Today's Links on Web 2.0 start-ups: social and mobile shopping
"TODAY'S LINKS" September 26, 2006
“Today’s Links” is an eclectic round up pointing to noteworthy news and worthy analysis from all around the World Wide Web.
TODAY'S LINKS September 26, 2006 FOCUS ON WEB 2.0 SOCIAL and MOBILE SHOPPING START-UPS: Two new Web 2.0 social and mobile shopping ventures--Frucall and Crowdstorm--have briefed me on their services. I present my overviews of the start-ups below PLUS Did you catch...
FRUCALL
Tag Line: "Be a Smart Shopper" Online comparison shopping Web site for mobile shoppers.
Corporate Profile: Frucall is developed by the Consumer Business Unit (CBU) of Millenigence, Inc., headquartered in Irvine, California, a provider of IP Telephony software that "delivers information available on corporate data networks or the Internet to business users and consumers on the communication device of their choice; Millenigence has partnered with major IP Telephony vendors such as Avaya, Alcatel, Polycom and Siemens to add value to their offerings through convergence and mobility solutions."
Frucall's "Elevator Pitch":
Frucall brings comparison shopping to shoppers without the need to be online. Frucall currently enables 210 Million US mobile subscribes to get online prices simply by making a free phone call when they are shopping in retail stores.
While waiting for the search results, consumers will hear targeted voice ads relevant to the brand or product they have searched for, which is a revenue source in addition to affiliate sales for Frucall.
Frucall mashes up data from different online sources with voice and SMS technologies to deliver real-time, online information to the consumers on their cell phones, with a user experience built around voice which is familiar to the average US mobile user.
This is a disruptive technology for the $8T US retail market of which only less than 10% is currently online shopping: Majority of people still prefer to see, feel and touch products before they depart with their money.
CROWDSTORM
Tag Line: "Social Shopping 2.0" A new way to help you find what to buy by measuring the buzz around products.
Corporate Profile: Crowdstorm is a London, England based self-funded venture of Philip Wilkinson, "one of the country’s young and upcoming entrepreneurs, best known as a founder first of Shopgenie and later of internet heavyweight Kelkoo UK (now part of Yahoo!)."
Crowdstorm's "Elevator Pitch":
Crowdstorm measures the buzz around products to help people find what to buy and lets you see recommendations from friends and people you trust. Buzz is calculated by measuring the activity around every product such as the number of recommendations it gets, number of blog posts about it, number of comments, how many views or edits, and a whole host of other factors as they become relevant. Good products propagate to the top of the list while bad ones disappear. Combine this with the ability to track a range of individuals in your shopping network to see what they are interested in and you get into the realm of Social Shopping.
Money is made via a number of ways:
1. Referrals to online auction and price comparison sites
2. Working closely with brands in seeding products to most influential
community members
3. Online advertising and sponsorship
AND DID YOU CATCH…
In "Web 2.0 start-up strategy: sell-out big" I discuss the importance of viable business plans for Web 2.0 start-ups:
The creation and operation of a profitable Web 2.0 business is a worthy dream in and of itself. Moreover, proving that a cool app can also make money just might garner a shot at the Web 2.0 lottery dream of acquisition, big time!...MORE
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