World’s First Livestream Store Explores The Future Of Shopping

It’s hard to predict the future when it comes to retail. On the one hand, we see declining high streets being taken over by robots, while on the other we see a (urban) revaluation of traditional boutiques and craftsmanship. An interesting hybrid of these two may be Kaan’s Stream Store.

Jan Kaan is the owner of Kaan’s Kaashandel, with stores in Alkmaar and Hoorn, the Netherlands. Just like many other retailers, Kaan is experiencing difficulties combining his psyhical stores with a growing demand for online shopping. Together with Dutch bank ABN AMRO, he set up Kaan’s Stream Store — the first livestream store in the world that combines the ease and reach of online shopping with the personal contact and authenticity that a physical store has to offer.

It works really simple: you sit behind your computer and visit the website of Kaan’s Stream Store. Once you have ‘entered’ the store, you can see what cheeses they have in stock. You can order your cheeses, ranging from goat cheese to old cheese, in any favorable amount. Moreover, you can ask Jan and his colleagues all your cheese-related questions on the spot, just like in a ‘real’ store. Once you picked your order, you can easily pay through iDEAL, PayPal or creditcard, and the cheeses will be delivered at your house.

With Kaan’s Stream Store, ABN AMRO actively investigates new ways for physical retailers to expand their business online while keeping their authenticity as a traditional store. Are we able to combine these two things in order to create a new, improved shopping experience? Our first answer would be “yes”, as Kaan’s Stream Store sold all its cheese within a couple of days..