November 22, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

The holiday season is just around the corner and Group buying startup Groupon is leaping into the spirit, not just by offering special deals, but by creating its own holiday, Grouponicus.

Described as a “brand-new, centuries-old wintertime holiday that lets you skip the stale gift cards and give your loved ones fun and exciting experiences in their city—at 50% off,” Grouponicus is another zany promotional tactic that prides itself on smart, tongue and cheek writing.

How does Grouponicus set itself apart from Groupon? For one, it’s a completely separate site and email news letter. The site points out special holiday deals that Groupon patrons can purchase for that special someone.

The Grouponicus site also differs in structure. Instead of offering one deal per day that lasts only 24 hours, Grouponicus offers three to four deals at a time that will be available for three to five days.

No holiday would be complete without some form of symbology. Christmas has Santa, Thanksgiving moderates the turkey population, Hanukkah has a dradle made out of clay, and Grouponicus has Groupo The Bargain Bird. He is “the dapper, snake-tailed Grouponicus holiday mascot that kids love! On each night of Grouponicus, Groupo uses his nimble snake-tail to unlock your attic windows so that he may leave neatly stacked Groupons inside the ovens of his true believers –those who live by his Doctrine of Completion.”

One may ask what the Doctrine of Completion is.  Well it’s the belief system by which all Grouponicus followers adhere to and swear to uphold.  The Doctrine is said to be found  ”in the heart of every singing child, the faces of every elderly couple baking snow pies, and in the concrete-filled vault 26 miles beneath the Library of Congress, where the original copy is still faintly glowing.”

Grouponicus will offer a total of 650 deals throughout the holiday season, which begins during the Autumn Solstice on Nov. 22 and wraps up during on Dec. 26.

November 12, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Cloud-based subscription billing service, Zuora, is building on a past history of success by racking up an additional $20 million in series C financing, bringing its financing total to $41 million since launching in 2007. Series C funding is the third round of investment buy-ins, and judging by the list of investors, including Redpoint Ventures, people are expecting big things from Zuora. This is just fine with Zuora founder and CEO Tien Tzuo:

“Now is our time to step on the gas.”

“Stepping on the gas” means things like tripling staff and opening national offices in 15 other countries, Tien said. He indicated that Zuora had about 10 other product ideas under development, with an eye towards releasing them within the next two years. This would turn Zuora into a major powerhouse in the burgeoning “subscription marketplace.”

According to Tim Haley, founder of Redpoint Ventures, subscription services are a huge key to profits for ecommerce outlets:

“Like so many companies, Netflix started on a shopping cart-based, product-focused business model, and it wasn’t until it discovered the power of subscriptions that Netflix really took off.”

And Haley should know, he was Netflix’s first investor. Given all the success that Netflix has had with its subscription service and online streaming options, it would appear that he is on to something. Subscription-based revenue models offer businesses an extremely powerful base from which to work, keeping a pool (ideally, an ever-expanding pool) of customers close to them and constantly engaged (and constantly spending money, at regular intervals, which the business knows that it can count on). Businesses can add new products, services, and subscription packages to continually changes and improve customer experiences.

Zuora offers businesses the tools to do all of these things, all through their cloud-based system: adjustable pricing for different-sized groups, scalability, and metric tools to constantly evaluate the business’ performance and change elements for maximum success. Their core product is “Z-Billing,” which includes a customizable product catalog, customer subscription management, billing operations, and taxation. Zuora reports getting clients up and running withing 90 days and showing a 200% ROI within weeks.

Given the wealth of businesses switching to app- and subscription-based services and revenue models, and the backgrounds of the team members who developed Zuora (which includes veterans from Google, eBay, Oracle, and many others), they may find themselves holding a winning hand when the next round of ecommerce cards are dealt out. That said, I wouldn’t bet against them.

November 12, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Not claiming to be a tech expert, but rather a self proclaimed mind of the general public and an average consumer (credentials are backed by owning two, yes count them two Magic Bullets, one Snuggie, being an unashamed Glee watcher, general manager of own fantasy football team, and not above leaving the last slice of pizza for someone else to eat). In other words, this writer is an efficient, resourceful, cultured, and intelligent humanitarian, which certainly qualifies as a legitimate, average minded consumer of today, and someone worthy of writing this article.

