Yelp announced that it is now offering local boutique shopping through its website and mobile apps via a new partnership with Shoptiques.com. This enables users to purchase items from various local boutiques, directly through Yelp.
This is only the first partner (with presumably more to come) Yelp has made in the shopping category, which is its largest category of reviewed businesses at 23%.
“This is not just a way to avoid the crush of humans crowding your local mall (although that’s a definite benefit), our new partnership makes it so easy to support cool local businesses (like Olive & Bette’s in NYC or y&i Clothing Boutique in San Francisco) and find something uniquely you,” says Yelp’s Mike Ghaffary in a blog post. “Read reviews and highlights from the Yelp community for each boutique, browse their inventory in a sleek shopping interface, add to your cart, purchase, and get it delivered to your door, all on Yelp.”
“For those who prefer an in-person experience, this new feature is a great way to scope the merch before deciding which shops to visit,” he adds. “Also, If you’re at all worried that your item might be snagged by someone else before you can get to the store, just order it online and select pickup in store so that the item is waiting for you when you arrive.”
“Yelp now has transaction capabilities for food ordering, spa treatments, flower delivery, golf tee times, shopping and more through Yelp Platform partnerships,” a Yelp spokesperson told WebProNews in an email “Consumers had completed about 1.5 million transactions on Yelp Platform as of the end of the first quarter of 2015.”
The Shoptiques partnership is rolling out over the course of the coming months. There are already over 200 businesses live right now, and thousands of boutiques will be available by the end of the year, Yelp promises.
The company is also encouraging developers interested in working with Yelp to get started on the platform here.
Image via Yelp
