Shangby.com - Virtual Shopping in Shanghai

Although based out of Austin, Shangby hawks goods made in Shanghai. You can tune into Shangby’s QVC-like nightly broadcast in which they broadcast live, products right from the city itself. Viewers can call in dialing 1 866 212 0875 to ask questions, express their delight or concerns, and even get down to some proper Shanghai price wrangling. If you miss the live show you can still shop browsing through the site’s catalogue. Of course being Shanghai, most products revolve around pearls and precious stones; however you can find other fine items such as silk sleeping gowns, cashmere scarves, and silk duvets. Once you’ve decided to go for that pearl cream or silk handbag, simply give Shangby a call. A 15% handling fee plus $30 shipping for all orders under $400. If you shop live you can get host Nina to try on an item, bargain for a lower rate, and joke with the shop owners.

“After traveling to Shanghai, and seeing Americans fill suitcases full of purchases, we decided to start a company that makes it easy for all people to shop there, without the travel costs. Through our revolutionary video shopping concept, we broadcast a live video feed from different retail stores in Shanghai. Those shopping with us watch the video feed at their computer, while interacting directly with the retailer and our shopping agent, Nina in a conference call. We have also made it possible for people to "buy anytime" through our secure e-commerce website!”

Shangby was already featured on cooking guru Rachel Ray’s own show and it seems to have made an impression. The concept is pretty innovative—you get your own personal shopper, international goods without the jetlag, and low prices. The video broadcasts gives you a better idea of the quality of the items, which is a lot better than catalog pictures which are more often than not deceiving.

Will Shangby expand to other cities? Will they offer a more diverse range of products? Will this work out in the long term?