latest retailer data, barcodes and pricing to inform their decision making process, turning browsers into purchasers.

Portaltech can also build retailer ‘plug-ins’ to provide “retailer specific” functions. This could be as simple as providing promotional pop-up ads or vouchers at point of purchase, or creating a brand building, or m-commerce plug-in for apparel retailers who want to cross-sell a look or collection.

Bespoke development opportunity

“The plug-in feature on StripeyLines means that retailers don't need to build their own iPhone application,” said Andrew Walker, Portaltech chief executive. “Instead we can just create a web application as a plug-in to StripeyLines, which is then beamed to the StripeyLines iPhone app. For example, if a wine merchant wanted to have an application that recommended wine based on what an iPhone user had scanned in a supermarket, all they would need to do is create a website that compared wines. The location of this website would then be beamed to the iPhone and when the user scanned some wine, StripeyLines would give them the opportunity to run the plug-in. And this system too, could be applied to any product category for cross-selling purposes.”

Portaltech believes that mobile will be an increasingly important channel in retailing. Rachel Wilkinson, head of brand and retail at Portaltech, added: “Mobile phones are now being used for product information and browsing while shoppers are out and about or when sitting in a High Street coffee shop. Retailers must not ignore this adapting behaviour, or see price checking as a threat, but harness it. These are latent purchasers, who simply need an enabler like StripeyLines to convert them from browsers to purchasers. Mobile phones and devices should be utilised to leverage this opportunity and to join up the multichannel experience. We can help retailers to develop an engaging solution, whether that’s a standalone mobile commerce app or a plug in to StripeyLines.”