YBuy Launches New Personalized Try-Before-You-Buy E-Commerce Platform

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif., May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- YBuy, the only try-before-you-buy online service that lets consumers touch and use products before they commit to purchase, today launched a new personalized e-commerce platform powered by a unique curation algorithm that recommends the latest electronics, home and kitchen gadgets to users.

The new platform replicates everything consumers love about the in-store shopping experience—the tips and recommendations from sales associates—with the ease of online shopping and a no-obligation in-home trial.

While typical e-commerce platforms offer extraordinary convenience, they fail to provide consumers the opportunity to "touch and feel" items before they commit to buy them. And, they fall short in delivering the personal interaction with sales associates that helps consumers find out about the latest cool gadgets and the hottest products.

YBuy's new platform overcomes these barriers with highly curated offerings on a try-before-you-buy basis.

"People are fed up with Amazon, which offers 1,000 different espresso machines. Consumers want someone to cut to the chase and tell them not only which products are best, but also best for them and their specific needs," said Steve Svajian, CEO and co-founder of YBuy. "Our customers tell us we're slowly replacing Best Buy and other big box retail stores, and with this new platform, we're able to not just replicate the merchandise offering, but also the way it's displayed and demonstrated to the end-user, which makes all the difference."

For just a one-time membership fee, plus $24.95 for each product trial, YBuy members can choose a product from their individually curated personal showroom to try in their home for up to 30 days. To build their curated showroom, members take a short quiz that asks about their preferences. The YBuy learning algorithm then analyzes users' stated preferences along with other inputs unique to YBuy's business model. For example, YBuy looks at overall buy/return patterns and customer feedback from all members. As part of the deal, each YBuy member is also assigned a personal customer assistant who provides individual attention in product selection and recommendation, which is also taken into consideration.

"Most algorithms today are too granular and don't focus enough on selection criteria," said Svajian. "With YBuy, the algorithm is just part of the process. It's the interplay between the algorithm, our product curators and our personal customer assistants that differentiate our system and give the customer a truly unique experience."

YBuy's new learning algorithm has been developed by the company's CTO, Monica McArthur, a Ph.D. in mathematics from UCLA with deep domain experience in predictive modeling and recommendation algorithms.

"YBuy's unique business model gives us unmatched access to data on customer behaviors and preferences, through our product trials, that is not available to other companies," McArthur said. "This gives us unprecedented insight to personalize our offerings to customers based on that information. We want consumers to feel like what we're doing is just for them. Because it is."

"We're aggressively focused on providing tremendous value to our customers in a long-term, sustainable way," Svajian said. "We are at the forefront of something huge, and we are leading a shift in the way people think about e-tailing. This is just the beginning."

To start your 30-day in-home trial to try a personalized selection of the latest electronics and home gadgets, go to www.ybuy.com.

About YBuy.com
YBuy.com is the premier try-before-you-buy destination that lets consumers test drive the latest electronics and home and kitchen gadgets for 30 days with no commitment to buy. Offering a highly curated selection of both new and certified factory refurbished products, YBuy eliminates the hassle of product refunds, returns and buyer's remorse and offers manufacturers a captive audience and ready-made sales channel for their refurbished products. The private company is headquartered in Manhattan Beach, Calif. For more information, visit www.ybuy.com.

SOURCE YBuy