June 9, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

June 8, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Seattle-based Zillow release a brand new free app Tuesday for the iPhone that will allow people to accomplish more on the go. Mortgage Marketplace, including the app, allows people to calculate how much home they can afford and what their monthly payments would be, and get customized loan quotes without giving any personally.  Typically a user receives 25 loan quotes per request and has access to over 8,900 consumer-submitted lender reviews.

This is not the company’s first app.  Zillow already has apps for the iPhone, iPad, and Android and BlackBerry devices.  What makes this app so revolutionary is that they’re taking the online loan-shopping experience and packing it into mobile ecommerce software package.  Users will have the total on-the-go experience.

Erin Lantz, Zillow’s director of Mortgage Marketplace App, claims the company created the new app because of an increase in mobile traffic.  Data from Zillow shows that on the weekends, 30% of their traffic is mobile.

“Web traffic is increasing and people are going mobile,” she said.  Erin added “This tool will give people a financial reality check while they are out there actually standing in the home”

Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff added “This addition to Zillow’s already robust suite of real estate mobile apps gives consumers valuable personalized mortgage information when they most need it – out shopping for homes. Our commitment to providing people with the best tools and data for real estate is especially important on location, and now there’s a Zillow app for every stage of the home-buying process,” Rascoff also said.

It’s still unclear if this ecommerce software app will help users get paired with more realistic loans. Part of economic recovery will be consumers not just running out and buying whatever they want, but doing so intelligently. More and more apps, websites, and ecommerce software systems are being developed to tap into and even encourage deal-seeking behavior. This is win-win: shoppers get the best deal on things that they need to live their lives (in this case a house), companies get access to ready-to-buy shoppers, and software developers get the good feeling that comes from helping out their fellow humans (and usually take a cut of each transaction).

The economy is rapidly transforming into an interconnected series of deal marketplaces, instead of just straight exchange points. Ecommerce software systems that allow shoppers to access these marketplaces are becoming a force in and of themselves and will only become more popular as time goes on.

June 7, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Market live is a fully-loaded, feature-rich ecommerce software package designed to make selling online easy and efficient. For over 15 years, they’ve made their mark on the ecommerce landscape, working with some of the top brands in a diverse range of markets. Progress is the name of the game in ecommerce, so MarketLive works closely with its retail clients to incorporate upgrades and enhancements to keep them competitive. We had a unique opportunity to get a few questions answered by chairman and founder Ken Burke.

Q: Based on what we’ve heard, it looks like this is a pretty major upgrade. How long have you been working on this?
A: MarketLive is unique in that we work very closely with our retailers on an ongoing basis to monitor features and trends that positively affect their businesses. These new selling solutions represent the aggregate experience across our base of retailers. What retailers need now are sophisticated ways to merchandise products, simplify the purchase process, and to engage and delight customers along the way. The upgrade to the MarketLive platform, with special focus on the new selling features, represents a significant step forward for retailers.

Q. Can you tell us about the team that put this all together?
A. MarketLive has a very talented set of engineers. Not only do they deliver elegant code that meets the needs of retailers, they really understand eCommerce. They are led by our newly-hired CTO, Barry Coleman. But at the heart of the MarketLive Intelligent Commerce platform is a vast library of retail best practices. Our Commerce Strategy team, headed by a talented expert, Jaye Alba-Sullivan, works with our retailers to track eCommerce trends and best practices that work for retail. Examples include our new Social Selling Solution for transactions on Facebook, and our unique Product Carousel. These technologies allow retailers to showcase more products, and do so in ways that are relevant and convenient for the shopper. The result is better conversion rates and happier shoppers.

Q: What kind of research did you conduct to figure out what kind of features you were going to add?
A: MarketLive tracks the performance of our retailers using Google Analytics and Omniture. With this level of detail we can see what tactics are positively affecting their bottom line. We track these elements and publish them in our quarterly MarketLive Performance Index. Then, as we observe successful tactics or important retail trends, we work with our retailers to implement them on their sites. These best-practices find their way into the core of the product and our recommendations over time.

