The battle for space on the Web browser is becoming even more crowded. SmartShopper last week launched its comparison shopping tool that scours both retail and travel Web sites, combining two popular activities into one application. To date, this becomes at least the fifth such toolbar to debut in less than a year.
SmartShopper is a free desktop program that delivers a list of competitive deals from trusted merchants in the browser sidebar. Users only need to download SmartShopper once and the smart tool works like a full-time personal shopping assistant, the company sys. When users actively shop for a specific product or travel itinerary, SmartShopper identifies exactly what they are looking for and appears in a separate browser pane with other matching, competitive offers.
According to a company statement, SmartShopper searches more than 13,000 sites, uncovers hidden bargains and allows for direct price and product comparisons. Users looking to buy products or make travel arrangements can reportedly access the best available deal from thousands of vendors automatically delivered to them.
"SmartShopper solves the primary problem of traditional online shopping - time-consuming search through multiple sites just to ensure you're making the right decision," said Ziv Eliraz, vice president for strategic alliances at SmartShopper, in a written statement. "SmartShopper harnesses the true potential of e-commerce by delivering simple desktop software that makes order out of the scores of similar vendors, avoiding irrelevant promotions and delivering an enhanced level of comfort and convenience to online shoppers."
SmartShopper has formed several strategic partnerships with well-known retail and travel brands such as Orbitz, lodging.com, Shopping.com, Epinions and ebookers.com "in order to deliver dramatically lower prices and hard-to-find deals." In addition to displaying prices, the tool also provides comprehensive product information, merchant reviews, and auction listings with real-time bids.
Other comparison shopping toolbars are available from Vendio, NexTag, Upromise and SquareTrade. SmartShopper goes head-to-head with NexTag's comparison toolbar in searching for travel-related deals.
When asked why shoppers would choose SmartShopper's toolbar over NexTag's a company representative told ECommerce-Guide.com, "For travel, a unique differentiator is the integrated mapping feature where users can view the location of a hotel property through a map or satellite imagery. You can also sort departure/return times, hotel rating and supplier name. There are also more customization features such as setting the prices in your local/preferred currency, default airport and number of travelers (for example, if you usually travel in family of four)."
SmartShopper is available for free at www.SmartShopper.com. The toolbar only runs on Windows computers running Internet Explorer. The company spokesperson told ECommerce-Guide.com a Firefox compatible version is expected in Q3 2006.
Devin Comiskey is the Managing Editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.
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