Decisions, decisions. Does Seattle24x7 want to gift to you, dear reader, the new high-speed, Retina-screened iPad 4 or the handier, go-anywhere iPad mini? Or should we wrap up the Kindle Fire HD or the Google Nexus 7 tablet? And how do the new Ultrabooks from Dell, HP , Lenovo or Toshiba compare with the standard bearers from Apple or the Surface RT from Microsoft? Which of Amazon’s “Most Gifted” products are rated best by other purchase decision advisors?
Good questions, all. What is most remarkable is that the best advice for sizing up any of the top deals online, cross-checking the most endorsed product merchandise, or simply tracking competitive pricing — ALL originate in Seattle. Are we the nation’s Holiday “Gift Whisperers?” Or is it that we are gifted with the best search technology for locating the niftiest product values online?
The Seattle price-shopping tradition began over a decade ago with Jango, an outcropping of the UW’s Computer Science and Engineering department that scoured the Web like a Googlebot and came up with the unequiovcal “best prices” for a named product. Jango, which was subsequently renamed as ShopBot, was one of the first bona fide “licensing break outs” for an E-commerce portal, in this case, one named Excite, to do the price-checking among the world’s choosiest consumers, courtesy of the maestros of Montlake.
In September, Seattle’s Decide.com became the only shopping service using big data to advise consumers on the highest rated products and the best time to buy, supported by a unique guarantee backing up its price predictions with cash.
A customer simply buys any item Decide.com predicts is a “good time to buy,” from the retailer with the lowest price. Then forwards the email receipt confirmation to [email protected] before midnight PST the same day. Decide automatically tracks the price of the item across thousands of retailers– including Amazon.com®, Best Buy® and Walmart®– for 14 days. If the price drops, Decide will notify the customer and pay the difference, up to $200 per product.
Yabbly, a Seattle startup led by former Amazon.com and Off & Away software engineer Ian Shafer and former Marchex and Google manager Tom Leung says it allows users to connect with other people who’ve made similar decisions — say purchasing a Ford Escape or Sonicare toothbrush or iPhone 5.
“Yabbly is redefining how people shop,” said co-founder and CEO Tom Leung. “What people want before they pull the trigger is an honest opinion and authentic discussion with somebody who has first-hand experience. Yabbly creates a space where members are motivated to help each other find the perfect product. We take buyer’s remorse out of the equation and replace it with a trusted, personalized, timely conversation before you buy.”
Yabbly launched its beta in October and has already hit its 6,000th answer. Top trending shopping discussions – for instance, iPad vs. Mac Air; the iPhone vs GalaxyS3 and the WiiU vs. Xbox – reflect the value placed in dialogue with other people before buying, Leung said.
Amazon’s Holiday 2012 Electronics Gift List (for one), including Best Holiday Gifts Under $35, shows off the top vote getters by category and/or price. Your “Top Holiday Deals” are simply a click away.
From Seattle24x7 to you and yours, “May all of your holiday shopping days be merrry and birght. And may all your holiday gift shopping decisions turn out right!” [24×7]