Scrutinizing every purchase is how it works in today’s economy and with the release of the Boxee Box in 33 countries and now shipping off of Amazon, there are few things to consider before investing in well, a $200 box.

Usually when a product’s release date is pushed back, it is a sign that developers need more time to get the technical glitches out, or the product is not as good as they want it to be. For over a year now, there has been a lot of hype from people wanting to get their hands on a Boxee Box, giving much credit to the push back from the second quarter to early November (touche Boxee Box, touche). Users need to understand why they unknowingly want to get their hands on a Boxee other than the simple fact they played the ‘hard to get’ card well, but from a female perspective, that’s just child’s play.

Boxee Box runs on an Intel CE4110 processor and with a speed of 1.2GHz offers great performance and memory. Essentially a streaming media box, including a WebKit browser for viewing and searching standard Web content. Boxee is also built on the same Atom-based platform as Google TV, which reminds us all that there are already other similar products, which are relatively cheaper, like Roku XDS ($100) and Apple TV ($99).  The new simplified user interface supports HTML 5 giving access to a variety of online resources such as Youtube, VUDU, etc. for a full couch-based TV experience.

Although Netflix and Hulu Plus streaming have been added to Boxee, the features will not be available until the end of this year. The box does not support Hulu but it supports Hulu Plus, which just launched and is taking the Internet by storm,  is Hulu’s $10 a month service that grants access to full seasons of TV shows from NBC, FOX, and ABC as well as big blockbuster movies. However, Sony announced last week the PS3 will also have access to Hulu Plus and if you already own a PS3 chances are you won’t need a Boxee if you know how to properly connect it to your TV.

These external devices are all remedies for the lack of Internet content on the TV. However, an emerging trend in TV developers (Samsung, Sony, LG) are starting to add connectivity directly into their TVs which essentially removes the need for an external device. Boxee Box is technology’s Marky Mark and we know how long the Funky Bunch lasted. Boxee may seem like a great idea for the time being, but there are other products and software coming out that have stronger staying power and more worth the total investment.

November 12, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

There’s a little area tucked away in the hills of the world wide web that offers the most delectable wines and gourmet products at prices 30-50% off retail. It’s a place called Lot18 and was created by Philip James, founder of Snooth.com, and former CEO of Quigo, Kevin Fortuna. It is an online private sales club that will enable members to purchase fine wines straight from their producers.

Lot18, a membership by invitation only website, was developed with a couple of basic goals in mind:  helps bring recognition to producers who have difficulty generating a consumer following, while bringing consumers a selection of fine wines available in small quantities and limited runs at discounted prices. Prices range from $19.99-$59.99 discounted from of $35.00-$125.00, respectively.

On staff is a group of wine experts who write detailed descriptions of the wines and their vineyard, which may entice consumers to go outside their realm of preferred vineyards and sample wines they may have never heard of or tasted.

Lot18 has already partnered up with wineries such as Cornerstone Winery, Boisset Family Estates, Foley Family Estates, and, of course, Snooth.com. They’ve recently  landed a $3 million Series A round of funding from venture capitalist firm FirstMark Captial. Other investors include Quigo, Time Inc., AOL, Ziff Davis, Bankrate and Experian, along with some returning unnamed investors.

“Wine e-commerce done smartly is a tremendous market opportunity,” said Amish Jani, Managing Director at FirstMark Capital. “The U.S. is the world’s largest wine market at more than $30 billion in annual sales, but with only $2 billion sold online. Lot18′s approach is innovative because it matches interested consumers directly with top wineries across the country by creating close partnerships that allow the producers to really showcase their wine. The team’s experience and expertise in wine and technology gives them the background to create this exciting new platform.”

Few wine makers take to the Internet to sell their spirits, mainly because shipping and tax laws vary by state when it comes to alcohol.  This makes it very difficult to take advantage of all that selling online has to offer.  This is why some hosted shopping cart companies are focusing more on this niche of merchants, in a way to make things easier on them.  Most notably, Nexternal is an ecommerce solution that has the wine market cornered, as they make selling online extremely easy for any wine maker in any state.

November 11, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

Online personal genetics company 23 and Me reported on Tuesday that it has raised 22 million dollars in Series C financing to continue and improve its mission of providing convenient, affordable genetic testing to the general public.

