Social Commerce Platform TalkShopLive Offers In-Store Pickup at BestBuy

Live commerce platform TalkShopLive is joining the ranks of digital retailers offering in-store pickup.

The program — set to launch Monday (Dec. 12) night — is happening via a partnership with Best Buy and will kick off via a live show hosted by TikTok star Noah Schnacky.

“This is the first time in-store pickup is offered on a live shopping platform that is embeddable anywhere on the web,” the company said in a news release emailed to PYMNTS. “TalkShopLive chose to launch its in-store pickup feature with Best Buy due to its longstanding relationship with the retailer. Best Buy was the first major retailer to onboard to TalkShopLive.”

TalkShopLive has teamed with other high-profile retailers this year. Walmart tapped the company in September as it began looking to expand its social commercial program.

Last month, the company debuted its “digital window shopping” project in Manhattan, something CEO Bryan Moore said was just a preview of things to come.

“We see the TalkShopLive window shopping as another step in meeting customers where they are and where they consume content,” Moore said in an email to PYMNTS. “The opportunities for expansion of window shopping extends far beyond the streets of New York, and this is just the start as we continue to connect the retail landscape online, in-store and meeting customers where they consume content.”

The Best Buy partnership comes as retailers are expanding their in-store fulfillment options to meet a change in shopping patterns.

Other companies embracing the trend recently include Ulta, which said last week that it had expanded the number of locations it uses for fulfillment, now packaging products at 116 of its roughly 1,350 stores.

“We recognize the consumer journey is no longer linear,” said Amiee Bayer-Thomas, Ulta’s chief supply chain officer, in a Wall Street Journal interview. “Ulta Beauty must provide shopping options that reflect how and where our guests want to engage.”

“BOPIS” (buy online, pick-up in store) is “having a moment,” PYMNTS wrote in November after the concept staged a high-profile comeback on Black Friday.

Our research showed that in-store pickup was used by 25% of consumers during Black Friday, almost double the percentage reached last year.