Q. What’s one feature that users were really vocal about wanting you to add? Follow up: What’s one feature that you are really excited about adding?
A: One of the most important new capabilities that we are adding is the ability to sell on Facebook. The MarketLive Social Store for Facebook allows retailers to extend their ecommerce capabilities to Facebook. As shoppers interact with their social network friends, “like” products or share looks, we find that ecommerce business grows virally. This new capability will be a really important component as retailers build their businesses.

Q. We often say that the fewer clicks between landing on an ecommerce solution and check out, the better your chances of conversion are. Do you agree? How do these upgrades help make that happen?
A: We totally agree! Our new Dynamic Single Page Checkout provides all the shipping, tax, security and checkout information that shoppers need on one page, in one single process. It is the latest in features that are designed to streamline the path to purchase for shoppers, and make their shopping experience rich and rewarding.

Q. Consumers are extremely visual. How do these new features use visual media to drive conversions? Is video in there somewhere?
A: We absolutely see an increase in conversions when shoppers are able to experience products in rich, visually engaging environments. The MarketLive platform helps retailers add multi-media to their sites, showcase product details from different angles, and to build rich experiences. One of our retailers uses a unique online dressing room that allows the shopper to not only get all the detail they need from the site, but to match outfits and share them with friends. This rich experience has resulted in larger average order value and a noticeable increase in engagement (cart to purchase).

Q. I see you are including all these new features in your existing packages at no additional cost. I’m running my online store through a competing ecommerce solution – change my mind in 3 sentences or less.
A: MarketLive is a platform-as-a-service offering, meaning that retailers can take advantage of all of the rich functionality on the MarketLive platform, customize it to meet their specific needs, and be assured that our hosted environment is secure, scalable, and stable. In addition, MarketLive delivers out-of-the-box, industry proven solutions for better acquisition, conversion and retention. Finally, only MarketLive really understands retail—we’re not a software company, we’re a retail partner who works closely with our retailers to implement proven best practices and technologies for greatest success.

June 5, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team
ZippyCart reported about Svpply earlier this year when they received $500,000 from investors. That much funding allowed what used to be a little-known social ecommerce solution to transform into a cultural phenomenon. The company now boasts over 400,000 users shopping every month. However, even with all that success. Ben Pieratt (co-founder and CEO of Svpply) openly says:

“I have no idea what I am doing.”

In a recent blog post the entrepreneur stated, “I have zero experience or expertise in building a company. I’ve never worked at a web or product start up, I’ve never worked in a healthy team environment.” With him being a designer at heart, building a business is not what he knows. But it is obvious that he is doing something right.

Pieratt also said that he has to learn some things that he does not know how to do and if he does not learn how to do them Svpply will fail. He needs to find and recruit talent – the right kind of talent – manage people and keep them involved in their work, develop a work schedule, and finally, to communicate a vision.

Svpply is also headed up by the two other co-founders, Zach Klein and Eric Jacobsen. The new ecommerce solution uses Facebook and Twitter to connect users and show you what products your friends and other people like. The site sports a “follow” feature which allows you to follow stores or people who have the same style that you do. Social commerce is becoming not so much an option as a requirement for ecommerce solutions that want to be serious competitors in the world of ecommerce. Online shoppers love social media – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube – you name it, online shoppers are there, sounding off about their favorite brands, and complaining about bad experiences.

The idea behind the site is to have hundreds of eyes looking out for products that you like. Instead of just you looking for items to put in your shopping cart, you have friends and others around the world with a similar styles looking for clothes as well.

For all of you that hate shopping for clothes, furniture, decorations, or almost anything for that matter should love Svpply. All the hard work of finding good-looking, popular items is done for you. This ecommerce solution just might be the one that brings out the style in everyone thanks to its integrated social networking.

June 6, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Combining online elements is the name of the game for successful ecommerce solutions. Well the Home Shopping Network, HSN, has upped the ante for competitors by integrating online casual gaming with their already strong ecommerce solution to create an more fully featured online shopping experience. The HSN site now devotes a full two thirds of its real estate to online casual games like Sudoku, Mahjongg, and 25 other different games.

It’s a natural move, says Jill Braff, HSN’s executive vice president of digital commerce. The main users of online casual games and the HSN site are middle aged women. She continued:

“There is a ton of overlap there…There is quite a bit of commerce we can drive [with online games].”

