Store Lets Online Shoppers Sample Items

One of the reasons I don’t shop online as much as I probably could is that I like being able to hold merchandise, check its quality, try it on, and basically just get a feel for it. This is specially true for clothes. I have a hard time figuring out the correct size for me, just from looking at a catalog and a chart of numbers.

If the new Epicenter Collection store takes off in Delaware, we may all be able to try out items previously available only from ordering online or through a catalog.

Customers at the first Epicenter Collection store to open next year in a Newark, Del., mall will use hand-held devices to learn about products, order them and have them sent to their home without shipping fees. Some items can be bought through a conventional checkout line.

The setup is meant to give people the touch-and-feel element of shopping they miss when buying online.

… In the new product showcase site, companies and brands with few or no stores will lease space for individual shops in an empty mall anchor location, according to developer Convergent Retail.

… Convergent Retail is negotiating with 60 to 70 catalog companies, e-tailers and brands to bring home products, gifts, apparel, food and electronics to the store.

Here’s more information about how it will work, from the Epicenter Collection website:

Utilizing proven technologies, Epicenter’s handheld SpreeGo enables consumers to shop all Epicenter Collection merchants with the same ease and convenience of online shopping. They can browse, build a shopping basket across merchants, and check out at the touch of a button.

… customers can shop using the SpreeGo and touch screen kiosks, or choose to buy in the traditional manner, at conventional checkout counters, or aided by mobile shopper assistants.

If there were a store like this near me, I would definitely be encouraged to buy more from catalogs and online shops. Would you go to this store to shop?

via Chron.com; Epicenter Collection

Tags: online shopping, shopping catalogs, housekeeping, homemaking