Teenagers can make purchases via the Hollister app, with parents footing the bill
In a bid to enhance its mobile shopping experience and cater to younger audiences, the apparel brand Hollister has launched a new patent-pending technology called Share2Pay. This innovative function, designed to facilitate shopping for Hollister's young customers, particularly those who may lack purchasing power, is expected to help them communicate their shopping preferences to parents or guardians.
The Share2Pay function is the result of proprietary research conducted by Hollister's parent company, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. It allows customers to share their shopping carts with purchasers such as parents and guardians via text message. This feature is currently available for customers in the U.S. and U.K. through the Hollister mobile app.
The introduction of Share2Pay comes at a time when Hollister is grappling with a 15% fall in sales in the second quarter of the year. The fall in sales was attributed to a greater than anticipated impact from inflation and a shift away from core categories.
The new payment functionality is part of Hollister's broader strategy to gain more success with younger audiences. In the past, Hollister has made headlines for its unique initiatives, such as the pop-up shop for its subbrand Social Tourist, led by teen influencers Charli and Dixie D'Amelio. Last holiday season, Hollister also debuted an augmented reality store concept with Snapchat.
The rise of buy now, pay later has been a notable trend in retail, despite regulatory concerns. Hollister's move to expand payment options follows a similar path, as e-commerce darling Shopify announced a new point-of-sale hardware product for retailers last month. Instagram also added a pay-in-chat feature meant for smaller businesses to finalize transactions in the app in July.
With Share2Pay, purchasers can change, add, and remove items from the shopping bag through their mobile app before paying. This feature is intended to support teen customers who often leave their shopping bags idle due to lack of purchasing power. The soft launch of the payment options showed customers who used it placed orders nearly two times more than those who didn't.
The patent introduced by Hollister for the function Share2Pay is named "Method and system for sharing payment information." The company believes that this innovative solution will help them stay competitive in the ever-evolving retail landscape and cater to the unique needs of their young customer base.
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