Braff says that one of the primary things that online gaming can do to drive those increased sales is keep users on the site longer. As users play games, the site shows a steady stream of featured items, including the “item of the day,” plus the last fifteen most recent items for sale. Every day at midnight the ecommerce solution hosts a new jigsaw puzzle linked to the item of the day. Shoppers can try to solve the puzzle in the fastest time possible. Winners take home a prize – either the item of the day, a gift card for HSN stuff, or something else.

The HSN ecommerce solution definitely has the ability to drive sales and increase customer interaction. ComScore reports that they already have a huge TV audience and online stats to match. Their site boasts 2.4 million unique visits just last month, with a 5% increase in sales last year. One third of that came from online customers. Total sales weighed in at over 2.1 billion.

The game side of the site is being developed by Arkadium. Gamers have the ability to post their high scores and share them instantly on Facebook. In an era when more and more ecommerce solutions are integrating with Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets, it just takes a natural move and carries it out to its logical extension. Give shoppers everything they want in one place, and they’ll have less reason to go elsewhere. That’s rapidly becoming an even more vital part of ecommerce solutions and pretty much any site: keep people there and keep them happy. Says Jessica Rovello, co-founder of Arkadium:

“As long as people are playing games, why lose them to another site?”

May 31, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

So almost two months ago, a small business owner from New York state named Paul Ceglia surfaced, seemingly out of nowhere (which is not to say that New York state is nowhere) with some mysterious documents. The documents seemed to say that at some point 7 years ago, he and Zuckerberg entered into an agreement wherein Ceglia agreed to finance Zuckerberg’s work on “the Facebook,” in addition to retaining his services for a different software project.

The news was met with a mixed reaction at the time. The tech world is filled with these kinds of stories. Every suddenly successful startup or ecommerce solution has their own version of this tale. A long lost business partner or investor comes out of the shadows and demands his or her cut of the new found profits, despite having been noticeably absent while all the hard work was being done (and quite possibly, as in the case of Ceglia, lacking any and all relevant skills to have contributed to that success should he or she have been around to help out).

The documents were compelling enough at the time, but ultimately nothing came of them right away. They weren’t powerful enough on their face to get a judge or jury to unanimously declare: “Yes, give that man half of Facebook!” According to the documents, he would actually be due much more than half.
But it doesn’t look like he’ll be getting anything. At least not anytime soon. Facebook has officially released its response to Ceglia’s allegations. In their response (full text here) they counter that Ceglia is of dubious moral character and that his documents are obvious forgeries.

Facebook’s response is decidedly not taking the high road. Their assault on Paul Ceglia’s character (however true it may or may not be) is somewhat unnecessary. For a giant corporation like Facebook, with its billions of dollars, huge valuation, integrated ecommerce solutions, media players, and pioneering communications technologies, to stoop to these attacks seems kind of bullyish.

It’s certainly within their rights to defend their founder and all related technologies against illegal outside intrusion, especially when it’s fraudulent, but it doesn’t make Facebook any bigger to belittle someone else. Some would argue that Facebook should just pay Ceglia to go away, but this would send the wrong message too. A company with pockets that deep can’t afford let people think that just by raising a stink they can get some money.

May 26, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Streaming music service Spotify is poised to launch a full integration with Facebook, which could interfere with the various cloud music ecommerce solutions currently crowding the market. The Spotify integration would allow listeners to share their musical selections with their Facebook friends and listen to tracks together. Social sharing options like this are already a staple on music services like Grooveshark (recently ejected from Google’s app ecommerce solution) and Last.FM. Pandora allows you to create and share “stations” with your friends and “gift” them to others.

Everybody loves music, and Mark Zuckerberg loves Spotify, having posted that exact sentiment on his Facebook page some months ago. That should come as no surprise, he and Sean Parker (Napster founder, Spotify shareholder and board member, and Facebook shareholder) have been business allies for years. Zuckerberg even had plans for a music sharing service called Wire Hog back in 2004, but Parker is said to have tabled it.

Parker is singing a new tune now in regards to paying for music. He views Spotify as a gateway ecommerce solution for people who want to listen to lots of streaming music (and maybe even own some of it) and have the money to pay for it. It’s a natural progression in his personal narrative:

“I wouldn’t say Spotify is about atoning for Napster…It’s more about finishing what I started.”

