About Michelle Heng

A native of Seattle, Michelle currently resides in the downstairs of her "roommate's" house (formerly known as mom and dad), where she is strategically planning to take over the world (of Warcraft). With a marketing background, Michelle looks to take over the multimedia world with her social media ninja skills. Her favorite day is Sunday, reasons being twofold, 1.) it's the best day to sample at Costco 2.) it's a great time to spend with her loved ones. Equipped with wit, sarcasm, and charm, not to mention an unashamed love for all things Harry Potter, Michelle has a dorkable zest for life that she is excited to share with the ZippyCart Team. Follow her excellent adventures in ecommerce on Twitter: @Michelle_Heng or Email: michelle [at] zippycart dot com
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Michelle Heng has written 251 articles so far, you can find them below.


Proactiv is Breaking Out Celebrity Endorsements

December 2, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Proactiv BieberProactiv has a way of letting people know that they can have baby soft skin just like Justin Bieber (come on, deep down you know you do or for the Hannibal Lecter in you, you could just simply wear Bieber and then actually have his skin. Oh, too far? Didn’t think so either.).

It’s called the celebrity endorsement. Celebrity endorsement is really not the newest thing to hit the world of branding but Proactiv has a proven track record in making celebrities a focal point in their marketing since its launch in 1995. Developed by two Stanford educated dermatologists, Katie Rodan and Kathy Fields, and with the help of marketing giant Guthy-Renker, have cultivated a massive following of over five million people (and the pimply kid in me thanks you). According to the company’s sales and marketing strategy, the skincare line will take in approximately $800 million in revenue this month alone.

Proactiv users have met the product with mixed reviews but for the millions that Proactiv does work for, they just can’t live without it.

“We’ve been together since I was 14 and I think we’ll be together ’til I’m old and grey” say Kate Sheppal, an analyst at Ernst and Young, who has used the product for 15 years and counting. I guess the saying holds true- “once you go Proactiv, you never go back-tiv” (hmm, that’s not right, is it?).

The secret ingredient to the brand’s success comes from a research study that reveals how a consumer feels about a brand is derived from the celebrity that endorses the brand and vice versa. The brand has relied on a long line of relevant celebrities with the unique blend of star power, approachability, of course, a history of skin problems, and the ability to come across to millions as reliable and honest.

A Proactiv infomerical can range anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 minutes and for appearing, Proactiv pays their top celebrities between $2 and $3 million per year for their commercial time  (they will often have between five and eight signed at any given time), meaning that they spend upwards of $15 million annually on spokespepople alone. On the day that Bieber’s Proactiv commercial was unveiled, Bieber’s endorsement clip received 125,000 views on YouTube and another 500,000 views on Proactiv’s website. On the whole, celebrities have brought Proactiv 1.5 million YouTube views, 43,000 Facebook fans, and 11,200 Twitter followers. Basically viewers are flocking to watch celebrities like Katy Perry, Jessica Simpson, Puff Daddy, P.Diddy (er I mean Diddy, or is it Dizzle now?) wash their face and talk about acne.

The recipe for their marketing may be a sure thing but not every celebrity spokesperson is as proven. The proof is that one of their (former) celebs (she who must not be named, ahem- Lindsay Lohan) was taken off their celebrity spotlight feature and her commercials no longer circulate. I suppose rehab and great skin is not something the brand thought would be a winning combination. However, as times change, the infomercial arena, where Proactiv has made its name, is increasingly being dominated by social media, we will wait and see what kind of marketing magic Proactiv has in store next.

Groupon and Google’s $2.5 Billion Rumor: Is it True?

November 30, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Google Buys Groupon...maybe?Okay, please raise your hand if you recently bought Groupon. Ahem, no Amazon? And not eBay? Wait a minute, not so fast Yahoo, it looks like Google may have just taken their giant hand and raised it high above everyone else. Talk of whether or not Google has bought Groupon has been swirling around the tech press rumor mill the last few days. With no sources confirming any details yet, tech mongers are still waiting to get a simple ‘yes’, head nod, or even a wink from a Google rep; however, Google’s ‘no comment’ response is almost as good as saying that there is something amiss. The details of the speculation lead to Google had acquired Groupon, the deal-of-the-day website, for just about $2.5 billion over the weekend.

