Liberty to offer virtual shopping experiences with Hero

London department store Liberty is launching a new virtual shopping experience that connects online customers with a specific store associate through chat and video consultations using Hero.

Eric Fergusson, e-commerce director at Liberty, said in a statement: “Liberty prides itself on the experience of inspiration and discovery that comes from our store. We’ve taken several steps to permanently bring this feeling to life for our shoppers online, during the current lockdowns and long after. Hero has allowed us to make our store associates central to that experience.”

The service means that customers from anywhere in the world can connect with a Liberty store associate in-store when shopping online to receive product recommendations, photos, and video consultations, and ask detailed questions at the tap of a button.

During the pilot programme set up during the latest UK coronavirus lockdown, Liberty says in a press release that customers initiated thousands of virtual shopping sessions on LibertyLondon.com, which generated hundreds of thousands of pounds in sales.

According to Liberty, customers that are virtual shopping with Hero are spending an average of 78 percent more when interacting with rich imagery and video content from in-store.

Hero can also be used by Liberty’s store associates to follow what customers are shopping for in real-time, making it easy to share personalised product recommendations just like they would in-store. In addition, they are able to stay in touch with customers and share product updates by text, recommend items or send notifications when a product is back in stock.

London-based start-up, Hero works with retailers to transform analogue retail space into “smart stores of the future”. The app has been used by retail space within retailers such as Harvey Nichols, Nike, LVMH, Richemont, and Levi’s.

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Image: Courtesy of Libery