July 26, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Coupons are great, but most of the time it’s a pain to find the coupon, clip it out and make it to the store without forgetting them altogether. Lots of companies have tried in the past to make digital coupons easier to use, but SavingStar is a new ecommerce solution that takes a new approach to coupons. Instead of the “buy five, get one free” approach, SavingStar offers easy to use and understand coupons for everything from dish soap to diapers. The company has earned over half a million loyal users in the brief three months that it’s been available, putting it on a faster pace for growth than Groupon or Foursquare.

SavingStar takes a different approach to coupons. The ecommerce solution focuses on digital delivery of simple coupons. Users head to the SavingStar website, iPhone or Android app and link their account to their store loyalty card programs (which most stores offer, and are useful for getting deals). Then when they see a coupon they like on SavingStar, they add that coupon to their account. When they go into a participating store and buy the item, they use the mobile app to redeem the coupon at checkout. Instead of immediately discounting the price of the item, the user pays the listed price upon checkout. Their savings gets applied retroactively to their SavingStar account. When a user accumulates $5 in savings, they get paid out directly to their checking or savings account, PayPal account, in the form of an Amazon gift card, or can make a donation to a charity.

SavingStar CEO David Rochon says that while Daily Deal sites are great, they appeal to infrequent purchases. The new ecommerce solution brings together frequently purchased items and simplifies the coupon process. If a shopper buys a box of cereal, they save $1. If they buy a box of X-brand mac and cheese, they save 50 cents. Rochon says that the company research shows that 89% of consumers visit a grocery store at least once a month. More than 24,000 stores have partnered with SavingStar to bring deals to users. This new digital model is also beneficial for the companies providing the coupons, as they only pay when coupons are redeemed.

July 20, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

The online document sharing and reading platform, Scribd, has come out with something completely new. The new brand is called “Float.” This is Scribd’s first iPhone application, and is a one-stop place to read newspapers, PDF’s, magazines, etc. You won’t have to go to the iTunes ecommerce solution anymore to get different magazines and news publications. It’s all in one place.

This may seem similar to Apple’s new iOS 5 feature “Newsstand.” You could say it’s close, but it’s much easier, and it’s social! (Isn’t everything today, though?) The app integrates your social networks so that you can easily share stories from the application and see what your friends are currently reading.

The application is tightly integrated into your Scribd account so that all of your online documents are still right there. The content on the application is all optimized for mobile reading and there aren’t any advertisements (yet).

You might be wondering how this company is going to make money. Well, they don’t charge through an ecommerce solution, but as you know well, there are many other ways to monetize an app. The application plans to integrate advertisements into the free version of the app, but they want to make sure they’re not too intrusive. Another more ambitious plan is to make it “the Netflix of reading.”

No, that doesn’t mean they’re going to raise their prices for services that they already offer, but it does mean that they will charge something. The publications need money from the company, and in order for them to pay for it, the user must as well.  The application hopes to have a one-time fee for unlimited use, just like Netflix .

It’s hard enough for an ecommerce solution to get the customer to type in that dreaded (or loved) number on that little plastic card that has put so many people in debt. What would be even more difficult for Float to do would be to charge for each individual publication! That’s not an option they said. Instead, they plan to have a monthly charge for unlimited access – which is a lot easier to swallow.

The application is called Float because of the way you navigate through the reading.  You can scroll through the continuous document by swiping up or down, or if you want to see a whole new page you can swipe right or left.  Scribd hopes to make Float your number one stop for reading and to see what your friends are reading.

July 19, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Cardagin, a mobile advertising and loyalty program has snatched up $4.25 million in a Series A-1 funding round. This new influx of cash brings Cardagin’s funding up to $5.25 million after the first Series A round of $1 million. The company hopes to take daily deals to a new level – by taking away coupons and adding punch cards.

Cardagin is described simply as a mobile application designed to help users find businesses (similar to Yelp) to suit their needs. The differences arise when you consider Cardagin’s focus on daily deals, advertisements, and punch cards. The company allows entrepreneurs to pay through an ecommerce solution to have their business placed on the application.

Once the business is listed on the Cardagin app they have many options to help drive local traffic. The application allows businesses to have virtual punch cards, much like Punchd. The application also allows local businesses to pay for advertisements through Cardagin’s ecommerce solution.  The advertisements are displayed when someone searches within a certain distance of the location, helping the local business get more, well, local business.  Businesses are also enabled to post daily deals and announcements like in Yelp.