However, just a few weeks ago there were talks of a bidding war among the major players Amazon, eBay, and Yahoo with figures nearing $5 Billion. We know Yahoo could not afford to play at that price and eBay was apparently not involved, so the process of elimination leaves Amazon versus Google. Amazon‘s market cap is $75 billion to Google’s $190 billion, it is suspect enough that if it came down to a bidding war, Google would win.

Google stands to gain a rather profitable company if the Groupon deal goes through. The acquisition of Groupon can help Google enter into the popular daily deal segment which poses beneficial as Google looks to maintain its relevance in new emerging segments. In addition, Google can leverage Groupon’s clout in local markets and position itself to build relationships small and medium sized businesses. After reportedly failing to acquire Yelp in 2009, Google continues to show their extreme interest to get into local search and directory listings with their (not as popular) Google Places.

Groupon may be their next chance to really get into this game. Groupon is the leader in the group discount and deal space, it takes in about $50 million in revenue a month and with a rumored $2.5 billion price tag, people may not fully buy into the idea that Google has acquired them just yet. Groupon is possibly worth more than just $2.5 billion.

Seriously though, what does Google not own, touch, or have some affiliation with? Hey readers, if you are a G1, Picasa, or YouTube user then chances are Google owns you too. The rumor, true or not, will be interesting to watch play out, if Google did buy Groupon, then fact: their celebrity couple name would be Groogle.

Stella McCartney Even Makes Ecommerce Look Chic

November 30, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Stella McCartney HomepageStella McCartney: her signature style is clean, modern, and simply chic. Images of supermodels and couture runway just dance in the head when picturing her work (and for the unfamiliar, supermodels on the brain is not a bad way to go). Dressing up and dressing down some of the hottest celebrities from the Material Girl herself, Madonna to Eat, Pray, Love Julia Roberts, and every hot bod in between, McCartney sharply tailors designs to exude a feminine and sexy look. Proving that she’s not just a one-note designer, her luxury line of women’s ready-to-wear clothes, accessories, and lingerie, has expanded to a women’s performance line with Adidas. She has also recently moved into designing kids wear for Gap Kids. With stores in London, NY, LA, Tokyo, Paris, Milan, Hong Kong and soon to open location in Las Vegas, the fashion house has found a way to become accessible to just about everyone.

Marrying fashion and technology once again, McCartney has relaunched her US ecommerce site in the UK and will be available in eight European countries by Spring 2011. The site is designed to ooze the fashion aesthetic that McCartney is so well known for. Users of her site will get a chance to take a look into “Stella’s World,” a website feature that includes a comprehensive view into the brand through photos, flicks, and quotes. McCartney also shares her personal opinion on trends, updates on her brands, and stories from special interest subjects and interviews.

The designer is also know for her stance to not use fur or leather in her designs, she says “I find it astounding, because fashion is supposed to be about change – I mean, we’re supposed to be about cutting edge!” The site will also feature a section of McCartney’s eco tips, green initiatives, and her favorite charities.

Bringing it all together, the site is about fashion, so yes, there will be shopping. Replicating in-store retail services, the site allows users to buy from her collections or use the “shop by look’’ feature – a personalized concierge-style shopping service. Users can even reserve items on the site and then pick them up at their nearest store, just to get that in-store fix. StellaMccartney.com sophisticatedly integrates social networking throughout the site using Facebook and Twitter, and a “like” option that allows visitors to tag their favorites and share their McCartney picks. In addition to the site, a Stella McCartney iPad app will be available within the next few months to further her fashion influence around the world.

Finally Out of the Box: Boxee Box Gets a Major Firmware Update

November 30, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Boxee Box Firmware Upgrade
Earlier in November the highly anticipated Boxee Box from D-Link was released to the masses, who eagerly scooped them up. However, with all brand new gadgets come a few kinks. Within weeks of its release D-Link was flooded with suggestions, complaints, and bug reports from a significant number of users. Now, the Boxee team has responded with the Box’s first major update (yes, high fives all around) just in time to prove its gift-worthiness for the holidays.

