Business

Shop, the App Helping Users Support Local Businesses

Launched by Shopify, the shopping assistant app helps small businesses connect with local customers.

04.05.2020 | by Reve Fisher
Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash
Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash

With stay-at-home orders and national lockdowns limiting everyday activities, customers are relying on online shopping more than ever before. However, many people have defaulted to Amazon and other major companies, often not knowing about the smaller businesses in their own backyards.

Shop, the consumer app launched by multinational e-commerce app Shopify, boasts the first-of-its-kind shopping assistant to help consumers shop locally.

“In a world of increasing physical separation, we want to help businesses deepen their connection with their customers and, over time, understand what they want to continue to build trust and loyalty,” Shopify wrote in a statement.

Founded in 2004, Shopify currently powers the e-commerce sites of over one million businesses, from small mom-and-pop businesses, to  prominent direct-to-consumer startups, to major corporations. The company now wants to offer customers a similarly effortless experience when shopping online.

“Shopify has focused the last decade on solving complex problems for entrepreneurs by making commerce seamless and accessible,” said Carl Rivera, general manager of Shop. “Now, we want to do the same for customers. We set out to solve the common pain points in the customer’s shopping journey today, while developing specific features, like local business discovery, that will be relevant today and in the future.”

Shop app interface

Shop app

Shop helps users discover local businesses throughout the US and get personalised recommendations. Small businesses are often marketed through word-of-mouth, so Shop is offering recommendations that might be harder to obtain during a time when most people are away from their friends and family.

“We are setting out to reimagine the online shopping experience for customers — to provide them greater convenience, transparency, and personalization,” Shopify said. “As a result of social distancing and stay-at-home measures, customers have become more reliant on online ordering than ever before as it becomes more challenging to stay connected to the brands they love.”

The shopping assistant also facilitate seamless payment and tracking by combining the features of Shop Pay, which offers one-click checkout, and Arrive, which tracks online orders throughout the world.

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