IMshopping Launches First Ever Twitter-Based Shopping Service and Announces $4.7M in Series A Funding From SK Telecom

The Experience of Going Into a Retail Store and Talking to an Expert Now Brought to Twitter and Web

With millions of products and a confusing scattering of retailers on the Web, researching consumer products has become a time-consuming and frustrating experience. Now, relief has arrived. Today IMshopping (http://www.imshopping.com) officially launches in beta as the first human-assisted shopping website and Twitter shopping service http://www.twitter.com/imshopping where knowledgeable shopping guides respond to product questions and provide personalized recommendations for users. It’s like a Shopping 411 information service. The site offers the experience of going into a store, speaking with a knowledgeable expert and being guided to the best products for your needs.

The company is also announcing that it has closed a $4.7 million Series A round of funding from SK Telecom with Min Park and Soo-Hyuk Lee, both SVPs at SK Telecom joining the board.

IMshopping delivers a mix of recommendation technology and real human assistance, aiming to create a more efficient way to find products online. The company’s research has shown that consumers are now more interested in getting hard-to-find answers to specific technical and qualitative questions, while most e-commerce sites are primarily focused on price and reviews. This deeper level of e-commerce allows consumers to receive a higher level of personal service on the web and make better buying decisions.

How It Works:

Twitter users can directly ask questions by messaging @imshopping. The shopping guides in the community and trained experts offer detailed responses within a short period of time, usually in less time than it would take to drive to Best Buy or Home Depot, wait in line and get your question answered. Shoppers can use these responses to instantly make purchases or save to their own folders before making a product decision.

Online shoppers can instantly look for specific products, search IMshopping’s database for product questions that have been already answered, or pose their own shopping questions.

As shopping guides craft their response, they review a detailed analysis of the product, including specifications, reviews from third-party sites, blog buzz and price. This response is then delivered to the shopper and also archived anonymously for review by future shoppers. All public questions and responses are searchable via Twitter or can be viewed by following @imshopping. Today the site launches in beta with 20,000 questions already answered and available for public search. An example of questions already answered can be found at http://search.twitter.com/search?q=imshopping.

IMshopping CEO and Founder, Prashant Nedungadi, is a pioneer in e-commerce who previously co-founded Andale, the largest third-party tool provider on eBay. Nedungadi successfully merged Andale with Vendio, one of the premier small business e-commerce players.

“We believe human assistance will create a deeper level of e-commerce satisfaction that doesn’t exist on the Internet today,” says Mr. Nedungadi. “There is a lot of information out there, but very little help when online shoppers need specific answers that will make or break their purchasing decision. At brick and mortar stores, human experts fill such a void, but on the web, it doesn’t exist. We developed IMshopping to bring the same level of personalized assistance to online shoppers. Twitter is the ideal medium for having a conversation; Online shoppers have the option to communicate privately with the expert on Twitter, or publically so others can benefit from the right choices.”

About IMshopping

IMshopping brings a human touch to shopping on the Web. We make finding products easier with the help of real people who search out deals, read reviews and share this valuable information with you and the greater community. The company is based Santa Clara, California and is backed by SK Telecom.
Contacts

VSC PR for IMshopping
Vijay Chattha, 415-305-6041
vijay {at} vscconsulting(.)com