Image via CrunchBase

The recent move by Amazon to offer $5 for retail shoppers to buy online felt like kicking a man twice when he was already down to a lot of retailers.  Many merchants were already concerned about being used as a glorified showroom for Amazon’s Jeff Bezos before this recent move with speculation that many were missing their numbers because of Amazons mobile price check application.

Here at ShopSavvy we love local merchants.   Our users want to know what all their options are both online and local presented in a neutral and unbiased way— not just merchants in Amazon’s marketplace.  They want this presented without favoritism so they can make good buying decisions about product selection and where to buy.  Buying from Amazon is great and for many habitual, but did you know in our system they are the lowest priced choice only 7% of the time? If you buy from Amazon, you are not always getting the best deal and they certainly don’t work to get you local options.

Even when the price is lower online, our users often want to see what their local options are, either for immediate gratification or because they love the relationship they have with their local retailer.  In the long run we believe a balanced ecosystem of strong local retail with efficient online options is healthiest and this is what we strive for.

So while local stores have had a really brutal few years, this is going to change in the next few years as they get new opportunities to fight back.  In fact, we think current shopping experience for local retail is going to be transformed significantly in the next 3-5 years.   The mini computers people are carrying in their hands now are just using things like reviews, purchasing and price comparison as an early beachhead.  In a few years the way you shop locally will be completely different.

Why? Whole new conversations will be starting between brands, retailers and shoppers will transform retail and the shopping experience making it more connected (with friends/family), informed and enjoyable.  This will dramatically improve the local shopping experience and give local merchants new ways to offer value relative to online options that may not be readily apparent now.

Consumers are open to new sorts of conversations with retailers that are not happening now.  For example, currently most conversations between retailers and consumers now are what I call “One to Many”.  If you offer a sale, it’s often to large groups of people and there is very little segmentation or targeting.   With these new technologies based on loyalty data, buying patterns, and strategies such as competitive couponing, consumers will start to have one to one conversations with retailers.

The last decade or so has not been a great one for local retailers, but  the tide is changing with advances in technology.  Ironically, the technology that is causing pain for local retailers now, will offer new opportunities in the future.  For the those retailers that embrace this change, and get ahead of the curve, we believe it’s a competitive opportunity to recapture some lost ground and create a better shopping experience for shoppers.  This takes courage not to stick your head in the sand while Amazon steals your lunch.

To that end, if you are a local retailer that is looking to find ways to start new conversations with consumers in your stores—reach out to us –we’re listening and open to new ideas to help local merchants.  Amazon doesn’t have the last word here, this is just the beginning of what technology can bring to local.

To show off ShopSavvy 5 and highlight the latest trends in mobile shopping in advance of Black Friday, we’ve put together some broadcast-quality b-roll of shoppers scanning products, comparing prices, buying products with one-tap shopping, and much, much more. You can also find a quick 3-minute overview of everything that’s new in ShopSavvy 5.

Check out the holiday shopping b-roll here!

Ryan Kim from GigOm has the scoop in a post title, “ShopSavvy brings instant scan and buy to mobile shoppers.” The big news in ShopSavvy 5 (available both on iOS and Android) is our new wallet feature. We have built adapters that allow for ‘one tap’ purchasing from online retailers like Barnes & Noble and Buy.com. Think Amazon one-click for any retailer on mobile – i.e. one-tap.

We have built adapters for 49 retailers to date and we expect to bring on two to three retailers each week until 2012. Bigger retailers currently live are: Barnes & Noble, Buy.com, Toys ‘R Us, Babies ‘R Us, Radio Shack, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Sports Authority, Ace Hardware. Coming soon: Target and Walmart.

Here is an overview of ShopSavvy from me:

Finally, there is also an unannounced ‘beta feature’ in ShopSavvy 5. We aren’t going to publicize it until after Christmas, but power users should be pretty excited when they find it.

Matt Weathers, our VP of Product, gave an interview to Mobile Commerce Daily on the ShopSavvy-Spotzot deal for an article that ran today.

For those who’d like more detail on the deal, here’s the full Q&A from that interview:

MCD: What is the strategy behind adding this new feature to ShopSavvy? Why did the two companies decide to partner?