The daily deal platform is not like Groupon’s new program, Groupon Now. There is no need for the consumer to buy the deal from the mobile ecommerce solution. It is simply an announcement that businesses put on their listing in the app. Consumers can then walk in the store, show the advertisement, hand the cash (or plastic) over, and get the discounted rate.

Hoping to kick the standard daily deal ways of making countless sales calls, Cardagin is trying to get businesses to come to them. The company does not hold any money like Groupon or LivingSocial because none of the daily deal money is jetted to Cardagin. So when a business makes a daily deal, all the cash goes from the customer to the business.

Digital punch cards are becoming a new way to businesses to help get returning customers.  With the old paper style punch cards being easier to lose than chapstick, Cardagin’s punch cards are stored on your phone via your Cardagin account. Even if you lose your phone, the punch cards are saved on your account (if you lose your phone it is doubtful you’ll be worried about your punch cards though).

The new $4.25 million will help Cardagin hire more talent, and get the word out about their different approach to helping local businesses obtain a more loyal customer base. Get ready to throw out those punch cards and Groupon printed coupons, try throwing Cardagin on for size (pun intended).

July 19, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Zappedy, a company focused on helping local business get their ecommerce solutions up and running, has been acquired by Groupon. Pricing and other terms of the acquisition have not been stated publicly. The only thing we know is that Zappedy’s website has a very large Groupon logo on the front page with an acquisition announcement below.

Innovation Endeavors is a venture capital firm that was started by the former CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt.  They were one of the key investors to get Zappedy off the ground, and describe the local business ecommerce solution service like this:

Zappedy powers revolutionary applications that help brick and mortar merchants better understand, attract and retain customers. Using data gathered from a mixture of direct feeds and credit card aggregators, Zappedy enables next-generation commerce, entertainment and mobile advertising applications that recognize customers’ offline purchases as well as their online activities.

For the TLDR (Too Long Didn’t Read) group, Zappedy is described by its co-founder Na’ama Moran very simply (via Vator.tv):

“[Zappedy] is a Web solution that enables local merchants to get their products and services online in less than five minutes.”

The service enables local businesses to have their listing up on an ecommerce solution by simply sending an email. Moran described it in more detail by saying that companies just need to send in a description, pictures, deals, and whatever else they’d like to include, and Zappedy would get it up and running online.

The 5-minute install pitch seems incredibly similar to WordPress’ claim. The fact is, for the less internet-savvy users, it could take quite a bit longer than 5 minutes.  It is also still unclear whether or not Groupon plans to keep Zappedy up-and-running throughout the acquisition, or if they just wanted to hire some awesome talent much like Zynga does with their acquisitions.

Groupon is still in the midst of filing for their IPO, and hopefully the first day of trading will be soon. With speculation of the company’s solvency popping up almost daily, it is difficult to see where the daily-deal-ecommerce-solution powerhouse is headed.

July 19, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

The world of ecommerce solutions encompasses a lot of different types of businesses, of all kinds – large and small. While each business is different, there are certain things that they all have in common, techniques and skills that come in handy no matter how big you are or how long you’ve been in business.

First off, one thing that every business needs, at some point in its life/growth cycle, is to hire more people. Right now, many of you reading this may be struggling to survive or grow, but with proper social media efforts (we’ll talk about that more later) and a little luck, you could find yourself dealing with a flood of orders and capital, and find yourself needing to expand.

There’s the rub: right now you’re small. Sure you might wish for more revenue, but with more money come more problems. The only solution can be, in some cases, to expand your staff. But you can’t just rush out and hire the first person who replies to your Craigslist ad. You need to carefully select every member of your team – especially when you’re small. As you grow out your core team, the new member you add will become the core of future success.

But just because you think that you know what you need to power your store (and you probably do), doesn’t mean you automatically know how to attract, interview, and ultimately hire the right talent for the job. That’s where Udemy comes in. We’ve got a special deal lined up for Zippycart readers for Udemy’s turbocharged “How to Hire and Interview the Best People” course for a whopping 60% the usual price.

This course gives you insight from industry greats like Auren Hoffman, who helped build the “hiring machine” the continues to power RapLeaf. They attribute their high grade corporate culture to their ability to secure “A Players.” Don’t you want A Players? Of course you do! Even in these harsh economic times, great talent isn’t out there just sitting around waiting for you to come look for it. The best and brightest are out there knocking down doors at places like Google and Twitter, who will gladly start a bidding war with 7-figure signing bonuses for the right person.