23 and Me brings the ecommerce domain to new realms by offering consumers the opportunity to purchase DNA testing kits with associated information packages. Right now they offer three different analysis packages. One targets health factors: carrier status and risk for disease, possible drug responses based on genetic makeup, etc. The other package uses the 23 and Me database to help fill in the user’s family tree with detailed information. The final package is just a discounted rate for both the health and family tree analyses. They have said that they will use this latest round of financing to forward their goals and expand, pairing this announcement with news of job openings.

Series C financing of the type raised by 23 and Me, represents the third round of a company’s solicitation of partners and is indicative of a past pattern of success and hopes of similar future performance. Their newest investor is the Johnson & Johnson Development Corporation, but past/continuing contributors include New Enterprise Associates and Google Ventures. Google’s involvement is unsurprising as their drive towards all things new and different and technologically integrated has them branching out into pretty much everything, including robot cars. In the competitive world of ecommerce and internet startups, getting in early can be the key to big payoffs later on. If 23 and Me’s priced-to-own health and family tree information catches on with consumers, then 22 million might turn out to have been a small price to pay.

November 11, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

There’s no group option for this deal – only one buyer can come out the winner as Yahoo (and others) bid for collective savings provider Groupon. Apparently Yahoo has made Groupon an offer — somewhere between three and four billion dollars — in an attempt to stay relevant in a constantly changing marketplace.

Yahoo’s stock has been stagnant for a while, and with more competition in search engines, e-mail, and shopping, it’s easy to see why Yahoo would be eager to grab up Groupon before the social shopping giant gets any bigger. Social shopping sites like LivingSocial have garnered a lot of media attention lately as consumers and retailers alike realize the power of group buying, opinion, and relationships when it comes to consumer habits. Sites like Amazon and eBay have long given buyers a way to weigh in on their past purchases and rate ecommerce retailers and specific interactions, but lately a new crop of social shopping sites like ShopSocially and JoeShop have sprung up with interfaces specifically designed to allow users to discuss their purchases, favorite brands, and retailers. Interaction between consumers within the network drives future sales.

So why is Groupon so hot? Well, their business model is uniquely positioned for both businesses wishing to drive traffic and consumers wishing to save money. Consumers get a great deal on a product or service – but only if enough people decide to take advantage of the deal. This drives users to spread the word to other people within their network to make sure that the minimum number is reached. This all counts as free advertising for the businesses in question, as the e-mails that get circulated about the deal offer a unique opportunity to target a buying group with detailed information about their specific business. Add to this the fact that 60% of Groupon participants spend more than the value of the coupon that they bought through Groupon, and that’s a recipe for success. Groupon’s model is so successful that it has even spawned a green counterpart.

Reported here, a source at Business Insider says that Groupon is holding steady for right now, conducting a semi-annual review of its long-term options, which include buyouts, investors, an IPO, and more. Right now, though, it seems like Groupon is the prettiest girl at the dance, with Amazon, eBay (they have kind of a thing going on right now), and even that hunky Google all making eyes from across the dance floor.

H. Bloom, an online floral delivery service that offers floral subscription plans at affordable prices, has recently raised $2.1 million Series A round of funding, led by Battery Ventures in seed funding.

The New York based startup has created a new niche by offering the unique service of online only floral delivery service.  Earlier this year H. Bloom was able to captured the interest of several angels in New York and raised $1.1 million, bringing the company’s total funding to $3.2 million.

H. Bloom is able to offer flowers at great discounts because they cut out the middle man.  By not having a physical storefront to maintain and working directly with growers,  H. Bloom can offer professionally designed boutique-style arrangements for 70% off their normal retail price.

“The flower industry is saddled with unnecessary cost,” said H. Bloom co-founder and CEO, Bryan Burkhart.  “Retailers have to pay for expensive store-fronts and an overwhelming percentage of flowers that spoil before a customer can purchase them. With no retail footprint and the predictability of subscriptions, we know exactly what flowers to order and can pass on the savings to our customers.”

With the subscription customers are able to select the type of arrangement they want ($35-$85), whether they want their flowers delivered weekly, biweekly, or monthly, and how long they want to maintain the subscription (1-12 months or ongoing).

