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Consider this: You are a shopaholic, but unable to hit your favourite mall because of the pandemic. You are comfortable buying things online, but miss the social experience of shopping physically.
Bengaluru-based start-up ReCast Technology offers a ‘live commerce’ solution with MallStreet, a platform for remote live video shopping.
Available as a browser-based web app, MallStreet combines in-store shopping with the convenience of e-commerce and the emergent need for social distancing and reduced contact interactions.
The platform houses prominent stores across diverse categories such as apparel, furniture, furnishing, appliances, home décor, electronics, jewellery, beauty and cosmetics, sports, bags and footwear.
It facilitates chat and video-assisted shopping, apart from offering shoppers the flexibility to pursue a part of the experience virtually and concluding the rest by visiting the store. The effort is aimed at creating the buzz of in-store shopping besides boosting ‘virtual footfalls’ in Bengaluru’s stores and malls, said Jayesh Chakravarthi, co-founder and CEO of ReCast.
For shop owners
The company, with its offer of MastR, a digital infrastructure service for brick-and-mortar stores, is also helping retail outlets transform themselves into digital entities without giving up on their identities.
“Retailers can visit our website, download MastR (a plug-and-play store app) and deploy it in a matter of hours,” said Prasad Hebbar, co-founder and CTO. “We also assist the early onboarded stores to reach out to their customers digitally to create awareness about the offering (the new way to shop).”
“Recognising the urgent need to revive footfalls, especially with the approaching festival season, we propose to offer the platform for free to all retailers during this period,” he added.
While MallStreet caters to consumers, MastR is an interface designed for retailers.
The company has signed up over 140 stores across Bengaluru for the MallStreet SaaS platform. It is aiming to onboard 3,000 stores across the city by March 2021, before replicating the concept in the country’s top 20 cities.
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