Matt: ShopSavvy’s mission is to give power to consumers so they can make informed shopping decisions. When a user opens our app to get information on a product, one of the top questions they have is, “Are there any deals on this item?” Immediately after that, their question is, “Are there any other deals nearby or in this same category?” With Spotzot’s data and our search experience, we are now able to quickly answer those questions. We look for an exact deal or similar deals.

For example, a mom shopping for diapers is likely to be interested in special baby-care deals. If deals are available, we can present those deals immediately to the consumer without any additional work on her part. She does not need to walk around the whole store looking for sales, or find and flip through a Sunday circular.

MCD: What is the user experience like? Walk through how deals are presented to ShopSavvy users.

Matt: There are several ways we are using Spotzot deals. Three examples:

1. Sam is buying some softball and tennis gear for his daughter. He uses our app to scan the barcode of a baseball glove. We detect that his location at the time of the scan is near a retailer with a 20% sale on sporting goods. In addition to online prices, local prices, and reviews, we will be able to display that sale information. The dad then goes to the store next door to buy the glove and some other items. That retailer benefits by driving foot traffic into the store.

2. Lisa, a college student, is buying school supplies at an office supply store. She scans a toner cartridge. We not only give her price and review information, but we will also tell her how many deals on office products are available in that store. She can browse through the deals right on her phone rather than walking around. She finds a great sale on desk organizers. The retailer benefits by selling more items.

3. Betty has just bought a purse at a shopping center. As she leaves the store, she wonders if there are any deals at other stores in the shopping center. She opens the ShopSavvy app and goes to the deals tab. We present a list of stores nearby that have deals. She can browse through them rather than walking to each store. She finds a great sale she didn’t know about, and goes to the retailer to buy some clothes. She gets a deal. The retailer benefits from the additional foot traffic.

MCD: What kinds of targeted deals does the app give? Can you provide examples?

Matt: The sales change as often as daily or hourly. Spotzot updates them frequently. Here are a few available through Spotzot right now:

Office Depot: Get $20 off when you purchase $79 of HP Ink
Macy’s: Up to 50% off on women’s shoes
Sports Authority: $25 off any purchase $100 or more
Barnes and Noble: $5 off a purchase of $50 (for members)
Gap: 60% & above off on women’s tops

MCD: Why are deal apps important to the shopping experience? Why are deals through ShopSavvy better than most deal apps?

Matt: When users are shopping, one of the most important questions, especially in today’s economy, is price: “Am I getting a good deal?” ShopSavvy has been revealing online and local prices for items for almost three years now. A deal is basically a temporary and conditional change of price. Now we can give users full pricing information so that they can really save money.

The difference is most deal apps only provide deal information and the consumer has to sift through thousands of deals by category or retailer. With our app, the user is already using it to get information on items they are actually considering buying. We use that information to display only the deals that the consumer is likely to be interested in.

Additionally, most shoppers don’t remember to open deal apps, in the same way that most consumers don’t think to go find the deal circular. By contrast, several million consumers are already using our app to get pricing and review information when they shop.

MCD: Where do you see the future of mobile going with shopping apps?

Matt: Consumers are realizing that their smartphones can give them a huge edge when shopping, but they do not want to go to multiple apps, slow websites or sift through overwhelming deal data. Shopping apps that deliver powerful and timely information to consumers in a simple way will earn their trust. In turn, merchants are realizing that apps with high consumer usage provide an avenue to reach consumers in a highly targeted way. We are focusing on this trend by helping users make shopping decisions and merchants reach those consumers.

ShopSavvy has won its share of awards since our launch in 2008. In fact, we received our first major honor — winning the Google Android Challenge — before the app was even commercially available.

Most of the recognition we’ve received has come from within the technology or mobile space, from the Crunchies to Under the Radar, SXSW Interactive, Macworld and the Mobile World Congress. We even got to speak before the French Senate in Paris as one of 10 global winners in the Netexplorateur digital innovation awards.

Now, it looks like the broader retail world is taking notice of ShopSavvy. We were named a finalist in the 2011 Online Retail Awards for overall achievement in mobile experience.

Here’s today’s press release:

ShopSavvy Named Finalist in 2011 Online Retail Awards

Top shopping app cited for overall achievement in mobile experience for retail consumers.

ShopSavvy, the leading mobile shopping assistant, has been named a finalist in the overall achievement category for mobile in the 2011 Online Retail Awards (ORAs), the only international awards dedicated to recognizing the excellence of website and mobile experiences provided to retail customers. ORA winners will be announced in August.