If a customer is not ready to commit to a subscription, H. Bloom does offer a one-time purchase option, at a higher price.  The company also offers weekly deals and customized corporate services.

H. Bloom plans to use it freshly acquired capital to continue to build a first class team, invest in sales and marketing to introduce its service to more customers, and to expand to a second market.

Currently, H. Bloom services Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, Long Island City, NY, and Hoboken and Jersey City in New Jersey. The company plans to launch in Washington, D.C. later this year.

While playing with his Silly Bandz, silicon bracelets that come in funky shapes and colors and are all the rage with kids these days, Ethan Fisher had the grand idea of bending colorful  paper clips into fun shapes and putting them on his clothes, which he appropriately dubbed Silly Clipz.

The 8-year old entrepreneur, with help from his parents, Claudia and Justin, manufactured around 115 clips and set out to test the idea in a controlled environment.  The testing was performed during a camping trip where Ethan left out a box of the Silly Clipz and observed the reaction of his peers.  To his surprise and excitement, his friends could not enough of the clips.

Since Ethan’s initial beta testing he and his parents have managed to distribute Silly Clips throughout a few local merchants,  including the Hallmark in the Boca Raton Town Center mall.  A majority of Silly Clipz sales and popularity have come from online.  Ethan could probably also thank Ellen for giving the product a cameo on her show.

“The idea just exploded,” Ethan said. “The response that we continue to receive is super positive.”

Ethan is not worried about following in the footsteps of Silly Bandz, which have been banned in many schools around the country.  He said Silly Clipz shouldn’t have this problem because they can also be used as paper clips.

Being home schooled, Ethan is able to integrate his business with his studies, which has motivated him to pursue the entrepreneurial lifestyle when he grows up.

October 12, 2010
By the ZippyCart Shopping Cart Reviews Content Team

GSI Commerce has been in the news a lot lately, which is due to its two large wins in the world of ecommerce: the creation of ShopRunner and the expansion of the Pepperjam affiliate network.  While Pepperjam and ShopRunner may seem to be two completely different ecommerce models, the two companies have a similar foundation, which is to connect businesses to a network where they will find further success.

Pepperjam is an affiliate network in which merchants can sign up and sell products from big name companies.  For every product sale, merchants can earn a commission.  Many merchants choose to sell a combination of their own products and affiliate products, while some online businesses strictly make their money through affiliate marketing.  While Pepperjam has always had a large selection of businesses to work with, they recently expanded their portfolio by adding more than 160 new affiliate programs.  One of the largest clients in this expansion is BJ’s Wholesale Club, which will allow affiliate websites the chance to advertise large wholesale deals to their visitors.

“It’s an exciting time to be part of a growing network like Pepperjam, and continue to build the GSI Media business unit,” said Steve Denton, president of GSI Media and Pepperjam. “As a leading provider of performance based marketing, we know that we can provide proven and cost-effective options for all of our clients, and elevate and effectively expand our clients’ profile among consumers.”

This expansion rides on the success of GSI’s latest release of ShopRunner, which is positioned to be a strong competitor to Amazon Prime. Amazon Prime is a yearly shipping service offered by Amazon, which provides garaunteed 2-day shipping to members that pay $79 per year for the service.  This 2-day shipping service is free on all eligible items, and Amazon Prime also lets members receive 1-day shipping for only $3.99 with membership. Goldman Sachs analyst James Mitchell estimated Amazon has between 2 and 3 million members in the U.S. using Prime and that the average Prime customer spends 3-4 times as much as a typical consumer.  Because of this, many believe that Prime has played a large role in Amazon’s success.

GSI’s ShopRunner makes it easier for independent retailers to compete.  ShopRunner offers the same service as Amazon Prime, but for a number of well-known brands that offer shopping online.  Companies working with ShopRunner include Dick’s Sporting Goods, Babies ‘R’ Us, Pet Smart, GNC, and a variety of others.  ShopRunner companies will also provide free returns, which is not something Amazon Prime members can receive.  Consumers who prepay for shipping often become repeat customers, which adds a large value to any company running ShopRunner as a shipping service.

With these two wins under GSI’s belt, the company will likely close out 2010 as a great success.  Time will only tell if ShopRunner will really provide strong competition to Amazon, but for now it’s clear that GSI Commerce is poised for a profitable year and an eventful 2011.