Discovery shopping is a huge sector of the retail industry that has existed rather undisturbed as the rest of the market shifted online. The dollar stores and the TJ Maxx’s of the world are still performing well compared to other brick and mortar stores because of the discovery shoppers who browse as a pastime, purchasing items they did not know they wanted. The discovery shopper is on a treasure hunt. This type of shopping is popular across a slew of categories, including: home, apparel, electronics, jewelry, health & beauty, and many more.
Picture walking the aisles of Marshalls or a dollar store with the huge mix of products: kitchen gadgets; home accessories; unbranded electronics; bulk necessities, such as toilet paper or shampoo that are bundled together for added value; toys and games; and everything in between. What does it all have in common? Savings. Shoppers looking to impulsively buy something that was not on their list or is not a necessity will be driven by feeling like they scored a deal.
What Sells in Discovery Marketplaces
Discovery marketplaces, whether physical stores or online retailers, are the perfect place for liquidation or overstocked goods. Unbranded products also perform well, as shoppers can save on the mark up that comes with a brand name. While discovery retailers sell at every price point, the majority of purchases fall within the $10-$30 range.
In physical retail, discovery shopping is still alive and well, but shoppers are looking to bring this pastime to mobile, where they increasingly spend more time. Discovery shopping apps like Tophatter have set themselves apart in the ecommerce universe in the same way their physical counterparts did. In ecommerce, Amazon corned the search-driven, utilitarian market, leaving similar retailers searching for their niche. But the discovery shopper is looking for a totally different experience, a way to shop as a pastime not just a frictionless path to purchase.
The Evolution of Tophatter
Tophatter brought the discovery shopping experience to mobile in 2011. Since then, the app and website have seen many iterations for shoppers and merchants. For shoppers, the look and feel has changed along the way, but the basic mechanism of fast-paced, 90 second auctions has always been the mainstay. For merchants, Tophatter has seen a similar evolution, bringing it to where it is today: a marketplace focused on seller control.
Seller Control for Seller Success
In the last year, Tophatter has built a number of new tools to empower its merchants. Now, sellers are in control of what goes up for auction, how many items can sell, and how fast they want to try to sell volume. There are additional tools to mitigate risk at auctions, as well like Reserve Pricing and Starting Bids. To be successful on Tophatter it is all about finding “winners.” These winners are the right product at the right price point; and can sell hundreds to thousands of times a day. With merchant tools like Campaigns Tophatter has built a risk-free testing ground to find winners, monitor performance, and scale sales.
Come discover the power of discovery shopping. Apply to sell on Tophatter today, and as a Payability customer we’ll give you $200 to try it out.