He also says that a US launch of Spotify is now closer than ever. The hurdle for launching the service here is figuring out a pricing structure that will allow them to pay out to the big 4 music labels. You know, the same labels that Apple is in the midst of sealing deals with for their cloud music/ecommerce solution project? Yeah, those big 4.

Music is a big deal for the internet. People love it and are much more likely to listen to stuff on their computers while they work (or pretend to work!) or do any other online activity. Even still, Facebook is becoming about more than just socializing. Warner Brothers has already agreed to stream movies on Facebook and more groups and artists are selling their material through ecommerce solutions integrated directly with Facebook. A good pricing plan for unlimited listening (since Spotify only allows 10 hours of listening for free) combined with a Facebook rollout in the US could help keep Spotify competitive with Apple, Google, and Amazon.com and keep Facebook steadily climbing up the media ladder.

May 23, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Lady Gaga announced a partnership Friday with ecommerce solution Gilt Groupe to kick off the release of her new album “Born This Way,” which hits stores Monday. Gilt Groupe, which usually offers high-end fashion at up to half under retail price, is offering loads of Gaga-inspired products, including pre-orders on her album (which leaked online early last week), two curated sales by Gaga’s fashion director, and even VIP access to special events.

It seems that as of late, Lady Gaga is going to great lengths to use the internet to promote her new album. She has more Twitter followers than any other user, even though she’s made significantly fewer tweets than other users in the top ten. Just recently, the pop singer launched a deal with Zynga, the social gaming company behind the ever-popular Facebook game Farmville, to launch her new game: Gagaville.

Gaga’s deal with Gilt Groupe takes her social media presence one step further. Gilt is now working with Stipple, a service that allows publishers monetize the content inside images. With Stipple, photos can be tagged with social networking information about the people in the image and their status updates and tweets can show up overlaying the original image.

The technology behind Stipple is especially valuable for ecommerce solutions, where specific products such as clothing can be tagged in the image. This way, anyone viewing the image knows exactly what the person is wearing, where it is from, and how much it costs. It also allows you to save it for later viewing (called a “want”) or navigate to a site where you can add the item to your shopping cart. All of this information and function is overlaid on the image as well.

In the case of Gaga, Stipple allows little monsters to roll over the Stippled dots on the image and get information on the Gilt sales. Shoppers will be able to put together a want list or buy Gaga-inspired clothing and accessories just by viewing the image and making a few clicks. The Lady Gaga deal is high-profile and popular and should prove as evidence of how ecommerce solutions can use Stipple to direct users to their shopping carts. I can see this catching on as a trend for ecommerce in the future.

May 23, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Purchase-sharing ecommerce software Blippy has officially shut down in the wake of poor user engagement and overall lack of traffic. They did manage to raise about 13 million in financing during their roughly two-year run, but in the end it wasn’t enough to keep them afloat. According to CEO Ashvin Kumar:

“The decision was whether to focus Blippy on mobile products or try something new and we made the decision that we wanted to try something new… Our key product metrics haven’t gone up, we iterated a lot but not enough to create significant user adoption, at least not enough to warrant us spending more time on it.”

For a while there Blippy struggled to find an angle for their ecommerce software. Initially the concept was simple: automatically link a user’s credit card to a Twitter-like stream that your friends and other followers can see. Other users then interacted with this data by “Like”ing or commenting. As a form of “passive sharing” it seemed like a perfect gateway for social commerce.

Instead of having to (somewhat obnoxiously) post on Facebook (or any of the other slew of social commerce sites) about the latest new purchase you just made, passive sharing social commerce ecommerce softwares allow users to broadcast their buying activities without looking like they are trying too hard.

But unfortunately for Blippy, their ecommerce software ran into trouble from the start. First off, users weren’t flocking to them in the kinds of numbers that make a social network like Blippy or Twitter successful. They need a certain critical mass in order to be viable. Their drive to bring in new users was further hampered when the news broke that credit card information was showing up on Google searches.They switched gears for a while towards focusing on user reviews and other forms of feedback to try to promote activity and interaction, but it wasn’t a hit.

Numbers were never reliable. According to retrospectives, Blippy would show blips in activity when a product was trending, then shrink back down. Ultimately the social ecommerce software just suffered from “failure to thrive.” The creative team behind it has bowed out and are on their way to new things.

