May 20, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team
Randy Shoup wants to give ecommerce a makeover, according to a Twitter post he made Monday. The former executive for the ecommerce solution eBay, who is credited with scaling eBay to the online auction giant it is today, has left his position as Chief Engineer and Distinguished Architect to co-found a consumer-focused Ecommerce solution start-up called Shopilly.com. The company’s website states that Shopilly is still in “stealth mode,” but says that the new website will allow users to “cut clutter” in order to feel more in control of their experience as they fill their shopping carts.
Shoup, who has served as the main architect behind eBay’s search component since 2004, is co-founding Shopilly with Anirban Datta, a former senior product manager at eBay. Datta most recently worked as VP of marketing at Lealta Media, a marketing firm focused on customer loyalty and rewards services based out of Silicon Valley. Shoup has also served as a technology advisor.
It is unclear how exactly they will do it, but the mission of Shopilly seems to be to create a more efficient, less stressful ecommerce experience by leading shoppers to ecommerce solutions that have what they are looking for and helping them discover “new shopping opportunities.”
With the pair’s background in both scaling systems and customer loyalty and rewards programs, Shopilly could use information about users’ online shopping habits to suggest products to fill their shopping carts and reward them for their loyalty. This could create a great opportunity for ecommerce solutions of all kinds to effectively take part in the current shift towards a more personalized online shopping experience as it becomes the industry standard.
It is also entirely possible that Shopilly will just be a prettier, more user-friendly version of eBay’s comparison shopping platform. There is no word on just when Shopilly will launch, but Shoup’s current efforts to create buzz through Twitter and Facebook hint that we will not be waiting long.
Alex is a Seattle native and a recent graduate from the University of Washington. Though she holds a degree is psychology, her aspirations are rooted in a passion for writing and all things internet. She hopes to eventually carve out a place for herself in the realm of blogging and social media. When she isn’t writing, you can find her ogling puppies, practicing stand-up comedy or hunting for new places to eat.
