eSpares, the UK’s leading online parts store for home appliances, has announced a new partnership with technology provider ConferWith. The partnership will provide customers with real time advice from experts over live video as they browse online.

ConferWith’s technology will allow customer service specialists to assess shoppers’ appliances and provide advice and guidance on which eSpares product is most suitable for them, just as they would in a store environment. The video platform also allows both the shop assistant and customer to jointly populate the customer’s basket, ready for checkout.

Digital retail has accelerated rapidly over the past 12 months as Covid restrictions forced the closure of physical shops on the high street and thousands have faced redundancy as a result.

The new partnership is seen by eSpares as an important step towards helping High Street customer service specialists who have been impacted by the pandemic to bring their expertise to online retail.

Andrew Sharp, CEO CDSL Group, owner of eSpares, said: “We have all missed face-to-face contact over the past 12 months, and the High Street has sadly been one of the sectors hardest hit by lockdown restrictions. But there is much we online retailers can learn from the old bricks and mortar model, in particular the role of the retail shop assistant.

This partnership with ConferWith will allow us to bring in the talents of high street customer service specialists to online retail, provide jobs to those facing redundancy and deliver a better experience for our customers as electrical repairs continue to surge in popularity.”

eSpares, part of CDSL Group, has seen huge surges in demand over the past year as customers have taken up a fix-it-yourself attitude while spending more time around the house. The company saw its biggest sales days ever on 28th December 2020 with sales rising 62.5% on the same day in 2019. As households prepare to socialise under relaxed lockdown restrictions, eSpares saw a surge in sales on Easter Monday, with visits rising by 26%, and overall revenue going up by 40% when compared with last year's Bank Holiday.