For those of you who haven’t heard yet, the Boxee Box is a set-top device, just one of many in a recent line of hardware models like Apple TV and Roku, that allows users to stream media directly to their televisions using the internet. The Box gives access to thousands of shows, movies, music and other media instantly from a user’s favorite networks (Netflix, Vudu, Facebook, Pandora etc.)

What users will see is a major firmware upgrade (version 1.0.1.16319), designed to address some of the major problems identified back at its launch due to its capability to offer multiple media features. First, focusing on video, the update will fix video artifacts and missing video for 1080i content on the web, Blu-ray derived videos, and the inability to handle certain specific subtitles. The update will also perk up various aspects such as media playback (that annoying pause for ‘buffering’), connectivity, and network sharing. The Box now has a more accurate signal meter for Wi-Fi and most importantly, is faster to to set up than before. For us Mac users, shared media is now particularly more reliable (Mac: 1 PC: 0). In addition to the slew of other fixes, the browser has been altered to compensate for TV overscan and no longer hides part of the view.

The update is basically a technological hard on for those users who have already experienced the incredible power of the Boxee Box. For those who have yet to enjoy the Boxee Box experience, they are available in many major stores like Target or Wal-Mart (=from one nerd to another, the inside word is that Boxee Box is on sale through Amazon). The Boxee team will continue to roll out major firmware updates from now until the end of the year to ensure a seamless experience for all boxes and maybe (just maybe) try to capitalize on that holiday shopping.

Zapli Updates myShopanion in Time for Black Friday & Cyber Monday

November 26, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

myShopanion screen shotIt’s game time people, tick tick tick go the seconds left to the biggest shopping days of the year Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and all the days leading up to gift giving holidays. People are working on their game plans since, come this weekend, hitting up the stores will require true strategy in order to take advantage of the best deals in town. A shopper needs to have their head in the game and be equipped with the best shopping devices for quick decisions and quick buys.

“Say hello to my little friend….” No really, say hello to myShopanion, the iPhone and iPad application that acts as the ultimate shopping companion (hence its catchy name). Social shopping start-up, Zappli, has produced and recently updated the myShopanion app just in time to use for the holiday shopping season. The app integrates into multiple social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) where users can post their purchases (or potential) and interesting products to their accounts to get real-time advice and feedback from friends and family. myShopanion acts as a handy one-stop ‘phone-a-friend’ where a quick ‘yay or ney’ will shave minutes off time spent at one store. The app is unique from other mobile shopping apps for its ability to support a shopper’s natural tendency to rely on instant feedback, essentially eliminating indecision through its many useful features. Users will find a shopping feed where they can secretly stalk their friends and family to see what items they like or want.  Sounds pretty useful for finding the perfect gift right? Consumers can also use the app to scan a product’s barcode, take a picture of it or just type in the product name to find the best deals online. The app is built to access millions of expert reviews and check prices from thousands of retailers to ensure efficient shopping and to save a trip to another store. Once a user finds the best deal, they can complete the purchase right from the app or decide to save the product to purchase at a later date.

Like Al Pacino in Scarface, his ‘little friend’ did some serious damage  (although his little friend happened to be an M16 assault riffle but that is neither here nor there….okay worst analogy ever) but beside the point, shoppers all around will be doing some damage to their bank accounts this season and will be in need of some extra shopping advice and help. So why not go all ‘Tony Montana’ on holiday shopping and obliterate the stress of it all with myShopanion (your little friend)?

eBay Auctions an Evening with Bill Clinton for Charity

November 26, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

President Clinton eBay AuctionDrink some scotch, light a cigar, kick up your feet, and hang out with former President Bill Clinton. eBay is giving anyone (anyone with a fat wallet) a chance to bid on a full dinner and evening with the United State’s 42nd President.  Now, who wouldn’t want to eat some gourmet food and high-five that saxophone playing fella?

