A few weeks ago, during a webinar on video commerce, Kevin Ertell exposed some interesting ideas on the future of online retail, pointing out to the emergence of distributed shopping. Kevin told the story of how Tower Records was making significant money selling CDs and music products at local concerts – from a simple table stand with just a couple of employees. He then drew a parallel with the online world, outlining his vision for decentralized shopping experiences where users can browse and buy products from their community site via widgets.

In the context of video, Qoof is certainly an interesting implementation of a shopping widget. Both a video production and technology company based in Los Angeles (CA) Qoof actually goes as far as defining its widget as “a video commerce platform”, since video is at the core of the solution. Arguably, the Qoof widget features some unique communication tools (Instant messaging and Skype) which enable real-time communications with an actual sales person. You can see the widget in action on the Paragon Sports homepage:

Qoof is also working on its own network of publishers, and recently launched ShopOnAir, its online video shopping channel. Featuring content from established retailers such as Buy.com or Dell, Qoof is acting as an affiliate publisher for them. This larger version of the Qoof widget may also be embed on an eCommerce site.

Jonathan Stefansky, recently named CEO of Qoof, does a nice job outlining the features and benefits of Qoof at the Affiliate Summit 2008: