ILM West: Local’s Sherry Thomas-Zon on Next Gen Shopping

The ability to marry store inventory with search and promotions is an intriguing one for interactive local media. But what closes the loop on this vision?

Sherry Thomas-Zon, VP, local shopping, Local Corp. — the new name for Local.com — suggested this week at ILM West in San Francisco that inventory can serve as an anchor for a 360 shopping offering. The key is to break the components of shopping into functional departments instead of making it “one size fits all.”

“The opportunity is to add value across the retail mix,” said Thomas-Zon, former president of Krillion, which was recently acquired by Local. You don’t just want to have shopping content. “You want a shopping module. It is what product search looks like on site in a mobile context.”

Speed and convenience are key parts of it. Components include grab and go shopping, need it now, where to buy, nearby stores. Thomas-Zon noted that there are different types of shopping.

For instance, there might be high consideration items, contrasting with shopping types such as low-cost replenishment, habitual purchases with limited decision making, big-box stores, off-price stores and small format products.