“The president is one of the most popular political figures in the world,” says eBay spokesperson Amanda Miller. “We anticipate that his eBay charity auction will draw bidders from around the globe.”

The auction began November 22 and ends at noon (PST) on December 2 with an opening price set at $25,000 (bidders will also have to be pre-qualified by eBay before they can place a bid). All the proceeds of the auction will support the Clinton Foundation’s effort to end poverty in the U.S. and around the world, fight childhood obesity, and provide HIV/AIDS medicines at more affordable prices for those who need them.

The highest bidder and three friends will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet and dine with the former president. Guests will fly over (the auction does not include the flight) to Clinton’s hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, and get the full presidential treatment, dining on a four-course meal designed by award-winning chef Jacob Peck of Forty Two, the restaurant at the Clinton Presidential Center. The evening also includes a private tour of the Clinton Presidential Library with Clinton as their guide; however, the most exciting part of the whole package is the chance to meet the former president and have a personal conversation with him. What questions would you ask the former President…. besides ‘how do you define sexual relations’?

“I’m looking forward to showing the auction winner some of my favorite exhibits and enjoying dinner with them overlooking the Arkansas River,” says Clinton. “But more importantly, I look forward to the impact the winning bid will have on the work my Foundation does around the world.”

Sheryl Crow’s $7.5M Estate Up for Online Auction

Filed under Celebrity eCommerce News, Online Auction by on November 26, 2010 at 5:32 am no comments

November 26, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Sheryl CrowHey does anyone have $1.2 Million we can borrow, oh and it has to be in cash, preferably big bills and no Canadian coins? Please and thanks. Not to mention we will need it by the next few hours because Sheryl Crow’s College Grove, Tennessee estate was up for auction!

The 48-year old, eco-friendly singer put her 17 room (including 5 bedrooms), 7 full baths, 6 car garage, 3 story- 10,264 sq. ft. mansion up for online auction, which ended at 6 pm CST, November 23. The final bid was only around $1,175,000, with the terms of the auction detailing the highest bidder must pay cash, and the deal had to close no later than January 14, 2011 (sure, fair enough).

The website listing names the estate the ‘Cross Creek Farm’ and has several pictures and videos of the 150 acre French style estate tucked in the middle of the countryside for potential buyers to peruse through. The unique feature of the farm is that it fully functions as a “Solar Farm” generating over 40 percent reduction in electric costs. The dwelling also boasts a 14 stall barn, an indoor riding arena, a salt water pool, a theatre, and music studio that also utilizes solar panelling to reduce energy costs so you can live the life, like Sheryl Crow!

If that isn’t enough room for you, there is also a 3 bedroom guesthouse to ‘squeeze’ your friends in.

Okay, so you can’t afford to get about $1.2 milllion in cash? Get some of your friends together, say about 8 of your closest and flossiest friends and each put in $150,000 to pick up a rock star’s home. Then in appropriate Oprah fashion you can say to your friends- ‘You get part of a home, you get part of a home, and you get part of a ho-oome!’ Living the dream, right? Just living the dream.

Honestly, reading some of the coverage on Sheryl Crow’s online auction, no one has yet to question the nature of the listing itself, by putting her name to the sale, it looks as if she is hastily selling the house. The singer originally listed it for $7.5 million back in May, and since it had no buyers, she is now letting it go for $6,325,000 less than she originally asked for. Come again? (That’s what she said).

Yes, a $6.3 Million loss is a big chunk of money, but supposing you are Sheryl Crow, it may not be too big of a fall back as the singer has built quite the career. Starting out as one of Michael Jackson’s backup singers on his Bad tour in the 80′s, she has climbed the charts, won 9 Grammys, and recorded her sixth album Detours and part of her seventh, 100 Miles from Memphis at the Cross Creek Farm estate. However, the last detail to the auction, bidding on the home closed since the reserve was not met, so as to not truly lose out in millions, Crow can add business savvy to her resume.