“ShopSavvy has disrupted the relationship between local and online retail in a fundamental way – a fact that more and more retailers and brands are acknowledging and embracing,” said Alexander Muse, CEO and co-founder of ShopSavvy. “We are grateful to be named an ORA finalist, which reflects this important shift in the retail landscape.”

ShopSavvy empowers its more than 11 million active users to locate, research and buy products at the point of sale. ShopSavvy aggregates product prices, deals, ratings and reviews from retailers, partners and its own users to provide the most comprehensive source of independent information and advice for mobile shoppers anywhere.

Muse said ShopSavvy is rapidly developing advertising and strategic relationships with major retailers.

“As of this month, Best Buy is a ShopSavvy advertiser, and we have previously partnered with Sam’s Club among other retailers,” Muse said. “As advertisers fully grasp the power of UPC/GPS-targeted ads, which serve marketing messages based on a consumer’s specific location and buying intent, ShopSavvy’s impact on the retail sector will continue to grow.”

Now in their third year, the Online Retail Awards comprise 22 retail sector category awards, six overall achievement awards and a Prix d’OR winner. This is the first year the competition has included an overall achievement award for mobile websites and consumer-facing apps. Expert judges, chosen from the worlds of retailing, advertising and marketing, vote independently for the best online retail experiences in each category.

ShopSavvy has teamed with vertical ad network Longboard Media to market the most targeted advertising available today — AdOns, which are served to smartphone users using UPC/GPS intent pairs, which are determined based on the user’s demonstrated location and purchase intent.

Best Buy has launched the first campaign under the ShopSavvy/Longboard partnership, encouraging users who scan Back-to-School items to purchase their entire checklist from Best Buy.

Here’s the press release:

ShopSavvy Teams with Longboard Media to Connect Brands with Mobile Consumers

Top shopping app joins vertical ad network to deliver hyper-relevant advertising campaigns to smartphone users.

ShopSavvy, the leading mobile shopping assistant for iPhone and Android users, and Longboard Media, the leading vertical advertising network representing premium shopping, product review and retail publishers, announced that they have joined forces to offer highly targeted ad campaigns to major brands and retailers though ShopSavvy’s AdOns platform. AdOns enable advertisers to deliver hyper-relevant, UPC/GPS-targeted messages to mobile consumers at the point of highest purchase intent, as they stand in a retail store with a potential purchase in hand.

The first AdOns buyer secured by Longboard Media is global retailer Best Buy. The campaign is currently running with feature offers, local store inventory, and branding content delivered when ShopSavvy users scan specific products as part of a Best Buy Back-to-School promotion.

“We are pleased to be part of Longboard Media’s premium ad network, which recognizes that shopping sites represent the highest value to advertisers among online publishers,” said Alexander Muse, CEO and co-founder of ShopSavvy. “Longboard has helped advertisers to see the full potential of ShopSavvy’s highly targeted location/intent pair advertising. Because advertisers know the user’s specific location and buying interest, ShopSavvy is commanding rates well north of $500 CPM.”

“We are extremely excited to be working with ShopSavvy. We have yet to find a more targeted consumer than a person in-store or driving around looking for specific products, which is what ShopSavvy delivers to advertisers,” said Jim Barkow, Longboard Media, CEO and co-founder. “We are already seeing a very large interest in ShopSavvy’s targeted programs from large retailers, brands, and credit cards across all different product categories. Advertisers are looking to engage with consumers in a mobile environment and are impressed by the app’s ability to drive local sales and increase transaction value. We anticipate that the market for AdOns will grow exponentially as more brands become aware of this opportunity.”

About ShopSavvy

ShopSavvy is the leading mobile shopping assistant, with more than 20 million downloads and 11 million current unique users. ShopSavvy empowers smartphone users to quickly and seamlessly locate, research and buy products at the point of sale. When users scan a barcode or input a product name, they discover where the item is sold locally and online, where it’s in stock and at what price. ShopSavvy aggregates product data, deals, ratings and reviews from retailers, partners and its own users to provide the most comprehensive source of information and advice for mobile shoppers anywhere. For advertisers, ShopSavvy delivers “hyper-relevant” deals, promotions, warranty offers, and other UPC/GPS-targeted content to consumers. For more information, visit http://shopsavvy.mobi.

