Hot Topic Accelerates Mobile-First Customer Engagement Strategy with poq

Leading U.S. specialty retailer offers customers new, engaging and immersive mobile app experiences

LONDON and NEW YORK, Sept. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Global mobile app experience and commerce company poq^[1] today announces Hot Topic^[2], the leading specialty retailer for music and pop culture fans, has relaunched new mobile apps across its brands, Hot Topic and BoxLunch, using poq's composable commerce mobile app stack.

The California-based retailer offers licensed music, entertainment and pop culture inspired merchandise, fashion apparel and accessories, collectibles and more at over 700 Hot Topic and BoxLunch stores, online at hottopic.com^[3] and boxlunch.com^[4], and via mobile shopping apps powered by poq. The company founded BoxLunch in 2015.

Using the tight integration between poq's mobile app platform and Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Hot Topic can now use poq's sophisticated native iOS and Android shopping and engagement app functionality to translate the passion for music and pop culture of its brand into a unique mobile shopping and engagement experience customers can access anywhere.

Poq's composable commerce offering enables the retailer to manage its own no-code, fully branded app design with poq's App Styler, as well as using immersive features to increase conversion and sales, such as Instagram-like App Stories, Lookbooks, and marketing banners and push messaging, among others. The retailer also recently launched 'buy online, pickup instore' (BOPIS) services to provide a seamless online-to-offline shopping journey for all Hot Topic customers.

Hot Topic also chose poq to power the apps of affiliate brand BoxLunch^[5], a civic-minded gifts and novelty retailer, which offers a curated collection of licensed and non-licensed merchandise for every pop culture enthusiast. For every $10 spent, BoxLunch helps provide a meal secured by U.S. hunger relief organization, Feeding America®^[6], on behalf of local member food banks.

Jay Johnston, Chief Executive Officer, poq said: "I'm delighted to share that Hot Topic and BoxLunch have launched their next generation mobile apps with poq. It's a testament to the expertise and capability poq has built over the years in mobile commerce, coupled with our MACH Alliance-certified, headless technology, that we can provide the level of flexibility and control that Hot Topic was looking for. We're delighted to help them maximize the benefits of a native mobile app strategy without having to compromise their strong points of customer differentiation, which are essential to Hot Topic."

Javier Marimon, VP Digital Products, Hot Topic commented: "We are thrilled to be partnering with poq. Given our mobile customer base, we needed a platform that could scale and provide customers with a rich customer experience. We saw this as a strategic move to keep customers engaged with our brand and grow our overall ecommerce business. We are pleased with the results and highly optimistic for the future of our apps."

About poq

Poq is a MACH-certified^[7] Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company that empowers retailers to create highly effective and fully-customized mobile native apps to provide a superior shopping and engagement experience. With poq retailers build stronger brands, sell more products, deepen customer loyalty and deliver highly relevant content, communications and rewards. Poq clients include global brands and retailers, such as Studio Retail, Cotton On, Ardene, Cotton Traders, francesca's, Surfstitch, Card Factory, and more. To learn more, please visit poqcommerce.com^[8].

About Hot Topic

Founded in 1989, Hot Topic was the first retailer to bring alternative apparel and accessories to malls across the country. Today, Hot Topic is a cultural icon and fandom haven for shoppers obsessed with music, entertainment and all things pop culture. With over 600 store locations and hottopic.com, Hot Topic serves as a source for community, discovery and inspiration, and continues to appeal to generations of fans. For more information, visit hottopic.com^[9] and follow @hottopic on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

References

1. ^{^} poq (learn.poqcommerce.com)
2. ^{^} Hot Topic (www.hottopic.com)
3. ^{^} hottopic.com (hottopic.com)
4. ^{^} boxlunch.com (www.boxlunch.com)
5. ^{^} BoxLunch (www.boxlunch.com)
6. ^{^} Feeding America® (www.feedingamerica.org)
7. ^{^} MACH-certified (poqcommerce.com)
8. ^{^} poqcommerce.com (poqcommerce.com)
9. ^{^} hottopic.com (www.hottopic.com)