Maybe you feel like you can’t compete with the likes of these giants, but with guidance from Auren, Russ Fradin (executive, early employee, or founded at 4 different companies that each sold for over $100 million), Dan Arkind (Silicon Valley hiring guru) and four other industry pros, you’ll be able to confidently leverage your own company’s offerings to get you the strongest players around. The seven-part PowerPoint program will give you the skills you need.

But a strong team isn’t enough! Just because you have a great product or service or ecommerce solution doesn’t mean that you’re on a smooth track to success and big payoffs. Just the opposite – when you’ve got something really great you need to hustle and make sure that everybody knows about it! Brand loyalists and fans will help build a vibrant consumer base and keep people talking, but unless you help power the social media conversation around your business, you’re going to be sitting up late, listening to your computer hum and wondering why no one is clicking “buy” on your ecommerce solution.

Udemy’s “Social Marketing for Startups” crash course, powered by Sprouter heavyweight Dan Martell will tell you everything you need to know (and didn’t even know you needed to know) about using social media to skyrocket your product or service to high visibility in what is becoming an increasingly crowded (but still super important) space: social media.

Everybody and their cat (literally!) has a Facebook Page, Twitter account, Tumblr micro blog, a LinkedIn profile (that they either update WAY too much or never bother to update at all) and is scrambling for a Google+ invite that they have no idea what to do with. Dan is here to show you what you’re doing right and what you should be doing that you’re not thinking about. For 60% off and an untold amount of ROI, can you really afford to turn down this great offer?

July 18, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Ever wondered if there’s a chance to make some spare cash selling your unwanted stuff to people in your city? Looking for something a bit more interactive and “alive” then Craigslist? Welcome to Zaarly, a community of people in your city looking to buy, sell, or rent items in real time. This innovative ecommerce solution recently released the Android version of their mobile app, allowing users to buy and sell on the go. The release of the Android app completes Zaarly’s push for complete mobile selling capabilty. The Zaarly app has been available on the iPhone, iPad, and iPod for a few months now.

The site works like this: A buyer posts something they need. Say someone wants a bag of dog food in Wallingford (that’s a part of Seattle, for you non-locals). They post how much they’re willing to pay for said dog supply, and a nearby user in Seattle hops on the ecommerce solution’s app. What do you know, they have an extra bag of dog food that they’re willing to part with for the buyers stated price. The two use Zaarly to connect, and the transaction is fullfilled via private messages. The seller gets paid either through a cash transaction with the buyer or an approved credit card. If the listing is a “verified” listing then the transaction can only be finished via credit, as the card is already pre-approved and guarantees a safe exchange for both parties.

The startup, which received $1 million in seed funding in March. The company’s blog tracks the progress of the site, as well as the shenanigans they’re getting into. For example, Zaarly locked a friend named Wes in a Los Angeles storefront for the weekend and told him the only way he could survive was by relying on the Zaarly community for what he needed. So Wes was forced to use the Zaarly ecommerce solution for his food, bed and entertainment. The entire weekend was available live on uStream.

Zaarly, based in San Francsico, is currently available in most major cities in the United States. The current top selling cities are San Francisco, Kansas City, New York City, Seattle, and Los Angeles. Smaller cities such as Des Moines and Omaha also have active communities. The company recently reached an incredible goal, having posted more than $1 million in posts.

July 12, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

local.com

Online local media company Local.com announced early Monday morning that it has acquired Screamin’ Media Group (SMG), the parent company of daily deal site, Screamin’ Daily Deals (SDD).

Under the terms of the deal, Local.com agreed to purchase SMG for $12.5 million in cash, stock and debt, with the opportunity for SMG shareholders to earn up to an additional $20 million if certain financial performance criteria are met during the two-year period following the closing.

The acquisition follows shortly after Local.com’s May 2011 launch of Spreebird.com, a daily deal site hybrid which blends the traditional daily deal business model with the functionality of a local, daily deal aggregator. SDD will now operate under the Spreebird brand.

With daily deal sites launching one after another (almost ad nauseum), Local.com may be leveraging SDD to jump into the already overcrowded (yet still highly lucrative) daily deal pool. However, as deals become more localized and niche specific in other verticals, this evolution allows everyone with some daily deal site variation to swim in it. The determining factor is whether or not these other variations can stay afloat.