Yardsellr Aims to be the Social Marketplace for Facebook and Twitter

Filed under Online Shopping, Social / Mobile News by on November 23, 2010 at 8:15 am no comments
November 23, 2010

By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Screen shot for Yardsellr.com

Ah yes, another company trying to bring social commerce to Facebook. It seems these days everyone is trying to set up shop and dip into the $41 billion dollar social network to make a little money of their own but not many have made it successfully. Zzzzzz Zzzzz. However, before anyone zones out and dismisses the next company let’s figure out why Yardsellr.com is worth giving $5 million in series A funding led by Accel Partners and Harrison Metal Capital, which previously put in $750,00 into Yardsellr for seed funding. That type of money isn’t just for the average joe right?

Yardsellr (yes, seller is without the ‘e’ kind of the way rappers say ‘sizzr’) has been dubbed as the “eBay for Facebook” (except without the auctions). The company may have got their nickname from the companies three founders, former ebay executives, led by CEO Daniel Leffel, VP of Marketing Jed Clevenger, and VP of Community Rachel Makool but Yardsellr separates itself from eBay by functioning on a more personal and modernize level than the popular online auction.

What makes YardSellr not just another start-up?

Taking the idea of a basic yard sale, (and adding a little imagination) where the social network is your neighborhood, and your neighbors are your network friends Yardsellr creates an online marketplace that easily connects sellers to buyers by linking in to user’s Facebook and Twitter accounts. All of the items up for sale are part of what YardSellr calls “blocks” or better understood as categories where a user’s network can participate in ‘liking’ the block items (blocks are designed to develop communities of people interested in the same products). By liking a block, buyers can get a steady stream of new items for sale within the specific block category updated live in their Facebook news feed. Sellers pay nothing to list or sell on the site, but they do have the option to invest in additional marketing for their listings including hanging virtual for sale signs (Facebook, Google, etc.) and Tweeting about the listings. The only catch for buyers is that Yardsellr adds a ten percent fee to the final price of each item at checkout, covering the necessary transaction fees.

Currently Oodle officially runs the classified apps for Facebook and with their recent acquisition of Grouply, a leading platform for interest-based social networks, Oodle looks to secure their spot as the dominant marketplace. Oodle’s marketplace averages around 14 million users per month, as Yardsellr enters the occupied space with an estimated 1.3 million users (gained since its January launch) it will be interesting to see how the two face off on the coveted social network.

Anna Pacquin Comes out of the Shopaholic Closet with Boutiques.com

Filed under Celebrity eCommerce News, Online Shopping by on November 23, 2010 at 7:02 am no comments

November 23, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Stephen Moyer and Anna PaquinIt’s the middle of the night and you’re fast asleep. You roll over in bed to snuggle a little closer to the warmth of your loved one only to find a cold empty imprint, and the sudden awareness that something is not quite right. One foot out and the second hesitantly searches for the floor, a strange glow in the distance draws you in. You reach for the door, your hand trembling as you do. The glow grows bigger and then without warning blinds you entirely.  Heart racing, your confusion deepens; goosebumps run through your body. As the images in front of you slowly come into focus, you see your spouse huddled in front of a computer, madly clicking the mouse.  You move closer, and like a moment out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie, you are confronted with the unspeakable horror of… online shopping!

Online shopping?

Okay, so it’s 3am, you’re tired as hell and maybe overreacted, but really, it’s just online shopping. Hey, at least your spouse is not huddled in front a computer looking at porn.

Shopping online in the cover of darkness does not have to be a shameful thing. Self proclaimed shopaholic, True Blood star Anna Paquin, confesses to her own habits as husband and co-star Stephen Moyer has even caught her in the middle of the night shopping away. Paquin defends herself as a fashionista, explaining “I don’t always buy, I’m almost more of a window shopper!” Truth be told, Paquin is not alone, so be ashamed no more fashionistas and shopaholics! Come out of hiding with Google’s newest ecommerce store Boutiques.com.

