Friday, September 27, 2013

Could this be the future of m-commerce?


Mashable reports that Shopular, a new app that attempts to use mobile to drive sales to brick and mortar retailers has just raised $6.4M in new capital from Sequoia Capital. 

The objective of the app is to help connect consumers and retailers by alerting users about coupons and promotions at nearby stores.  The app uses location service features to help advise the customers of what options surround them based on their user preferences, etc.  The company has partnered with all top 150 retailers across more than 40,000 store locations.  The founder, Navneet Loiwal, wants to reduce the friction between retailers and consumers from ‘show-rooming’ and other destructive retail practices that have companies weary of the value of digital and mobile platforms.

The tension between online and brick & mortar has come to a head and the balance between how companies allocate capital across the platforms will be a critical business development issue over the coming years.  I believe that digital and brick & mortar will co-exist in some balance and innovative apps like this can bridge the gap between consumer preferences and retail choices.  

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