Just launched in 2010, SDD has approximately 60 employees offering deals across 14 markets throughout the U.S. including Los Angeles, Orange County, Salt Lake City and San Diego. Within the same year, the company generated $2.4 million in [unaudited] revenue, and in 2011, the company has already raked in $4.4 million in the first half of the year. Although SDD’s revenue may not be on par with daily deal giants like Groupon or LivingSocial, the company is however on track to develop into a possible mainstay in the daily deal sector. SDD company has taken on an initiative that will allow it to stay afloat among the plethora of daily deal sites, through its School Rewards Program.

The program allows consumers to donate 10 percent of SDD’s net proceeds from each deal to a school or non-profit organization chosen by the consumer. To date, the program has donated over $400,000 to more than 700 local schools and non-profits, and has proven to be a way for the SDD to develop meaningful relationships with merchants and consumers.

“The acquisition of SMG serves our mission of connecting brick-and-mortar merchants with online consumers by extending our reach directly to thousands of local merchants in 14 markets. This transaction diversifies our revenues and provides us with a new way to engage consumers,” said Heath Clarke, Local.com chairman and CEO.

July 11, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

BlueCava, the Mark Cuban backed start-up has raised $1.5 million in debt funding according to an SEC filing.  The company develops patented technology that enables its customers to identify the 10 billion devices that connect to the Internet such as smartphones, TV set-top boxes, gaming consoles, computers, and more.  They then sell this valuable data to companies that are willing to pay top dollar.

Last year the company raised $5 million from investors which included billionaire Mark Cuban and oil tycoon Tim Headington.  BlueCava has since been seen by major investors as a company to keep a close eye on.

On the BlueCava website it claims that its technology is actually about 15 years old, dating back to Australian inventor Ric Richardson, who also happened to be the road manager for INXS.  Richardson patented the idea (#5,490,216) and later sued many companies for infringement (including Microsoft).  A jury did eventually award the company that BlueCava spun out of an estimated $388 million.  It was the 5th largest dollar amount awarded for a software infringement.

So why would a company want to add BlueCava to their shopping cart?  According to their website BlueCava unlike most companies excels at two things, not just one.  They can detect fraud and help businesses discover the right customers to target their advertising to.

The company describes their service much more eloquently: “No two devices are alike. That’s hella cool as they say in our part of the world because BlueCava has developed an incredibly complex, amazingly fast and stunningly accurate way of identifying devices and their reputations.”

One of the first major companies to add BlueCava’s services to their shopping cart was IMVU Inc, which operates an online game with an estimated 55 million registered players.  IMVU was suffering from fraudsters using stolen credit-card numbers to buy virtual clothing and trinkets.  After utilizing BlueCava ‘s technology the vice president at IMVU said it has, “led to a significant decline in our fraud rates.”

Though the technology may seem interesting it is currently under legal debate among lawmakers, some who say in may infringe on the privacy of hundreds of millions of Internet Users.  As of now digital fingerprinting remains legal and profitable!

July 8, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

BitCoin users who have yearned for a more legitimate solution for exchanging the online currency may be in luck. A new ecommerce solution called Camp BX is looking to legitimize BitCoin, the strictly online currency that is popular with the tech community.

Camp BX founder Keyur Mithawala started the site to try and transform Bitcoin. The currency is young, and Mithawala is looking to change BitCoin into a professionally-traded currency. What makes Camp BX more legitimate than other ecommerce solutions is the site is subject to security audits from third-party security providers like McAfee. This also opens the door for potential trading options that would emulate other markets like the stock market. Other BitCoin sites have not allowed users to short-sell BitCoin currency.

There are two major sites for the exchange of BitCoin currency: MT Gox and TradeHill. MT Gox boasts a user base of over 60,000 users. Of those, only 10% have any balance or are active participants. Camp BX takes a percentage of each transaction as a fee. The site charges 0.55 percent each time BitCoin changes hands, in exchange for letting Bitcoin traders use the website. The transaction fee is lower than what PayPal and other online payment providers charge for using their services. Bitcoin users have always aimed to eliminate transaction costs, Mithawala said, and are working towards that goal.

Bitcoin has run into privacy and stability issues as of late. Last month, nearly $500,000 in BitCoin currency was stolen after users accounts were hacked and depleted. The value of the BitCoin dropped to nearly 0 dollars after the incident, but later recovered. The currency suffers an average 8% change in value every day. Despite this fact, BitCoin continues to be traded at a rate of $27 million a month.

