BuyingIQ, an Intelligent shopping engine reports 4L monthly visitors, 50% MoM growth
With more and more people coming online to shop, we’ve seen a proportional growth in the usage of the sites that assist the shoppers as well. Shopping search engines help buyers make informed choices and allow them to compare the various options available. In this space, BuyingIQ is an intelligent shopping engine helping user make smarter electronic buying decisions on the Internet.
Founded by Piyush Taneja and Saumitra Purohit, in November 2012, BuyingIQ claims to attract over 400,000 monthly visitors, growing by ~50% month-on-month. Piyush is an IIT Delhi alumnus, while Saumitra is from BITS Pilani. Both have worked for startups as well as corporates and met each other at their initial induction program at PricewaterhouseCoppers. “BuyingIQ was a result of a series of discussion between Saumitra and me on the increasing influence of the Internet on consumer decision making,” says Piyush.
There are other players like MySmartPrice, PriceDekho, PriceBaba, FindYogi, etc. in the space but BuyingIQ is trying to trump the others by focusing on their comprehensive competition analysis tool along with the aspects of data accuracy and web personalization:
- Deal Comparison and not Price comparison – In comparison shopping, one of the aspects that matters most to the user is the accuracy of data. BuyingIQ claims to have over 98% price data accuracy, with necessary details like additional freebies/offer and discount coupons made available by the seller, all put together in one place. (See demo)
- Personalization of web has been built in the product. The alternative product recommendations can be personalized by the user on the basis of specific feature he/she is interested in. (See demo)
The revenue model for BuyingIQ is multi-tier, comprising revenues from: Affiliate Networks and Display Ads Network currently. Going ahead, Data Analytics - eCommerce Price Intelligence Service, Consumer Remarketing and Physical Retail Listing will open up.
BuyingIQ is bootstrapped 11-member strong team and is on the look out for mobile and web developers to strengthen their team. The company has also made it to the Grand Finale (Top 10) of Conquest 2013 by BITS Pilani. Currently, the company is cash-flow neutral, but is looking to raise a round of investment for a major product revamp, extend across various mobile platforms (25% of existing customer base comes from mobile browsers), and also open up across apparels and other categories.
Website: BuyingIQ