Boutiques.com is a fashionista’s virtual playground. The site uses a vision technology that categorizes over 50,000 fashion items down to specific style, color, shape, and pattern. Google has essentially created a personal stylist algorithm that changes how fashion is presented online. Visitors can build their own profile or boutique where they can share personal styles and eventually accumulate followers who can comment on their taste. By taking a style quiz, the site suggests personally tailored preferences from trends (consider it the way Pandora suggests music based on users’ likes) users can also select which trends they like and rate them.

The real fun comes from Boutiques’ major designers and celebrities who have signed on to share their own personal fashion. Visitors can now browse through the preferences of designers such as Diane von Furstenburg, Oscar de la Renta, and Derek Lam and celebrities like Nicole Richie, Eve, Elisabeth Moss, and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (it’s like getting to peak inside their closets). Google authenticates all celebrity boutiques to ensure the real deal.

Potentially, the site will expand to offer men’s fashions as well as featuring boutiques from fashion magazines and even characters from TV shows (maybe a cameo from a Miss Sookie Stackhouse is in order). The site celebrates fashion savvy opinions. With all of the fashion bloggers and high end retailers involved, Boutiques is a place to both show off and discover the fashionista inside all of us.

War of the Online Streaming Worlds: Netflix vs. Hulu Plus

Filed under All eCommerce News by on November 23, 2010 at 6:06 am 2 comments
November 23, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team
Netflix vs. Hulu PlusOh it’s so on, it’s on like Donkey Kong. Netflix has slipped off the white gloves and given Hulu Plus a virtual slap across the face. Challenge accepted? The dueling weapon: Netlflix has officially announced Monday they will be offering a $7.99 streaming-only subscription plan that limits access to just its online movies and TV episodes. Does the price sound familiar? It should because Hulu Plus offers the exact same pricing for their premium offering that also lets their users watch streaming movies and TV episodes which was announced weeks before (on no, Netflix di’nt). Netflix is beefing up their services as they have been signing up deals with various hardware vendors to make their content easily available for flat panel TV’s, Internet-connected Blu-Ray players, video-game consoles (Xbox 360, PS3), and other Internet connected devices (Boxee Box, Apple TV, Roku, etc). Surprise, surprise, Hulu Plus is also offered on these devices.

This move goes along with Netflix raising the price of their other plans. The two most popular plans, wherein subscribers can choose 1 or 2 DVD’s per month (unlimited rentals) including unlimited streaming each month, are increasing by a dollar to $9.99 and $14.99, respectively. With over 19 million customers, Netflix members are watching more streaming content than DVD content. The move to becoming primarily a streaming video service may be in the works.

However, what differentiates Hulu Plus from Netflix is that the premium service mainly offers full, complete TV seasons of current and past series from ABC, NBC, Fox, and other channels with a more limited movie selection; whereas Netflix is known for having a wide variety of movies and TV series. As Netflix moves into direct competition with Hulu Plus they will face the challenge of signing deals with studios and TV production companies to gain content over Hulu Plus. Netflix reports they spent $115 million in their last quarter on streaming content and has recently expanded their licensing deals with NBC Universal and Warner Bros. As competition increases, such deals will likely become more expensive, studios will increase their rates to obtain streaming-only rights, so enjoy the current $7.99 fee, with competing services like these we may eventually see subscription fees increase across the board. Game on.

Rise in the Australian Dollar is Ecommerce Gold

Filed under Australia eCommerce News, eCommerce Financial News by on November 19, 2010 at 7:07 am one comment
November 19, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team
Aussie "Benjamins"It’s all about the Benjamins baby. Correction, it’s all about the Aussies, at least for now. The Australian dollar also known as the Aussie has maintained at the center of the world’s spotlight for the past 6 months. Advancing 17 percent against the greenback since the end of June, Bloomberg has tracked that this is the biggest gain of the 16 world currencies. As of this week, the Aussie traded between 98.44 U.S. cents and 99.06 U.S. cents.

With a stable flow of money pouring into Australia (and all the Vegemite they can eat) “over the next couple of years as a result of the resources boom, the challenge will be to manage the economy in a way that keeps economic growth on a sustainable path, with inflation contained,” Australia’s Reserve Bank deputy governor Ric Battellino. The Aussie has not reached parity to the U.S. dollar since 1982, and at its current peak, the rest of the country aims to take full advantage of its value.

