The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.
Name: Joyus
Quick Pitch: A women’s retail site built around video.
Genius Idea: Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, former president of Google’s Asia Pacific and Latin American operations, and Diana Williams, former director of product management in eBay’s fashion division, are kicking video and ecommerce integration up a notch with Joyus, a women’s retail site centered around video that launched in public beta this month.
Video’s role in ecommerce is growing, particularly in the fashion and beauty categories. Brands such as Burberry are live streaming fashion shows and distributing tightly edited short films across their respective digital properties, while retailers including Saks Fifth Avenue and Net-a-Porter now let shoppers view videos of clothes on moving models before users make a purchase, among other developments.
The site is organized much like high-end flash sales site Gilt, with limited-time sales on a range of luxury apparel, beauty and home goods. Each sale is accompanied by a short infomercial — typically two to four minutes — in which a guest contributor gives an overview of the product and its uses.
The infomercials are great for marketing merchandise that most shoppers aren’t inherently familiar with — like, say, TATCHA beauty papers, which claim to remove excess oil and prevent breakouts. Joyus brought in professional makeup artist Matthew VanLeeuwen to demonstrate the papers to visitors who weren’t necessarily sure they needed to have this product in their cosmetics bags.
The videos are instrumental in both product discovery and sales, as well as developing customer loyalty, says Theresia Gouw Ranzetta, a partner at venture capital firm Accel Partners. Accel and Harrison Metal were the lead investors in Joyus’s initial, $7.9 million round of funding, announced earlier this month.
Co-founder Cassidy added that early data suggests sales are most likely to occur when viewers watch between two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half minutes of a video on the site, suggesting that video can increase direct sales as well as engagement.
Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
More About: fashion, joyus, spark of genius seriesFor more Startups coverage:Follow Mashable Startups on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Startups channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Sat, 13 Aug 2011 02:51:47 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/eRLWsynhAxo/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/12/joyus/#comments
Name: Joyus
Quick Pitch: A women’s retail site built around video.
Genius Idea: Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, former president of Google’s Asia Pacific and Latin American operations, and Diana Williams, former director of product management in eBay’s fashion division, are kicking video and ecommerce integration up a notch with Joyus, a women’s retail site centered around video that launched in public beta this month.
Video’s role in ecommerce is growing, particularly in the fashion and beauty categories. Brands such as Burberry are live streaming fashion shows and distributing tightly edited short films across their respective digital properties, while retailers including Saks Fifth Avenue and Net-a-Porter now let shoppers view videos of clothes on moving models before users make a purchase, among other developments.
The site is organized much like high-end flash sales site Gilt, with limited-time sales on a range of luxury apparel, beauty and home goods. Each sale is accompanied by a short infomercial — typically two to four minutes — in which a guest contributor gives an overview of the product and its uses.
The infomercials are great for marketing merchandise that most shoppers aren’t inherently familiar with — like, say, TATCHA beauty papers, which claim to remove excess oil and prevent breakouts. Joyus brought in professional makeup artist Matthew VanLeeuwen to demonstrate the papers to visitors who weren’t necessarily sure they needed to have this product in their cosmetics bags.
The videos are instrumental in both product discovery and sales, as well as developing customer loyalty, says Theresia Gouw Ranzetta, a partner at venture capital firm Accel Partners. Accel and Harrison Metal were the lead investors in Joyus’s initial, $7.9 million round of funding, announced earlier this month.
Co-founder Cassidy added that early data suggests sales are most likely to occur when viewers watch between two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half minutes of a video on the site, suggesting that video can increase direct sales as well as engagement.
Series Supported by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.
More About: fashion, joyus, spark of genius seriesFor more Startups coverage:Follow Mashable Startups on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Startups channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad
Posted on Sat, 13 Aug 2011 02:51:47 +0000 at http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/eRLWsynhAxo/
Comments: http://mashable.com/2011/08/12/joyus/#comments