Daily deal giant Groupon launched its biggest deal yet yesterday through its exclusive ecommerce solution after teaming up with fast food giant Quiznos. The deal was a punch card for eight Quiznos sandwiches and was priced at $26, about half the regular Quiznos price, and can be used at any of the restaurant’s 2,100 locations in the US. Although a single customer may only use one punchcard, Groupon subscribers may purchase as many as they would like through their ecommerce solution. The deal never expires, but those who do purchase it need to get their first sandwich by July 4.

Individual Quiznos locations had done one-time individual offers with the daily deals site before, but this particular deal was organized with the chain’s parent company, QIP Holder LLC, who initially approached Groupon for the deal. Looking at the number of locations, this deal could be even bigger than Groupon’s deal with Gap, Inc. last year. Gap has about 1,100 locations nationwide, and sold about 440,000 of its offer last summer through Groupon and managed to crash the ecommerce solution’s servers in the process.

The appeal of a punchcard instead of a one-time deal is that it generates return customers, giving the business more value and brand reinforcement. The new type of deal allows both companies to expand their market to new demographics as well as aid in the development of new products. We can expect success for nationwide businesses looking to build customer loyalty if Groupon fully adopts this practice with other large companies before its competitor, LivingSocial.

Last year, LivingSocial made a jump in catching up to Groupon by selling 1.4 million two-for-one vouchers from one of its leading investor, Amazon.com. Competition has been fierce between these two contenders, with a flurry of smaller group/daily deals sites springing up in the middle ground. There were parent/child deals, green deals, private fashion deals, and everything in between. As the number of daily deal ecommerce solutions in the group-buying realm keeps expanding, business will be driven by customer choice: you’ll go with the deal site that speaks to you and your demographic and your needs.

With deals like the Quiznos one, expect bigger and bigger deals to come to subscribers of both Groupon and LivingSocial. Will it necessarily be enough to keep them on top? Who knows.

May 19, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

One part game, one part music launch, one part ecommerce software platform.

Things are really heating up for Zynga. The social gaming powerhouse has been the name to beat on Facebook for a while now, but lately their acquisitions and promotions have been coming fast and furious. Their latest team up with Lady Gaga blends ecommerce software with social gaming. Gamers can earn a sneak peak at her new album “Born This Way,” by unlocking tracks through gameplay in a special alternate (fabulous) version of Farmville called “GagaVille.” This is a classic example of driving gamer activity with incentives.

Usually social games work the other way, trying to get players to shell out real-world money for virtual game goods, using in-game ecommerce software. Zynga is working on that angle as well, teaming up with Best Buy. Players who buy a card with $25 worth of in-game currency/credits will get a free download of Lady Gaga’s upcoming album. All this action, combined with some other efforts by Zynga is translating to big numbers for Zynga.

They are the biggest social gaming company on Facebook, sporting 39% of the market. Their nearest competitor only has about 6%. Revenue for Zynga last year was $544 million (from a combination of in-game revenues through ecommerce software, ads, and other sources). The company could be worth up to about $10 billion.
It’s not just revenue numbers that are shooting up. Zynga’s DAU (daily active users) numbers are also growing. Driven partially by the Lady Gaga love, no doubt, their Farmville DAU numbers jumped by 88,736 users. That sounds like a lot, and it is, but Farmville is already so huge that those added DAU-players only translated to a .79% increase!

With all these players and revenue going around, it’s obvious that Zynga felt the need to unload some cash and expand their reach and abilities. To this end, they most recently bought up DNA Games, owners of Casino City, Slot City and Bar World. These games boast a combined player base of almost 2.5 million. They are leaders in A/B split testing and feature integration. The addition of their software and talent may allow Zynga to speed up their own introduction of new features and stay on top.

May 16, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

According to a press release Thursday, New York-based Facebook content managing company Buddy Media has acquired Spinback, a New York-based startup that provides social analytics and ecommerce solutions for over 20 retailers. For Buddy Media, which currently manages Facebook content for eight of the top ten global advertisers and serves big-name clients such as ABC and Sony, the acquisition means being able to extend its services to clients beyond Facebook and into Twitter, e-mail, blogs and other social networks. The company will now be able to provide clients with information on which social media outlets are driving sales, which products bring in the most revenue and which demographics have the most active customers.