What could only be explained as an ecommercer’s dream, the good folk in Australia are flocking to their computers and making it rain Aussies by buying up a variety of goods and services overseas. According to recent research from Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), 90 percent of Australian households with access to the Web are now using it to shop online. Shopping online empowers consumers to purchase more economically and efficiently with the convenience of finding goods and services at the best price. The most popular purchases made by Australian consumers include travel, event, concert or movie tickets, and household goods–such as furniture, electrical appliances, and computer equipment. Nearly one quarter of Australian online sales go overseas, which has prompted U.S. retailers to target their offerings down under, from eBay, Nordstrom, Amazon, and Victoria’s Secret all looking to cash in on the Australian shopping boom. As the strength of the Aussie dollar continues, it will attract investors and ecommercers alike maintaining focus on Australia, the world waits to see how this country manages this major boost in their economy.

Stipple’s $2M Funding is Six Degrees of Justin Timberlake

Filed under Celebrity eCommerce News, eCommerce Startups by on November 19, 2010 at 5:28 am 2 comments
November 19, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team


Stipple BritneySan Francisco based start-up Stipple, is a name that has gained more clout since its launch in August and has furthered its tech street cred with the recent announcement of $2 million in seed funding. Taking only three months to find $2 million, CEO Rey Flemings can thank the major contributors for this round to Kleiner Perkings Caufield & Byers, Mike Maples, and FLOODGATE. Other contributors include Naval Ravikant, Eghosa Omoigui, Global Brain Corporation, Quest Venture Partners, Parkview Ventures, John Ferber, and Justin Timberlake (Justin who?) yes, JT himself.

The mix of these investors make sense but Justin Timberlake is a bit of a head scratcher. Could it be, since his role in The Social Network he has the tech itch that so many love to scratch, or is he just another celebrity putting his name to anything? Okay, let’s give him a little more credit than that, he did in fact bring sexy back. Making sense of this connection is somewhat a game of six degrees of separation. CEO Flemings has announced that one of Stipple’s new partnerships is with JIVE Label Group. Flemings used to be the COO of Tenman Records, a joint venture between Timberlake and Interscope.  With Timberlake performing under JIVE’s label, the connection becomes clear. Boom.

Alright, back to the nitty gritty, Stipple is entering a space that has yet to be truly challenged. With an early round of heavy funding, Stipple can command the image monetization niche at full force. Google’s Pixazza and FlickR may be the only contendors in this space but have yet to offer the services Stipple legitimizes. To implement Stipple on your site, you just need to include a small snippet of code. From there, users can access the free inline editor to easily label the content of pictures online. Once a photo has been labeled, Stipple connects the label to realtime information, advertising or product offers using the feature called a People Dot. The dot also allows people to label any photo on the Web, not just within hosted social networks. The function of the dot is similar to how Facebook uses a tag on pictures but Stipple’s dot offers more information than just a tagged name. The service is built to be unobtrusive to your site’s viewers, so the dots don’t appear unless someone mouses over the image. Users can also make money off their own pictures, Stipple will pay to tag photos on your site. Advertising companies can use the Stippled pictures to tell their target audience what shirt your friend is wearing, who makes it, how much it costs, is there a deal on it, etc. This feature can be applied to anything in the image, a location, gadget, appliance, or whatever else is profitable in the image. Stipple may revolutionize the way advertisers connect with their consumers because it takes a product and personalizes it to the viewer, expect Stipple to be a heavy hitter in this space.

