House of Fraser prepares for Christmas trading with shoppable windows

British department store group House of Fraser is set to unveil shoppable windows this Black Friday as part of its Christmas campaign and overall scheme to transform its store-only shoppers into multichannel shoppers.

As one of the first retailers to use iBeacon mannequins last summer, HoF will enable the entire store window from the outside so that consumers are able to shop the looks on display, even when the store is closed. Users who have the House of Fraser app will be able to scan the vinyl shape within the store window to recieve a full list of the products on display as well as its Black Friday deals.

Each customer who makes a purchase via the shoppable window will also stand the chance to win a 250 pound giftcard as well, in the order to encourage more consumers to shop via the service. "We want to bring a whole new dimension to the term window shopping," said Sarah Bailie, head of digital at House of Fraser to MarketingWeek. "I see this as something that will be permanent across all of our stores as it means the offline world is always open and can start to join up, but also compete, with the online side of our business."

"People want to look at product information such as sizes and product composition without actually going into the store. That’s a widespread need so I’d expect shoppable windows to become the norm for all retailers. It just makes sense as it adds yet another opportunity to generate sales." Bailie added that House of Fraser expects this year's Black Friday to be HoF "biggest" event yet.