InformationWeek Coverage
A quick thanks to Thomas Claburn and Mitch Wagner over at InformationWeek for their coverage of Jellyfish and our Smack Shopping Show this week here and here.
I met with Tom in San Francisco last week and it was great to see his summary of our conversation about Smack Shopping. One minor point of correction on the article, however, is that Brian is the CEO of Jellyfish; I’m the President. No worries though Tom, I appreciate the promotion!
Mitch wondered about our barriers to entry with Smack Shopping in his post. I’m not aware of many start ups that have a business model that can’t be copied by the big boys (it all comes down to continuous cycles of innovation and excecution), but I did point out to Mitch that we’ve been pretty active with our patent filings at Jellyfish and are working hard to secure some patent rights to the Smack concept.
March 6th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
I found the comments on Mitch’s article interesting, especially regarding the revenue-split. Mitch says he isn’t impressed with the revenue split which, in his opinion, is similar to click-to-surf schemes of the past and will only lead to lower income visitors who won’t buy.
I couldn’t disagree more. We are quickly approaching a point where even lower income consumers frequently shop online. My 77-year-old grandmother orders pizza online.
Additionally, the quality once predominantly thought female, the excitement of getting a good deal, has spread to technophile men as competition among tech stores grows. They still want the cool gadgets, but getting the best deal among friends and coworkers is a definite source of pride. They no longer only want to be the first to have the cool new toys. They want to be the first to get it at half the price of the guy who got it first.
As more cable and radio finance and investing shows incorporate frugality as part of a financial plan (often referencing the lifestyle of Warren Buffet), I think it’s shortsighted to assume that wealthy consumers aren’t also looking for discounts. Big-spending consumers are still consumers. When they feel like they are getting a good deal, they will buy more with their “savings.”
It’s negligent not to include the revenue-split when discussing Jellyfish’s startup because it’s the unique combination of the Smack Shopping Show AND the shared revenue that sets Jellyfish apart. Unlike other discount sites, the Smack Shopping Show creates an interactive community with regular visitors who chat live while shopping. There is a sense of loyalty among many of the visitors reminiscent of local Mom and Pop, brick and mortar stores. Since the beginning of online commerce, entrepreneurs have wondered how to duplicate that loyalty when there are so many online merchants. Jellyfish just might have discovered a way to do it.
The live, social shopping events also plants the Jellyfish name into the heads of their visitors. When a regular visitor decides to buy a plasma TV, he’s more likely to check out the prices at Jellyfish. Mitch feels that sharing revenue only drives traffic from visitors with much more time than money. I would argue that by making Jellyfish.com a daily stop with the Smack Shopping Show, the site is more likely to become the first place that Smack Show players go to look for deals. Those shoppers with the least amount of available time to spend looking for deals know that they will at least save something when shopping through Jellyfish. They can then justify the purchase as a “smart deal,” even if it’s a giant plasma TV.
New online shoppers also feel more secure in e-commerce purchases as they have an additional company’s customer service working with them when they buy. Other shoppers help with advice and reviews of products and stores.
The combined concept is sure to be successful. My only question is whether Jellyfish will be able to maintain the “community” benefits when it experiences large growth.
March 7th, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Thanks for your post Shannon (or should I say Skeptican?). And I agree with you that one of our challenges is to continue to make Smack Shopping work as we scale up traffic. We have a number of ideas in this regards, and I look forward to your continue feedback as we move forward.
February 21st, 2008 at 7:02 am
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