Camp BX is the only BitCoin site that subjects itself to security audits and screening, meaning that the site is one of the most legitimate and secure ecommerce solutions for BitCoin transactions. Mithawala said that the site processed around 1,600 transactions amounting to 90,000 Bitcoins in an 11-day testing phase.

July 7, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

In what is possibly some of the biggest news this year for the US music industry, Spotify announced that it will officially hit the US market within the next two weeks. Spotify, currently available to European customers only, is an online music service that allows users to stream and download 13 million songs. The program works much like Pandora – in that service, free accounts have limited access, and paid access unlimited. In Spotify, free users are limited to 20 hours of listening a month and are ad-supported, while unlimited and ad-free accounts start from £4 to £10.

With the higher priced accounts, users can also upload their own content and stream it to mobile devices. This is a precursor to what Apple is trying to do with the forthcoming iCloud. If a listener hears a song on Spotify and feels so inclined, they can then purchase the track through the app by placing it in their online shopping cart.

The US market is already saturated with music services, but consumers continue to embrace new programs and add music to their shopping carts. Pandora, fresh off a recent IPO, has been steadily gaining popularity in the United States. Pandora offers consumers 40 hours of free streaming music based on their preset music preferences. It is very clear that the future of music is heading towards streaming, as tech powerhouses Apple, Google and Amazon all prepare to launch their own cloud-based music streaming services.

Currently, Spotify claims more than 1 million users worldwide. The music service can be used on Macs and PCs, and US users will soon be able to add the iPhone and Android app to their mobile shopping cart. The company recently completed licensing agreements with major US labels, in anticipation of the US release. The company also completed a recent round of funding, joining the “$1 billion” club with funding from DST, Kleiner, and Accel.

Founders Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon started Spotify as a way for music lovers to legally share and listen to music, for free. Napster co-founder and President of Facebook Sean Parker has also invested in the company. The company is adding almost 10,000 tracks a day to its library, which now boasts over 13 million tracks. Despite its success with the European market, the company had previously struggled with US record deals, which delayed bringing their product to the larger United States market.

July 7, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

GrubHub is a service that allows you to easily order food for delivery or takeout from in-city restaurants. The service makes it easy to find restaurants that deliver, but only in big cities.  LocalUp has taken that model and is implementing it into smaller town and cities. It is like taking Grubhub to the hyper-local level.

The website branding is nothing like GrubHub, but more to the tune of TravelShark. The company has a separate website for all cities that they offer. For example, LocalUp in Santa Barbara is www.SBmenus.com. Each website is branded differently for each city that you’re in.

LocalUp has a built in ecommerce solution right on their individual websites. This means you can easily pay with a credit card on the website, then have your food delivered, or pick it up.

The business model is that LocalUp earns commission on each food sale that goes through one of their many websites. They also enable restaurant owners to pay a little extra coin for a more prominent spot within the ecommerce solution. Say you’re surfing the site and want a pizza. You’ll then see a Thai place being advertised (because the owner shelled out for that prime spot) and even though you never even thought of it, you end up wanting it. The Thai place makes money off the sale, and you get a delicious meal. It’s win-win, and definitely a very effective way to advertise.

LocalUp is currently in 30 markets including Boise, ID and Buffalo, NY. The company has over 500,000 users that collectively spent $25 million on food orders last year. The bootstrapped service plans to double revenue in this coming year.

The company has also taken a different approach for management. LocalUp is licensing its food delivery platform to franchisees who would run the specific city that they choose to purchase. This takes some pressure off of LocalUp corporate, and gives the chance for individual people to own and run their own local ecommerce solution

In the wake of all the daily deal firms popping up, LocalUp has integrated its own set of deals right beside the menus. The ecommerce solution is definitely up to something, and with small college towns on their expansion list, it looks like the company will only get bigger. We’ll have to see how the individual domains work versus a GrubHub-style centralized system.

July 7, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Quidsi, the people behind Diapers.com and Soap.com, have started a new pet supply venture called Wag.com. The new company will be owned by Amazon and will sell over 10,000 different pet care items, including food, kennels, and vitamins. The site is currently in beta, but is open to shoppers and providing free two day shipping on any purchase over $50.

