News | May 2, 2014

Are Virtual Malls The Future Of Local Commerce?

By Hannah Ash, contributing writer

Virtual Malls

Multi-Vendor E-Commerce Platforms Can Capture Local Sales

Americans are skipping main street and shopping online in large numbers, leaving out many local businesses that lack the resources and expertise to turn their bricks into clicks. A new initiative in Lancaster, PA is focused on making it possible for small businesses and vendors to take their stores online. Shop Lancaster, the e-commerce platform, is a multi-vendor website that seeks to empower local businesses to join forces and go digital. The website is setup like a virtual shopping mall and allows online shoppers the ease of browsing through their favorite local store’s inventory from any location. Shop Lancaster will function similarly to any retail store with full shopping features such as virtual baskets and suggested items; the platform will occasionally send discounts and promos to those who choose to opt-in.

Designed with the omni-channel consumer in mind, co-founder Stacia Sleight comments, “our goal is to increase shopping locally by making Lancaster products and services available for anyone to purchase, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.” Similar to Shop Lancaster, a new digital shopping mall Craftbay launched May 1st that brings Irish artisans together under one ‘roof.’ Other companies are approaching virtual shopping mall on a larger scale. Commerce and marketing solutions firm Wishpond launched a multi-vendor solution for shopping malls to take their products online in 2010. A case study released by Wishpond sited in 2012 states that for today’s malls to stay relevant they need to engage with customers virtually to get them to frequent physical storefronts. Last month, owners of a French shopping mall announced they had teamed up with marketing firm Digitas LBi to create a technology it calls the “inspiration corridor.” Inspiration Corridor is a digital shopping booth views the mall more as a fulfillment center, allowing shoppers who step inside to virtually flip through racks, add items to baskets, check out and then go pick up their ordered items in store.

Just as it’s always made economic sense for smaller businesses to open up shop in proximity with one another, local shops sharing one roof are a strong way for smaller vendors to leverage the traffic that a property or street, whether digital or physical, attracts. As big-box stores step up their retail commerce strategies to offer same-day delivery, scannable shopping opportunities and channel-agnostic customer service, local businesses and shopping malls must innovate to drive sales and stay relevant in an increasingly digital economy. Bringing store inventories online through one unified multi-vendor e-commerce platform could be a strong way to do so.

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