comparative shopping - Programming Blog

Omoby: Visual Search for the iPhone

5 Mar 2010

Omoby can essentially be summed up in four words: Google Goggles for iPhone. The visual search app allows you to snap a pic of any object and get back a list of convenient search results, retailer pricing, and information about that product.

The technology behind the app is visual object search, so it doesn’t require a barcode to be scanned, and can tolerate a fair amount of object rotation and general object obscurity in making an identification. In our tests oMoby fared better on some things than others: boxed media like video games or DVDs were easily identified while the Nexus One was rendered simply as “Google Android phone.”

Still, it’s a nice quick and dirty way to pull up information or do comparative shopping for a wide range of objects. The app saves a history of your visual searches too so you can reference them later. Hooking in your Twitter or Facebook allows you to share results with your friends; sharing via email is an option as well. The app is powered by IQ Engines visual search technology, which also offers an API for developers who want to incorporate image intelligence into their own apps.

So if you’re an iPhone user who has been jealous of your Android counterparts’ access to visual search, oMoby is definitely worth a look at the low, low price of free in the App Store [iTunes link]. We’ve embedded a demo video below of the app in action; if you get a chance to watch the video or try out the app, let us know what you think in the comments.

Tags: google goggles, iphone, iphone apps, IQ engines, Mobile 2.0, object search, omoby, product search, Search, visual search

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Tags: comparative shopping, google, image intelligence, iPhone, iphone apps, object rotation, object search, twitter, visual search

WinBuyer Secures $6.9M For App That Helps Online Retailers Make More Money

In: web resources

23 Nov 2009

WinBuyer has just announced that it has raised institutional funding for the first time, to the tune of $6.9 million, in a Series A round led by Pitango Venture Capital and joined by Giza Venture Capital.

The young Israeli company markets a so-called Onsite Comparative Pricing (OCP) application, which aims to help Internet retailers integrate comparison shopping elements straight into their own product pages.

The idea is that visitors of ecommerce websites would be less inclined to search the Web for more information and comparative pricing for products they intend to buy when the online retailer actually shows all that information on his own website prior to purchase, including pricing of and links to his competitors. Evidently, retailers can opt to show only information for merchants who sell the same product at a higher price point.

WinBuyer says this strategy helps lift sales because it removes the need for potential buyers to scour the net for more information, thus making the conversion process swifter. The company claims the OCP app also helps e-tailers keep customers coming back to them since it turns their product information pages into one-stop shops.

WinBuyer gets pricing and other information for products directly from hundreds of merchants and dozens of comparative shopping partners such as Shopping.com, Shopzilla and PriceGrabber.

Installation of the Javascript application is free and the tool includes a feature for AB testing, which enables online retailers to try out various integrations and custom placements on their websites before rolling it out in full. WinBuyer makes money from PPC revenue sharing.

Earlier this month, the company struck a partnership agreement with Overstock.com, which will integrate WinBuyer’s OCP application into their product detail pages (for an example page, go to this product page on the US site and look at the top right section).

A couple of downsides from what I can gather: the app is only available for English-language sites at this moment, and since the application isn’t capable of showing comparative shipping and handling costs for every online retailer out there, savvy shoppers are still better off researching detailed pricing on other retailers’ website to make sure they’re getting the best bang for their buck.

CrunchBase Information

Pitango Venture Capital

Giza Venture Capital

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