Jillian Michaels Auctions a $9300 Personal Session for The Biggest Loser Crew

Filed under Celebrity eCommerce News, Online Auction by on November 18, 2010 at 7:04 am no comments

November 18, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

The Biggest Loser CastA good deed never goes unnoticed, especially when that deed is valued at nearly $9,300. NBC’s The Biggest Loser has been making headlines the past week with the news of a 50 crew member walkout. The strike comes as a result of the NBC series failing to secure a union contract for the crew to gain pension and health benefits.  In an effort to support their fellow crew members, The Biggest Loser trainers (booty-shaping and pound-dropping) Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper, and host Alison Sweeney have auctioned themselves on EBay to bring relief money in for the show’s production crew. Alison Sweeney has a ‘no-strike’ clause in her contract, but has shown her support by auctioning three special private luncheons with her. These went for went for $1,125. A 1 hour one-on-one training  session with Harper was at $3,050 and Michaels topped off her session at $9,300 early Wednesday. The auction had been going on for three days and ended November 17th, late afternoon.

The show has garnered a significant following, with 6.87 million viewers tuning in Tuesday to watch the 10th season. Filming of the eleventh season had been suspended for a few days but as of Monday morning, the show began production again with replacement workers. This was a bit of a slap in the face from Reveille and 3 Ball productions, who produce The Biggest Loser also went ahead and hired the replacements. They may need to reconsider their choices and take a scene from a little gem known as Norma Rae. Where is Sally Field when we need her? 100  people, crew and International Alliance of Theatrical State Employees (IATSE) supporters took it to ‘the man’ and picketed the King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas, California where the show is filmed at. The picketing peaked when strikers yelled “scab” and “turn around” at the replacement workers, banging on their vehicles as they were driving in for work, but overall the picketing remained orderly.

The nasty details in this strike may seriously affect the crew. According to California State Law, during a strike, striking workers do not get paid for their time, they cannot collect unemployment compensation, and the company involved has the right to replace the strikers with permanent replacements. This means that the strikers, is if they are permanently replaced, will have no right to be reinstated into their old job until new positions become available and when they do, those workers can only be hired off a preferential hiring list. With supporters coming in from the IATSE and the LA County Federation of Labor (who represent more than 800,000 workers), the embattled strikers may hold their ground with cries of “Union! Union! Union!”

Get ‘Cheeky’ with a Taxidermied Piglet Bank and Other Oddities

Filed under Online Shopping, Social / Mobile News by on November 18, 2010 at 6:56 am no comments

November 18, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

The Piglet BankQuick store idea: ‘how about we gather as much offensive and absurd stuff as we can and let’s make money off of it! Yaay!’ Okay, this may or may not have been the mentality behind Ryan McCormick and Colin Hart, creators of oddity webstore TheCheeky.com, but it’s still a cool possibility. The Vancouver, Canada online retailer prides itself in selling items that “mock convention and challenge pointlessness.”
Selling items like the Suitcase Stickers, that displays various images of drugs, money, and a stowed away stewardess on the side of luggage, appears semi-realistically from far away (which has become an airport security favorite), Hickytats, temporary tattoos with personalized sayings that are placed and adhered on the skin the way someone would naturally give a hicky (big winner among preteens), and the iPad T-shirt, a $50 t-shirt with a centered see-through pouch that holds and displays the full iPad screen (which is currently sold out).

One of their more controversial products is TheCheeky “piggy bank.” Sounds harmless, a bit playful even, and maybe reminiscent of a classic childhood toy, why not– but “piggy bank” in quotations is all too appropriate. The webstore’s Piglet Bank is literally what it is. Once a real life piglet (that supposedly died of natural causes) stuffed taxidermy style, and inserted with a coin storage unit and cork plug, the bank is “designed for anyone who has far too much money and loose change.”

So, it’s definitely not the childhood classic you had thought, but rather Babe made into a loose change bank (oh, hi PETA).

Really, anyone who’s looking at these products should be able to see the “humor” in it all (again, those sneaky quotations) and for anyone who buys a Piglet Bank, just has a lot of extra money to blow. The bank is going for roughly $4,000, with the disclaimer, half of the payment up front and the other half when the piglet is completed. The overall production takes about 12 months (enough time for buyer’s remorse to kick in) and could essentially be the perfect holiday gift for the kiddies in 2011 or could potentially send them into therapy. The absurdity of the bank may be far too obvious, but let’s just say some of TheCheeky items are not the ideal gift for airport security, animal activists, or for the local conservative group this Christmas.

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