Blog

This will sound like self-promotional hyperbole, and I’m going to say it anyway.  When we started TurnTo a bit over 2 years ago, it was clear that the viability of the business hinged on delivering measurable, positive business results for the ecommerce sites we planned to have as customers.  But, of course, there was no way to know for sure what the numbers would look like without building a product and finding customers to really use it.  So we plunged in, built the product, brought merchant partners on board, gained experience, and put in place the systems to measure if we were really doing any good.  And today, in conjunction with three of our partner merchants, we announced some actual results.  So this is the self-promotional, hyperbolic part: it truly did not occur to me when we set out that we’d be able to deliver numbers this positive.  I thought if we would able to show a conversion effect of 10% or 20% we’d be doing pretty well.  And here’s the data from over the holidays for these three sites:

Conversion rate of shoppers who opened the TurnTo widget vs. the baseline (shoppers who didn’t):

• Jomashop.com (IR #209) Watches and luxury goods: 6 X the baseline (i.e. 500% higher)
• ChristianCinema.com, Christian-themed DVDs: 8X the baseline
• ePartyUnlimited.com, gifts and party supplies: 8X the baseline

To be sure, we know we’ve got a lot more measurement work to do before we fully understand the effect the TurnTo system is having on shopping behavior.  But still, after 2 years, it’s very nice to be able to announce numbers like these.

We’ve just released an announcement welcoming 17 additional partner merchants, travel sites, and non-profits that have recently gone live or will be shortly. These new partners include:

• Intrepid Travel: offering over 650 trips in over 100 countries, specializing in ‘off the beaten track’ adventures, organizing trips for 20 years, with over 70,000 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.

We’re looking forward to the Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTEN) this Sunday – Tuesday in San Francisco.  If you’re there, please come by and see us in Booth #42.

And on that topic: here’s a link to a press release Earthwatch just put out on their expanding use of TurnTo to increase volunteer recruitment though their website.  We’re thrilled, since Earthwatch provided the inspiration that led to TurnTo.

Four new partner sites have gone live with TurnTo in the last couple weeks.  All of these discovered us following our launch announcement in September, showing how quick and easy it is to go from zero to up-and-running with TurnTo.  It’s also exciting to see what a broad range of businesses have embraced the TurnTo approach to driving conversion through trusted references. Our new partners are:

• Superior Nut Company – Specialty snacks
• Dog IDs – Pet supplies
• Celebrity Seats – Event tickets
• Tabula Tua – Fine tableware

Check them out to see TurnTo in action.  And pick something up from them while you are there!

We’re out at the DEMOfall conference in San Diego.  Our official launch announcement went out yesterday morning, but I thought I’d wait until after our stage presentation this morning to post.  You can watch it here – it’s about 5 minutes long.  We’ve had some nice press coverage already.

We’re also excited to announce that we are live on two more great partner sites.  CompSource is an electronics site and a member of the Internet Retailer 500.  You can find TurnTo at the top of their pages under the search box.  And Teavana is a specialty tea merchant.  They’re using TurnTo on their individual product pages – scroll down a bit to see it.