Shopping Conversations

Shopping Conversations

Blippy is an interesting concept but I found the stream of purchases, well, a little mind-numbing. Jane bought this and Joe bought that. It was helpful to see what iPhone apps people were buying, but there are better ways to get that sort of information (App Store Top 25 for example).

In most cases social media should make everyday social interactions more efficient. I don't yell over the fence to my neighbors every time I watch a Netflix movie, so having Blippy automate that process doesn't do much for me.

ShopSocially, on the other hand, seems to better approximate real-world conversation. What do people do around the water-cooler from a shopping perspective? They talk about the important purchases they've made, usually explaining their reasoning and outcome. Then they ask others for opinions on purchases they are contemplating. ShopSocially makes both of those processes, sharing and asking, more efficient through the use of social networks.

I spoke with Jai Rawat about his new company, his fourth start-up, and I think he's on the right path. The last thing I want to do is join another network, but ShopSocially is already linked to Facebook and Twitter so those social networks can be leveraged.

And I think this could complement product comments on websites. After posting a comment, a button could allow the reviewer to push to ShopSocially, which may in turn push the comment to Facebook and/or Twitter. Retailers get the same benefits they've always gotten from these types of social interactions. When they take care of the customer, the customer tells their friends -- only with today's technology more people are reached in less time.