ShopAdvisor Partners with Zinio to Bring Contextual Shopping to Digital Versions of Popular Magazines

BOSTON, Aug. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ShopAdvisor, the deferred shopping platform company that connects consumers' initial interest in a product through to their eventual purchase, has partnered with Zinio, the world's largest digital magazine newsstand to bring shopping inside the pages of digital editions of leading magazines.

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Available today, Zinio readers who use the iPad app can begin shopping from the advertising and editorial pages of some of the world's most popular fashion, consumer electronics and home decor magazines via the ShopAdvisor "Watch" feature, where readers can directly, in one tap or click, track the prices, availability, reviews and other attributes of items they are interested in purchasing, or simply buy them without leaving the article or advertisement they are reading. 

Additionally, ShopAdvisor's partnership with Zinio opens up innovative revenue opportunities for digital magazine publishers.  Through a unique production process, ShopAdvisor's technology evaluates the pages and potential products found within activated publications and immediately activates the "Watch" and "Shop" features.  Products are immediately available through the ShopAdvisor platform inside the digital issue on Zinio.  No other apps, plug ins or browsers pages are required. Once the magazine is downloaded, products identified as new, are automatically updated in ShopAdvisor's pop-up store and made available for the reader to buy.

By connecting the reader's initial interest in a product all the way through to their eventual purchase, ShopAdvisor will provide Zinio with detailed insight into the shopping behaviors and patterns of consumers.

"Our partnership with Zinio demonstrates an innovative way to marry the digital consumer to content and products they love. Furthermore, the integration takes this effort one step further," said Scott Cooper, CEO of ShopAdvisor.  "ShopAdvisor provides Zinio's magazine readers the ability to naturally 'shop' their way through a magazine. Additionally, it offers a new stream of revenue for the cutting-edge publisher."

ShopAdvisor was built to reflect the way many consumers approach the buying process -- they see a product they might want but would like to wait for the price to be right, do some research or ask their friends and family about the product first.  

ShopAdvisor is the first and only e-commerce platform to leverage the natural deferred consumer buying behavior for higher consideration items, such as clothing, electronics and furniture, where shoppers typically don't tend to buy "right now."   With ShopAdvisor, consumers are able to gather information about a product over time, including price comparisons, opinions from social networks, product reviews and availability, and helps keep track of the product for them until they are ready to buy.

When a product is found on a page, a "Shop" button appears allowing the reader to see their item of interest in a pop-up store.  The reader can then add the item to their ShopAdvisor "Watchlist" -- an active list of products the consumer is interested in buying -- or purchase the item directly from the store.  Once a product is on the reader's Watchlist, ShopAdvisor continuously scours the Internet for information about the products (ratings/reviews, price history, inventory and price) and notifies the reader with alerts over time with the opportunity to purchase when the time is right.

ShopAdvisor has over three million active users with apps on iPhone, iPad and Android and provides "Watch Button" integration with leading blogs and websites.  The platform is currently keeping track of more than 250,000 products worth over $60 million. 

About ShopAdvisor

ShopAdvisor is a deferred shopping platform that connects consumers' initial interest in a product with their eventual purchase. ShopAdvisor's cloud-based services are used by blogs, media sites, and third-party applications to incorporate deferred shopping into their user experience. ShopAdvisor also offers apps for iPhone, iPad, Android and the web. Founded in 2011, ShopAdvisor is based in Boston, MA.  For more information visit www.shopadvisor.com

About Zinio

Zinio is leading the digital transformation of the publishing and advertising industry. The ZINIO UNITY™ reading platform allows users to turn their favorite device into a personalized newsstand and access the largest selection of magazines worldwide and consume it at anytime from anywhere. Zinio users can search, save and share stories from more than 5,000 magazine titles ¾ in 33 languages and 23 currencies ¾ covering every genre, industry, niche and hobby. Founded in 2001 and privately held, Zinio is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York and Barcelona with other service partner offices worldwide. For more information, please visit www.zinio.com, follow us on Twitter at @Zinio and get in touch with us at Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/zinio.

ShopAdvisor, evoqu, and Watch Button are Trademarks of evoqu, Inc. © 2012

SOURCE ShopAdvisor