Facebook Meets The Mall with mashup of Social Networking and Shopping

IconNicholson has announced plans to create an innovative approach to shopping by combining a social network and the mall. They call this new shopping experience "Social Retailing" (they have even applied for a trademark on the term).

IconNicholson says, Social Retailing brings today's digital lifestyle into the retail store with community-building tools and user-generated content capabilities that help tech savvy, young adults — typically compulsive and social shoppers — connect in real time with their friends to share their shopping experiences.

They call their new store the, "X07 Store of the Future." Rachael McBrearty, VP Creative Strategy stated, "Social retailing is a concept that evolved out of our work building personas based on youth shopping needs, behaviors and current technology trends. The demonstrations in X07 provide retailers with a vision for how they can reach the audience at the center of the social computing craze seen in websites like YouTube and MySpace, to connect in-store shopping with the online world in a way that is new, entertaining — and completely relevant."

I think the jury is still out as to whether this type of concept will work. But it might actually get young adults off the PC and back into the malls which are one of the most popular hangouts for this demographic. And it will also help out one of my 2007 predictions about us getting off the PC more and out with our friends in a social way.