IMshopping announced the beta launch of their human-assisted shopping website and Twitter shopping service where knowledgeable shopping guides respond to product questions and provide personalized recommendations for users.
How It Works
Twitter users can directly ask questions by tweeting @imshopping or on the IMshopping website . 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.
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.
The beta site has launched with over 20,000 questions answered and available for public search. You can see an example of questions already at answered IMShopping here.
A word from the CEO
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. He says, “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."
Try it out
I sent a query to @imshopping about eco-friendly paints and business cards. I received a response in about 10 minutes and the answers were top notch. Try out @imshopping yourself and report back on how their service works for you.
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