Spinback currently offers its clients two useful tools: EasyShare, a browser plugin which allows users to share content through their preferred social media sites, and EasyTrack Analytics, a dashboard for users to measuring social sharing and the ensuing traffic, conversions and sales. Specifically, this means integrating social sharing across several mediums, identifying important influences on social networks, determining the most shared and recommended products and allocating marketing spend more effectively. Since their October 2010 launch, Spinback boasts that its clients have seen an average of $2.10 in incremental revenue from each Facebook post, as well as a 10.9% conversion rate for Facebook posts that lead to purchases.

Buddy Media has grown to over 170 employees and raised $38.3 million in funding since their launch in 2007. The company will take on all Spinback employees full-time at its headquarters in New York. Though Spinback’s client base primarily consists of retailers, Buddy Media has stated that it plans to offer the service to the marketers and agencies that they currently serve as well. The acquisition will mean that Buddy Media’s rapidly-expanding, high-profile client base will be able to develop more effective social ecommerce solutions and online marketing techniques. The company says that the company year will primarily focus on integration and ROI, which CEO Michael Lazerow feels they are in the “best position to address.”

May 12, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Getting a copy of Aftershocks through Sony Reader's or Amazon's ecommerce solution will help the relief effort.

Support for Japan in the wake of the terrible earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crises just keeps coming. A crowd-sourced, Twitter-driven eBook chronicling the event and its aftermath is available online. The project took a little over a month to put together and all proceeds will go towards the relief effort. To aid in this mission, Sony Reader and Amazon have agreed to waive their normal publication fees when moving the book through their ecommerce solutions so that 100% of the money could go to the relief effort.

The book, entitled “2:46 Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan Earthquake,” is the brainchild of British-born Twitter user “Our Man In Akibo.” 40-year-old Our Man had been living and working in Japan for four years. When the disasters struck (and kept striking), he felt that he needed to do something to help the Japanese people. Not knowing what else to do, he turned to the only way he could think of to help: Twitter. His thinking?

“I just looked at it as a two-fold thing: one, let’s make some money to help people, and two, let’s record this event. And this was the only way I knew how.”

His first call for submissions went out over Twitter and indicated that he’d be turning submissions received within 48 hours into a book. The response was gradual. At first he got a picture and a story. Messages came back slowly but surely asking for details, especially the deadline. Our Man delivered this dramatic, but accurate, response:

“Many people saying what’s the deadline. Do people ask quake survivors when they’d like to be rescued? The answer is now baby, NOW.”

Tweets spread and the word eventually got to writers and artists around the world, including author William Gibson (whose “Bridge Trilogy” features scenes set in a post-quake Japan where new buildings are being erected by nanomachines). Editing help came in from Japan, LA, and New York. Some of the team that put this book together are known only by their Twittter handles, including Our Man, who prefers to remain anonymous in order to keep the focus on the relief effort and the book itself.

Getting the book into print also took some Twitter love. In addition to tweeting Amazon’s Japan head of publishing, word also made it back to an Amazon employee in Seattle, who ran the idea up the ladder and helped get it the support that ultimately made it possible as an ebook through their ecommerce solution (sans fees) and as a print on demand. Again: all proceeds to aid relief. Check out the book here.

May 6, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

San Francisco-based social commerce SaaS solutions provider, PowerReviews, recently locked $10 million in a round of funding led by Four Rivers Group, with participation from new investor Woodside Fund and previous investors Menlo Ventures and Tenaya Capital. This investment brings PowerReview’s total venture funding to $37 million with the fresh capital to be used toward hiring new engineers and expanding its sales organization.

So... You DO like it?

Since launching in 2005, PowerReviews bread and butter has come from providing retailers and brands with the ability to collect, organize and analyze comments and other user-generated content from their in-house developed technology.

Although shopping is entirely an active and social experience for most users, ecommerce sites have been slower to adopt social sharing tools to their platforms. PowerReviews banks on the idea that most shoppers would be more inclined to make a purchase if they have read at least one previous customer review and are even more influenced if a review was made by a friend or relative, as it brings a humanizing factor to the product and ecommerce.

