Cyberspace can be a lonely place for shoppers. While retail therapy in the physical world is often used as a way to connect with friends, “that social aspect of shopping has been absent online,” says John C. Jackson, president and CEO of DecisionStep. The Beltsville, Md.-based company is trying to change that with a new solution called ShopTogether.

The Internet has proven to be a “powerful social force,” says Jackson, who believes ShopTogether offers a way for retailers to tap into that force. It is being used in pilot format by NetShops, an Omaha, Neb.-based online retailer that operates several specialty stores, such as Hammocks.com and WorldGlobes.com.

ShopTogether allows visitors to NetShops.com to invite a friend (or family member) to shop with them. By using an assigned code, a shopper then sees one window featuring what they are looking at and a second window that allows them to view items that their friend is examining. A third window is for shared favorites, and message bars allow for a text exchange.

“We wanted to help our customers buy products where multiple people had an influence on the decision but were not at the same place at the same time,” says Jay Gordman, director of e-commerce for NetShops. While still in its early stages, initial customer feedback to the pilot has been positive, he says.

ShopTogether is also being used by NetShops.com’s customer service agents fielding questions from those looking for something specific. This keeps agents from having to walk a potential customer through multiple steps while wondering if that customer is keeping up.

“We can open ShopTogether and show you different products,” Gordman says. “All you have to do is click on the ShopTogether window.”

Crystal and Jim Schmidtlein are a Rockville, Md., couple with full-time jobs and little room in their schedules to ponder purchases.

They recently moved into a new home, “so we have a lot of reasons to shop together – we just don’t have a lot of time,” Crystal says. And Jim says the pair won’t go bricks-and-mortar browsing without first doing some Internet prep work.

Compairing notes easier
So the Schmidtleins have spent many a work break at their desks typing furiously to each other about items they located online. “We tended to send a lot of links but that kind of got out of hand,” says Crystal, who thinks ShopTogether makes it easier to compare notes on fireplaces, dining room sets and the like.

“This is a much more real-time experience and allows for back-and-forth exploring of the products on the website versus trading e-mails back and forth,” Gordman says.

ShopTogether works particularly well for shoppers at the “What should we get Mom – I have no idea” stage of the game, according to Jackson. “The tool disappears very quickly and it literally becomes just a conversation between two people … where the products are what matters.”

DecisionStep gets numerous requests for the capability to bring more than two people together to shop and it’s in the works, says Jackson, who is in discussions with retailers of all sizes about adding the ShopTogether feature to their e-commerce sites.

DecisionStep is also pursuing the possibility of making ShopTogether a choice for retailers looking to promote specific sales or events.

For instance, a group of friends scattered across the country might be able to pick one night a week and “meet” to shop.