New Media Technology News
New Media Technology News

TurnTo Delivers Significantly Enhanced Social Shopping Experience

TurnTo Networks, Inc. has launched a major upgrade to the TurnTo Social Shopping Widget that offers new features to provide shoppers with more connections to trusted sources of advice with less effort.
TurnTo is also welcoming 17 more ecommerce websites to the network. These new partners are joining the TurnTo network of online stores, travel portals, and non-profit sites, all of which have upgraded to the new version.
The new TurnTo system offers expanded capabilities that foster shopper trust and provide social information to aid in purchase decisions. A shopper can now anonymously identify the number of their friends who are past-customers of a TurnTo partner store simply by entering a friends list from a source like Facebook or an email address book. If the shopper has questions, the store can ask those past-customers to serve as references, which connects them to the shopper. This strengthens the ability of the TurnTo system to find “trusted references” for shoppers by leveraging the store’s entire customer base, while completely preserving customers’ privacy.
Additionally, all shoppers – even those who do not enter a friends list – will now have access to basic social shopping information that drives increased conversion rates and raises average order value; this includes data such as which items are popular among their neighbors, which items have been highly recommended recently, and which items are hot sellers overall.
“We are delighted to see the enhancements included in the newly released TurnTo social shopping widget. It represents a big step forward with just the features we needed, and one that puts us on the cutting edge of Social Shopping,” said Amitai Sasson, Marketing Manager of overstockArt.com.
“It will boost our bottom line,” said Sherry Comes, President and Founder of CoffeeCakes.com. “With this new version, TurnTo figured out a way to deliver trusted reference information to our shoppers from day one.”
“We’ve been listening to feedback from both shoppers and our merchant partners,” said George Eberstadt, TurnTo CEO and Founder. “Both groups want the system to deliver more trusted reference information to more shoppers more easily. Our enhanced system makes that happen. We already saw substantial lift in conversion and average-order-value from the old system, and we expect the results after this upgrade to be even better.”
Welcoming New Merchant Partners
The TurnTo network has grown steadily since its launch in 2008, representing a diverse group of online merchants who recognize that people are more likely to buy from a store where they see their friends shop. TurnTo is welcoming 17 additional online merchants that have recently joined the TurnTo network and are already live or will be shortly. These new partners include:
Intrepid Travel: offering over 300 trips in over 50 countries, specializing in ‘off the beaten track’ adventures, organizing trips for 17 years, with over 30,000 travelers joining them each year.
Jomashop: No. 209 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, has been in the wholesale and retail trade of upscale luxury brand name goods such as watches, fine writing instruments, handbags and luxury crystal since it was founded in New York in 1987.
Stylin’ Trucks, a (sister) company of JC Whitney: a 20-year leader in providing performance products for sport, off-road and pick-up trucks, as well as SUVs. Parent auto parts retailer J.C. Whitney & Co. is No. 115 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.
EyeBuyDirect: A leading online eyewear seller and an Internet Retailer Hot 100, EyeBuyDirect is a global prescription lab and optical retailer specializing in the volume production of affordable prescription eyeglasses.
Overstock Art: the Internet leader in hand painted oil painting reproductions at clearance prices.
BeyondtheRack: a private shopping club for men and women who want designer brands at prices up to 70% off retail.
The Watchery: No. 278 in the Internet Top 500 offers brand name watches at substantial discounts to the manufacturer’s suggested retail price.
F+W Media: offers community, content, and connectivity to focused markets of highly passionate enthusiast communities.
Country Pet: a producer of all-natural pet food and treats, running on a NetSuite platform.
The Mountain Fund: dedicated to achieving the Millennium Development Goals at the grassroots level, The Mountain Fund and its global network of partners span every corner of the globe eliminating poverty in mountain regions.
CoffeeCakes.com: with an ever-expanding product line includes coffeecakes, whiskey cakes, rum cakes and travel mugs, CoffeeCakes.com distinguishes itself from other Internet retailers because of its obsession with providing superior customer service.
Accessory Geeks: delivers high quality cell phone & iPod accessories while providing information with geeky expertise.
Jamestown Distributors: an industry leader in marine and building supplies for over 30 years.
Bloomex.ca: a national Canadian Floral company.
Christian Cinema: a motion picture production and distribution company founded in 1999, born out of a desire to connect independent Christian filmmakers with consumers.
Black Helmet Apparel: founded by a fireman for firefighters, Black Helmet Apparel designs are hand drawn, and unique.
Wireless Emporium: provides consumers and on-the-go professionals a one-stop shop for cellular phone and wireless device accessories as the leader in wireless accessories.
About TurnTo
TurnTo activates word-of-mouth by enabling visitors to an ecommerce site to see when friends have experience with the site and the products it sells. For the shopper, TurnTo provides trusted sources of advice at just the moment they are most needed. For the merchant, TurnTo increases conversion rates, raises average-order-value, and makes their site a better place to shop. More information about TurnTo and its partner sites is available at www.turnto.com.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *