OUR PHILOSOPHY

While trying to use current e-commerce platforms to create a more engaging online shopping experience, it became very clear that we would have to create our own to do it right. We realized very quickly that online shopping platforms were built for transactions and were not rooted in retail and merchandising principles leading us to exploring what online shopping could be.

To create a new online shopping platform that is rooted in shopper satisfaction, offering an unforgettable experience, and ultimately an alternative to transaction-based online shopping we needed to grasp a better understanding of where online shopping is today and how we got here. 

This journey of discovery helped us to develop a new philosophy for online shopping we refer to as e-shopping. While the traditional term e-shopping is often used interchangeably with e-commerce, they are two very different terms, and we feel have very different meanings. 

How we define the two terms for shopping online:

E-commerce Shopping (verb) - the act of shopping online on an e-commerce platform where the shopper indicates the item through a search function and is provided a series of product choices to scroll, add to a shopping cart, and ideally a transaction for purpose.  

E-shopping (verb) - the act of shopping online on an e-shopping platform that is inspired by in-person shopping and blanketed with the benefits of being online, allowing the shopper to navigate  their shopping journey through the choices they make presenting them with destination shop options, each filled with curated products organized into collections, themes, or solutions to browse for discovery, entertainment, and satisfaction.

To further explain our mission, purpose, and focus that drove us to creating a new online shopping platform, it was important to take a deep dive into the current landscape of online shopping to understand how to make it better.  Understanding shopper frustrations, the focus of current e-commerce platforms, and explore technology and innovation that would help us to create an alternative. 

While others are focused on search, filters, and tracking, we focus on the shopper.  

• ENDLESS SCROLLING through thousands of nearly identical products
• Too many 'FLYING MONKEYS' ads, pop-ups, and “sponsored” results getting in the way
• SHOPPERS ARE REQUIRED TO KNOW exactly what to search for before starting
• CONSTANTLY CHANGING SEARCH RESULTS, even when you type the same thing
• DUPLICATE PRODUCTS with different suppliers, prices, photos, and descriptions
• PRODUCT PAGE OVERLOAD with page results filled with clutter, reviews, and information
• FAKE REVIEWS, inflated ratings, and misleading claims contribute to diminished trust
• SHOPPER REQUIRED COMPARISONS when buying anything, cannot rely on recommendations
• 'BIG BROTHER' FEELING of being watched or tracked everywhere you click
• DISCONNECTED EXPERIENCE causing each product to stand alone during the experience
• EVERY VISIT STARTS FROM SCRATCH with no sense of place or continuity
• TECHNOLOGY RUN MERCHANDISING with recommendations based on history not the future
• ALL BRANDS COMPETING FOR TOP RESULT SPOTS instead of connecting with shoppers 
• BRANDS MUST PAY FOR VISIBILITY across all search and social media platforms
• ONLINE SHOPPER FATIGUE is driving shoppers back to in-person shopping or to do less online shopping
• MULTIPLE E-COMMERCE SITES VISITS REQUIRED to find everything the shopper needs
• RELIANT ON SEARCH OR AI FOR EXPERTISE losing a sense of personal discovery