About Longboard Media

Longboard Media is the leading Shopping Vertical ad network providing direct sales, ad serving and monetization to leading shopping publishers and online Retailers. With more than 25 premium shopping publishers and Retailers, Longboard Media reaches over 55M consumers each month across hundreds of product categories. Longboard Media offers a transparent and a publisher-centric model set up to provide reoccurring value to our publisher base. Longboard Media works with brand marketers to target consumers in the consumer funnel with engaging and powerful advertising experiences. http://www.longboardmedia.com

Our Community Rocks!!

Post by Matt Weathers, Head of Product for ShopSavvy Inc. (with updated pictures):

I spoke on a panel on Wednesday at the ShopSmart Summit in New York.  We mainly talked about our relationship with our amazing community of users.  ShopSavvy helps our community shop.  In return, they help each other.  It’s a great set up!!

Our users seek the real story behind products they find in a store.  They hunt deals and quality.  When holding that item in their hand, they ask “Is that a good price, is there a better deal, is it a good quality item, and are their better alternatives”.  We’re fortunate to be one of the leading services they turn to.  That’s because we’re totally focused on getting them everything they need to make the right decision.  We spend every waking minute getting most comprehensive and accurate assortment of real time local and online prices, reviews, nutrition info, movie trailers…. etc.  It’s hard work, but it pays off.  As a result, our users are increasingly turning to us verses alternatives.  Our community numbers show we must be doing something right.

But our relationship doesn’t end there.  While we’ve spent almost 3 years tapping into every resource we can find to get realtime information, our data is only as good as what we get from merchants.  It’s right most the time, but not always.  When we don’t have the right info, our users help to fill in the blank.  They make the essential corrections and fixes.  Our users have added more than half a million products since we gave them the power to change and add content. By doing this, our users help each other.  The next user who scans an added product sees the right image, price or title.  It’s a great relationship!  Thank you to our community!

We also learned about the awesome things RueLaLa.com and Quirky (our fellow panelists) are doing with their communities.  If you’re an inventor, go check out Quirky!  If you like exclusive deals join the RueLaLa community.

Consumer Reports gets A+ for 75 years of Advocacy

ShopSmart (the fast growing new sister publication to Consumer Reports) held its ShopSmart Summit for journalists and bloggers at the Consumer Reports HQ.  We at ShopSavvy love Consumer Reports because of the unfailing consumer advocacy. The lab tour demonstrated huge commitment they have for the real story behind products ranging from food to washing machines.  No one else does such a thorough and scientific job testing such a huge variety of products.  They’ve been doing this for 75 years, and the commitment is amazing.  We just want to say great job guys!

Amazon’s view of the Future

We also got Amazon’s view of the future from Jeff Bezos at the ShopSmart Summit in New York.  He was asked to predict the future…”what are the next shopping trends”?  Jeff made the point that it’s impossible to predict and that he doesn’t like to make forecasts.  Then, he went to on to emphasize one overwhelming shopping trend.. mobile shopping.  Its his view that the next 5 -10 years will see rapid and transformative change in mobile shopping as phones get more powerful.  Thanks Jeff!  We agree 100%.

ShopSavvy contains prices and inventory from more than 26,000 local retailers with more than a million locations at last count from American Eagle to Zyada. Some retailers offer us APIs, while others regularly upload files to our FTP site. If you are a retailer and want us to include your products in ShopSavvy the process is fairly simple:

- Step 1: Execute our Standard Retailer Contract
- Step 2: Fill out our Retailer Data Form
- Step 3: Send us your API, your data, or read our data feed specification HERE

Retailers can also use the ShopSavvy client application (on Android or iOS) to change prices on the fly by enrolling in our ShopSavvy Authorized Retailer Program. The retailer simply notifies us that they are authorized by the retailer in question to modify prices and we will make their ShopSavvy install ‘authoritative’. Any time the retailer’s agent or representative scans a product and edits the price the updated price will be immediately available. Sign up here.

Our users are also adding retailers, prices and inventory. Just click on the ‘Options’ tab in iOS or ‘Edit’ button on Android and you can edit the picture, title – add a retailer (make sure you are in the store or it won’t work) and the price you see. We use a user karma score + age of price to determine how many other users see your work. Keep adding prices and your score will go up as we begin to be able to trust your contributions. Soon you will be able to see your progress in the app.

Thought I would share this picture of John representing ShopSavvy at the Shopper Marketing Summit in Chicago. Great job!