Quidsi was purchased by Amazon for $540 million last year. The company built its reputation by starting online diaper and baby supply store Diapers.com in 2005. They later opened another ecommerce solution called Soap.com. The company has made headway in selling low-margin items such as diapers online by offering consumers a wider range of products and higher profit add-ons.

Some may recall the late-90’s pet store phenom Pets.com, the first ecommerece solution to take a swipe at pricey pet stores. Pets.com offered lower-than-retail prices on dog cat, and bird foods. The site also offered free shipping, even on 40 pound bags of dog food. Ultimately, the company burned through all its funding and was dead in the water after only two years. The company became an archetypal symbol of the Tech Bubble (The domain is now owned by Petsmart – a giant brick-and-mortar pet supplies store). Some see the rejuvenation of an online pet store as not only a proven bad business idea, but also a possible sign of Tech Bubble 2.0.

Wag.com says they have learned from the failure of Pets.com and have figured out what needs to be improved. The company is taking a new approach to their pet-centric ecommerce solution. Wag.com is shipping from three separate, fully stocked warehouses instead of one central location to reduce shipping costs. Wag.com is also aware that the higher margin items will make or break the company, and is pushing boutique pet foods as well as fancy grooming products and even features an entire shopping section for “picky pets.” The company also has the marketing muscle of Amazon.com behind them, and has utilized many of Amazon’s business methods and practices to hone their approach to logistics.

July 6, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

A new startup out of Israel that utilizes the built-in notification system on Android and iOS 5 to help you keep track of your blog has recently launched. UppSite allows forum and blog owners to create an iPhone or Android native app, just by installing a plugin. If you’re a blog or forum owner, then you know that you want as much engagement with your audience as possible.  UppSite hopes to provide that by making your website more easily accessible on users’ smartphones.

Let’s say you have a blog in which you post the best ecommerce solution and in-store deals of the day.  Today the best deal is at Best Buy.  Your users certainly don’t check your website every time they go out and need to shop (even though they probably should).  If you implement UppSite, your viewers with the mobile app would get a notification that you posted something about Best Buy. By saving them more money (or whatever your blog/forum does) you gain more loyal users, who will tell their friends.

UppSite plans to monetize by offering an option that is free, but requires advertisements on your app (and no you don’t get the money from them, UppSite does). There is also a paid version where you simply use their ecommerce solution to pay, then you can host it on your own developer account, if you have one. The paid version is ad-free.

The company plans to offer the app-making service for platforms other than WordPress and vBulletin.  We can’t say for sure exactly when they plan to roll them out though. Hopefully one day they’ll allow it for every site (not just blogs and forums) so you can get updates on your favorite ecommerce solutions.

The only mobile platforms that are currently supported are iOS5 and Android, but Windows Phone 7 and HP’s webOS will be coming soon. The system allows owners to see detailed analytics about their mobile applications, and see how their newly implemented service is impacting user.  You can tell if it was downloaded from visiting your site, or from someone searching the application marketplace. With your app being in the marketplace, you now have a gateway for new users.

UppSite seamlessly integrates into the vBulletin and WordPress commenting system, as well as Disqus and Facebook. While scrolling through your mobile app it will be incredibly easy and fast for users to comment right on their phone, which helps increase user interaction.

July 5, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

In a move that we reported was set to happen in the coming weeks, the Olsen Twins (Mary Kate and Ashley, just so that you don’t confuse them with some other set of Olsen Twins) now have their own ecommerce solution. Dubbed “Stylemint,” they are the flagship designers for the new outcropping from curated deals startup “Beachmint.”

Beachmint’s original idea was/is to give members exclusive access to special deals curated by celebrity fashion lovers and powerhouses within the fashion world. The original product sent users personalized recommendations on jewelry. They then had the option of purchasing it through their ecommerce solution, or passing on it for the month. In that case there were no charges. Next month a new crop of recommendations came through and you get another chance.

Mary Kate and Ashley’s ecommerce solution is quite similar. Every month they’ll come out with new products and designs. Members pick their purchases based on a questionaire that allows the twins to customize the item to each person’s specific preferences.

This is called co-creation and it’s a powerful trend within the fashion world. Houses big and small are embracing the active relationship between consumers and producers. “Bespoke” clothing and custom footwear and accessories are intrinsically valuable to shoppers who are no longer happy with off the rack, mass-produced threads.

Ecommerce solutions are uniquely well-suited to custom apparel as users are already interacting with a somewhat complex computer system to enter sizing and color information, billing and payment, etc. Adding a customization layer to allow users to add messaging, custom features, and more is a relatively simple step.

