Syte Unveils Discovery Stories, Bringing Together Social Commerce and Product Discovery for Advanced Shopping Experiences

By PR Newswire On Mar 28, 2022

Next generation of Syte’s AI-powered Product Discovery Platform provides upgraded value for shoppers, introducing new on-site social commerce solution to improve the user experience

Syte, the leading Product Discovery Platform for retail, today announced the launch of Discovery Stories, an enhanced, mobile-first user interface (UI) that transforms the product recommendation and discovery experience on brands’ and retailers’ websites, giving it the look and feel of social media ‘Stories’ for an improved customer shopping experience.

Discovery Stories make it easy and interactive for mobile shoppers to discover new products by using prime page real estate to display the most relevant product recommendations, all in a shoppable story format. The familiar social interface makes engaging with a retailer’s products intuitive and simple, much like tapping through stories on social media. This feature is the first move towards a range of social-inspired product discovery solutions, driven by Syte’s advanced visual AI platform, that the company plans to release as it maintains a laser-focus on the trend-setting force of consumer social habits and preferences.

A new report from Accenture predicts social commerce will grow three times faster than traditional eCommerce, more than doubling from $492 billion worldwide in 2021 to $1.2 trillion in 2025. Shopping behaviors are changing daily, and the pandemic has continued to overwhelmingly shift customers toward mobile and social commerce. With continued in-store shopping hesitations, retailers need technology that allows them to cater to various shopper types and address ever-changing needs, while still driving their own bottom lines. Syte’s existing Product Discovery Platform has revolutionized the way consumers can engage with a retailer’s website, and this new feature borrows those same tried-and-true functionalities to greatly improve the mobile shopping experience.

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Social media shopping is exploding among Gen Z consumers, with nearly 60% saying they have made non-planned purchases “in the moment.” This particular generation — one with an ever-increasing spending power — is one of impulse purchases, looking for fast and reactive shopping experiences to captivate them. When it comes to discovering new fashion trends and cult-favorite pieces, 45% of current Instagram users say they prefer Stories, and over 500 million Instagram accounts use Stories on a daily basis. The concept of the highly visual platform is well-suited to fashion, jewelry, and home decor brands and retailers, which benefit from providing customers with visual search and discovery options, similar to the experience of in-store shopping.

“Social media plays a pivotal role in our day-to-day lives. Gen Z and millennials in particular now expect constantly updated stories and personalized photos and videos as part of their shopping experiences,” said Vered Levy-Ron, CEO of Syte. “Syte’s existing platform already packages together solutions like visual and site search and personalization but, because consumers are regularly engaging in stories on social media, these latest features will enable them to use that same functionality in their shopping journey. Tools like Discovery Stories further empower our customers to provide optimal social and mobile customer experiences, resulting in increased sales and customer retention.”

Syte’s new Discovery Stories feature takes its existing Product Discovery Platform – one that enables brands to create personalized shopping journeys for customers, introducing them to the products they’re most likely to buy, in the way they most prefer to shop – to the next level through an advanced on-site experience that caters to the social shopper’s journey, resulting in increased traffic, sales, and customer loyalty for retailers.