Shop Mobile with Subports

Subports is a viral shopping system that lets you shop by text, and combines social networking with the concept of a scavenger hunt. The system will work in tandem with stackist.com (which promises to go live soon), the website that will act as a catalogue for Subport merchandise, featuring cutting edge industrial designs, art objects, and fashions. 

Subports founders say it exhibits a fusion of the creative mind and the high-tech marketplace:
“Our aim is to significantly lower the barrier of entry to the digital market place by giving local merchants, new-to-the-scene designers and upstart boutiques a competitive advantage in promotion, marketing and selling. Subports allows you to activate a retail presence anywhere -- in print, on the web, on the street -- in literally minutes.”

By creating an account with Subports you sync your cell phone, credit card, and mailing information with the portal, which acts as scavenger hunt master, giving details on how to go about making a sale or purchase.

Sellers use subcodes that describe items found on the Stackist website, strung together in a single word in quotes. An example of a subcode would be “blackcatlamp.” In cities with a Subport culture (such as New York) buyers and sellers may actually have personal interaction, but not in the usual format.

This is where Subports turns into a game. Subcodes can be placed in digital or printed media, so sellers will hide subcodes within their Twitter statuses, on posters, or on facebook.

To contact the seller, the buyers will text the subcode to the portal and wait for instructions. Purchases take place in contrived locations to create drama and mystery. For example, one may be directed to pick up their purchase in a strategically placed garbage bin (equipped with a touch screen interface) or via a device hidden among a stack of pancakes at a designated diner.

For those who live in areas without a Subports following, don’t worry: sales may occur online, since your shipping information is also linked directly to your phone.

Subports allows your phone to become direct point of sale, no forms, no extras, just find what you want, type in the subcode, hit send, and wait for delivery!