Today, Mountain View, CA online comparison start-up, Become.com announced they have officially launched their Japan search site Becom.co.jp. The company is planning on having online comparison shopping cablilites on the site up and running by the end of the year, but for now users in Japan will only be able to conduct research on the products they are interested in buying. Transcosmos Corp. based in Japan, is an outsourced information services firm and is helping the company create brand awareness in the country as well as attract advertisers. Transcosmos Corp. was the lead investor in the company's second round of financing in which the company raised $7.2mn and closed in May 2005.
Currently, Become.com's online comparison shopping vision and functionality is different from many other online comparison shopping sites, but doesn't appear to be anything that can't be replicated by larger players such as Google's Froogle and Yahoo!. The company is attempting to provide a more thorough online comparison shopping experience by providing more than simply the price of products. Users of the site receive, when available, research information, buying guides, product reviews, articles and forums related to the products users are searching for. These are all things I would find valuable when shopping online, but Become.com doesn't quite have all they proclaim to offer just yet. For example, I didn't find many product reviews on the searches I conducted. Also, users can keep track of items by selecing "add to favorites", but users are not able to save this list. Froogle enables users to save items to a shopping list and view friend's wish lists (just like Amazon) with a Google account. These kinds of community features are critical in creating the "stickiness" of the site. Become.com is missing the boat on this thus far. However, one nice feature I came across is If there is more than one store with the model of the product you are searching for you can compare the prices between the various stores (which really isn't any different from other online sites) and their platform gives you the ability to see what the price really is based on shipping and taxes by simply entering your zip code. Froogle just recently launched an ability to search for products locally, but this doesn't yield the price of the product with shipping and taxes added in. Lastly, Become.com doesn't appear to have nearly as many sponsored stores as Froogle and Yahoo!, which equates to less inventory to compare products across when users are conducting searches.
This is a company I will likely keep tabs on, but again, they don't appear to have anything that couldn't be replicated by others. I personally am waiting for a company to begin offering online comparison shopping for services. I want a site that aggregates and shows all of the different pricing plans of cell phone carriers and what the difference is in price to have my shirts and pants dry cleaned based on various dry cleaners within 15 miles of my house and which one if any has any specials going on currently. Now there is something different!
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