HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., April 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Sears, a leading integrated retailer focused on making shopping easier for its members, introduces Get Advice, a personalized service powered by Shop Your Way. Get Advice, along with the recently launched Member Assist, uniquely leverages the online and mobile channels that members already use to easily tap into the expertise of Sears' nationwide team of knowledgeable store associates, as well as members of the Shop Your Way community, to get advice on products and services important to them.

"We're using technology to virtually open the doors to Sears stores across the country giving our members access to the expertise of thousands of our associates," said Leena Munjal, senior vice president, Member Experience and Integrated Retail, Sears Holdings. "This level of interaction is another way we are integrating the digital and physical shopping experience –members can enjoy the advantage of getting great advice from the stores plus engage the vast Shop Your Way community."

According to a Bazaarvoice Summit 2014 talk given by a leading analyst at Forrester Research, providing customers with the opportunity to connect with a real person that has a specific product or department expertise is one of the top 10 trends changing the retail industry. Sears addresses this customer need with Get Advice and Member Assist.

"The Shop Your Way community is a resource unlike any other in retailing," said Eric Jaffe, senior vice president, Shop Your Way, Sears Holdings. "Get Advice and Member Assist are social commerce at its most powerful – access to trusted information, latest knowledge and valuable feedback on any of the millions of products members can find on ShopYourWay.com for sale by Sears and others."

• Get Advice taps not only the thousands of the Sears in-store associates, but also the millions-strong Shop Your Way community in which any member can also post an answer and vote on the most helpful responses. They can post any product-related question to the Shop Your Way community, and store associates from around the country will post a reply simply by leveraging the same knowledge and expertise they use to help members in the store.
• How Get Advice Works:
  • Members go to ShopYourWay.com and tap "Ask a Question" in the Get Advice section or directly from a shopyourway.com product page.
  • They type their question and see if an answer pops up while they type.
  • If not, they simply follow the prompts to post their question.
  • Once the question is submitted, answers will start flowing in from store associates across the country.
• Member Assist allows members to communicate directly with consultative store associates in more than 400 Sears stores nationwide, remotely and conveniently via shopyourway.com or the Shop Your Way mobile app. Members can directly interact with their favorite expert associate at their nearest Sears store – asking product-related questions and even sharing photos – and that associate will directly respond with answers to help solve the member's product or service need.

The Shop Your Way YouTube channel features a video demonstration of the new Get Advice and Member Assist service innovations.

Shop Your Way
Shop Your Way is a free and instant member-based loyalty program and social shopping community that offers rewards, personalized services and a unique experience. The integrated retail platform creates new convenience for members by connecting all of the ways to shop – in store, at home, online and by phone. Members can browse, review and purchase items, create custom wish lists to share with friends and family, seek advice and enter amazing daily sweepstakes. In addition, Shop Your Way offers members access to exclusive celebrity brand pages including Adam Levine and Nicki Minaj. Members can also earn and redeem points based on purchases and tracking healthy movement through fitstudio.com Points for Progress program.

There is no minimum required for Shop Your Way members to redeem points and points can be used toward purchases across countless product categories. Download the free Shop Your Way app available on iTunes or Google Play.

About Sears, Roebuck and Co.
Sears, Roebuck and Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation (NASDAQ: SHLD), is a leading integrated retailer providing merchandise and related services and is part of Shop Your Way, a social shopping experience where members have the ability to earn points and receive benefits across a wide variety of physical and digital formats through shopyourway.com. Sears, Roebuck offers its wide range of home merchandise, apparel and automotive products and services through more than 1,320 Sears-branded and affiliated stores in the United States and Canada, which includes more than 790 Full-line and more than 50 specialty stores in the U.S. Sears, Roebuck also offers a variety of merchandise and services through sears.com, landsend.com and specialty catalogs. Sears, Roebuck offers consumers leading proprietary brands including Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard -- among the most trusted and preferred brands in the U.S. The company is the nation's largest provider of home services, with more than 14 million service and installation calls made annually. For more information, visit the Sears, Roebuck website at www.sears.com or the Sears Holdings Corporation website at www.searsholdings.com.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140423/77809

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140423/77810

SOURCE Sears Holdings Corporation