It’s much more difficult for large department stores to add the physical plant for the same customization to their existing brick and mortar stores. With the introduction of things like apps for custom clothes (which can’t be far off), ecommerce solutions and digital stores could have the edge over brick and mortar places in a big way.

July 1, 2011
By Susanne Newman, Co-founder of Garmentology

With the development of social media, it is easier than ever to spread the word about new fashion ranges and products launches. Co-founder of online personal shopping service Garmentology, Susanne Newman, talks about retailers should be utilising their online space.

At the moment we keep hearing about struggling high street stores and it is clear the even the most established brands are not safe. Everyone knows the importance of ecommerce in the retail marketing mix and whilst many retailers are tapping into this channel, a significant number are not maximising the potential that this evolving channel has to offer.

In my own research, I have noticed that some major fashion chains are still not on Facebook or Twitter but the reality is that if you have a webstore this is probably one of the best places to spread the word about your in-store ranges.

There are a number of solutions emerging from the virtual woodwork that could help the retail industry capitalise on web traffic and the online community in general, one of which is Garmentology. It is a piece of software which is embedded into retailers’ online shops and helps to match products from the retailers’ range with the specific characteristics of the customer.

Garmentology takes into account each user’s body proportions, skin tone, and eye colour and then matches them with a unique set of clothes that is specifically chosen to suit them. Essentially the software becomes the customer’s very own virtual personal shopper.

As a retailer, the secret to mastering the world of social media is how you join up these experiences and enable the consumer to share their experience with peers. Whether it’s posting their Garmentology profile results to their Facebook or Twitter account, “liking” your Facebook fan page or retweeting/reposting links about products they like to their profile pages, there are more opportunities to reach a wider audience than ever before…if you are savvy enough to get on board.

The social media landscape can be a scary place, but thankfully there have been many early adopters for you take best practice from. Why not take some time to explore what your competition is doing and see how it is impacting their sales, brand loyalty and customer base. Then see how you can build a similar offering into your current provision. After all, if you don’t offer what customers are increasingly looking for (in fact, demanding), then you can bet your bottom dollar somebody else will.

June 30, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘there’s an app for that.’ Well now it seems there’s also ‘a flash sales site for that’ as well. The private flash sales business model is becoming the next gold rush for many start-ups in ecommerce. This market is expected to reach a value of $6 billion by 2015. This trend has created a type of fragmentation that has lead companies to join with top ecommerce solutions in order to claim their territory in the next lucrative market — food, wine, travel, there’s a dedicated flash sales site for that.

Now comes The Clymb, a Portland, Oregon-based start-up out to stake its claim in the $46 billion active outdoor lifestyle market with a members-only site. The company has reached a big milestone this week by closing more than $2 million in Series A funding led by the Oregon Angel Fund and Walden Venture Capital, with help from existing investor, Xbox creator, and former Micorsoft executive, J Allard.

The company was co-founded in 2009 by two veterans of the sportswear apparel industry. Boasting resumes that include Adidas, Airwalk, Mossimo, and Liz Claiborne, co-founders Cec Annett and Kelly Dachtler set out to bring their passion for outdoor activities into an all ecompassing active outdoor lifestyle on The Clymb. The site offers 72-hour flash sales on durable gear such as tents, sleeping bags, shoes, climbing equipment and more, for up to 70% off the original retail price on its ecommerce solution.

The fresh capital will be used toward expanding its network of brand partners. The Clymb is currently partnered up with more than 150 leading outdoor brands, including Arc’Teryx, Burton, KEEN Footwear, Mountain Hardwear and Salomona.

However, the company will also focus on enhancing its ecommerce solution to include social shopping tools for members to share experiences and gear tips through social media channels while earning consumer rewards. Like the natural evolution for most flash-sales sites such as Gilt and Exclusively.In, The Clymb will also tap into other verticals, one of which seems to be taking the shape of discounted local and global adventures personally curated by the company’s team of outdoor enthusiasts and experts.

The Clymb appears to be on its way to creating a strong foothold as a provider of quality outdoor gear, with the buzz word ‘deep discount’ lingering in the consumers’ ears, 1 million unique visitors to its site each month, a membership base of several hundred thousand, and verticals mainstays in the making, the company may be a big competitor for REI, Columbia Sportswear and other established leaders in this space.