HelpJess, a virtual shopping app that’s been in testing mode for about a year, is launching.
The app was created by Newport Beach’s open4sale, which bills the online service as the “world’s first live video shopping experience.”
The product connects consumers with live, face-to-face interaction at a brick-and-mortar retail store, and allows them to interact with an in-store staff at retailers around the globe.
The service is free for shoppers, and retailers using the product are expecting to include designer stores in Los Angeles, New York, Milan, Paris, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
HelpJess officials believe the app will help bring international online shoppers to brick-and-mortar stores in the U.S.
“There’s a lot of chatter around struggling brick-and-mortar stores,” said Simon La Barrie, the company’s founder. “We’ve got their backs by bridging a connection between in-store purchase and online reach and convenience.”
La Barrie, a serial entrepreneur from Australia who now lives in San Clemente, started open4Sale about seven years ago. HelpJess is named after his daughter.
Spectrum Testing
The product’s been used to connect shoppers from China with brands sold at the Irvine Spectrum Center, the company said. Specific retailers it is partnering with haven’t been disclosed yet.
Current payment options include Apple Pay, Wells Fargo, and American Express, as well as Alibaba Group’s Alipay, which is used in China.
“Being able to connect face-to-face, having that personal touch to close the sale and then being able to process payment easily with the shopper will significantly increase revenue for participating retailers,” La Barrie said.
“There is commonly a high rate [of] abandoned carts and returns for online shopping. Shoppers don’t get a complete sense of the product from the small thumbnail images available to them online. By bringing retailers directly into the homes of shoppers around the world and allowing consumers to see the product up close and personal through the video chat presentation, cart abandonment, and return rates will be reduced.”