Currently, PowerReviews social commerce solution is live on over 5,000 ecommerce software platforms which includes several big name brands like REI, ESPN, Neutrogena, and Staples. The company also has tapped into the social network cash cow that is Facebook and has recently launched a solution suite that brings the Facebook experience and Fan acquisition into the consumer’s product review process.

However, 2011 has shown that social commerce is becoming more than just a fad and is quickly picking up and becoming one of the more prominent channels to increase conversion rates, sales, and drive more visibility to ecommerce sites. With that being said, there is certainly no shortage of social ecommerce software utilities available, and PowerReviews is not without its competition. TurnTo, Wantlet, and Quorus have all stepped up to flex their SaaS-based social commerce solution muscles and have been integrated on a number of ecommerce software platforms.

Perhaps the key to staying relevant for PowerReviews is its mission for delivering true innovation as the shape of social commerce is quickly evolving along with the ecommerce landscape. In April, PowerReviews was awarded its second patent relating to its SaaS delivery method, which makes it possible to display user-generated content on brands’ product pages in a format that is easily crawled by search engines.

“With the advent of social commerce, the way retailers and brands communicate and interact with consumers has been transformed,” said Farouk Ladha, Managing Partner, Four Rivers Group. “With a track record of innovation complemented by its unique multi-tenant SaaS technology, I look forward to PowerReviews’ continued growth and category leadership.”

May 5, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Express launched their fully-featured ecommerce solution through Facebook.

Fashion retailer Express has officially rolled out a fully-functional ecommerce solution on their Facebook page, complete with their entire catalogue and secure credit card checkout. The new Facebook store allow customers to seamlessly merge their social and shopping activities into one continuous experience. Says senior VP for customer relations management for Express, Jim Wright:

“We continue to look for ways that the customer can interact with the brand on their own schedule and at their convenience, so that we bring down as many barriers as possible.”

This is a common note in the world of ecommerce solutions, online selling, and social media. Retailers need to interact with their customer base on a regular basis and in an increasing number of (not necessarily commercial) ways. The more a business can get a customer to interact with him or her, the more comfortable that customer becomes with the business, increasing trust in the business and inciting a favorable response from the consumer.

When that trust and relationship is already there, such as from constantly checking in with a brand page on Facebook as part of their daily Facebook routines (which everybody has), ease of buying comes next. Says Jim Wright again:

“We see the integration of social shopping as the next step for Express. If you look at what’s happening today, top-down marketing and driving people to places to [transact] has changed. We need to be where customers are having their experiences and sharing information. We need to take down the barriers preventing a shopping experience.”

“Being where the customers are” is another important lesson for ecommerce solutions of all kinds. Almost every serious shopping cart on the web has a social presence of some kind: definitely a Facebook page, probably a Twitter, likely a blog. Some people sell entirely through a blog without even getting a full-fledged ecommerce software setup. Product blogs have been a staple of the online entrepreneur life since their invention.

Merging shopping cart features with Facebook pages has been happening slowly for months now, starting with third-party resources that allowed musicians to sell mp3s directly over their pages. JC Penney recently launched a similar full-catalog integration almost exactly like the Express store as well. There will only be more in the future.

April 29, 2011
By the ZippyCart Content Team

Oh Facebook, what aren’t you trying to do these days? It seems the buzz phrase of today is ‘daily deals,’ and although Facebook is properly positioned to be a key player in this space, another site entering the daily deal market is one played out song (oh, hi there Google Offers). However, Facebook is no newbie, which makes the recent launch of “Facebook Deals” on its own ecommerce platform a bit of a revival in the deal space. 

Can I haz dollar?

This week Facebook rolled out its deals to five test markets beginning with Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco. The social networking giant brings a different spin to discounted activities and focuses on deals that people would most likely do with their friends, keeping along the lines of its bread and butter– being entirely social. Rather than seeing deals about teeth whitening, Facebook will bring offers that are more like river rafting, wine tasting, and concerts.

Users can access these deals through a button on their Facebook page. Browsing through the deals, users can either “like” or share offers with their network, which will also show up in their news feeds. Users can pay with a credit card, PayPal or for the first time, with virtual currency using Facebook Credits. The virtual currency is good to obtain a voucher that is then used to buy the deal.