Argos teams up with Buyapowa to launch co-buying on social media

Argos, the UK’s largest high street retailer online, and Buyapowa, the leading social-commerce technology company, have launched a trial partnership to enable Argos’ Facebook fans and Twitter followers to shop together and earn unbeatable deals.

Buyapowa’s technology will enable Argos customers to request special offers on their favourite products, then improve those offers by sharing them via social media and shopping together. The more people who buy, the better the prices will be for everyone who participates. These offers, or ‘Co-buys,’ will be presented via a customised platform and will be promoted across Argos’ social media and other communications channels, including its website which saw more than 635 million visits in the last 12 months.

The service is now live at www.buyapowa.com/argos and will feature products from Argos’ general merchandise range of more than 29,000 items. Customers will be encouraged and rewarded for sharing information with other potential customers to help increase customer acquisition but, more importantly, generate long-term loyalty by listening to and rewarding shoppers.

Neil Tinegate, Head of Digital Innovation at Argos, said: “We’ve got a really strong community of followers on social media and we wanted to take our interaction with them to a new level by integrating social media with our core business - which is, of course, selling products people want at great prices.

“This is an interesting step for social media and we’re really excited to hear what our customers think of this new trial.”

Gideon Lask, CEO & Founder at Buyapowa, added: “Argos is an excellent example of an innovative retailer and this implementation shows the power of social to generate business and long-term loyalty. Retailers need to start thinking how to turn social into a transactional channel in a natural, social way - creating buzz while gaining customer loyalty and consumer insight.”

Source : Home Retail Group press release
www.homeretailgroup.com/news-and-media/news.aspx?smlbus=1519&article=5242