Market America Completes Acquisition of SHOP.COM
Market America, an Internet marketing and product brokerage company, announced today that it has successfully completed the acquisition of SHOP.COM’s (www.SHOP.com) business, a pioneer in online comparison shopping, creating a powerful, new social shopping destination poised to challenge the Internet's leading shopping destinations. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Since the acquisition was announced on December 15, 2010, MARKETAMERICA.COM (www.marketamerica.com) has seen a 60 percent increase in site traffic and a 30 percent increase in revenue. Likewise, SHOP.COM has experienced double the amount of organic traffic compared to the same time frame last year. In addition, over 23 million powerful Twitter messages have been generated about the acquisition including those from Kim Kardashian, Alejandro Sanz, Eva Longoria, Swizz Beats, Russell Simmons, Khloe Kardashian, Serena Williams and Paulina Rubio who took it upon themselves to promote the exciting announcement.
The new vision for the future will be conveyed to over 25,000 Shop Consultants during Market America’s annual World Conference in Miami, FL, February 3-5, 2011. The event will take place at the American Airlines Arena where Market America’s leadership, including members of SHOP.COM, will present the details of how this partnership will forever change the Internet shopping landscape. On hand will be a group of surprise celebrities who will attend World Conference to support the Ridingers and Market America. Among the announcements to be made at this event is the integration of Market America’s ma CashBack program on the SHOP.COM site, providing up to 35% cash back to SHOP.COM customers and one half of a percent on the purchases of everyone they refer. Also being unveiled at the event; SHOP.COM customers will be given a Market America Shop Consultant to assist in their shopping. Shop Consultants give a personal touch to the high tech way of shopping. Shoppers can interact online or by phone with the same person on any day or occasion; they are real people who know how to find exactly what the customer wants and at the best prices ensuring an unmatched shopping experience.
MARKETAMERICA.COM and SHOP.COM will continue to operate as separate websites through a transition period while integration of the unique benefits of each company takes place. The two sites have in excess of 60 million combined products online including over 3,000 merchants, stores and name brands, plus Market America's own branded products like Motives by Loren Ridinger and Isotonix. Market America's headquarters will remain in Greensboro, NC while SHOP.COM's facilities in Monterey and Pasadena, CA and London, UK will continue without disruption. The combined entity now exceeds 650 employees.
“Market America’s acquisition of SHOP.COM’s business enables us to leverage the social shopping trend and will revolutionize the online shopping experience,” said JR Ridinger, President and CEO of Market America. "Market America has a network of 180,000 social shopping consultants who lead people to the best prices and best products on the Internet. With the integration of SHOP.COM’s unrivalled search and comparison shopping technology, consumers will have the most complete and fulfilling user experience available anywhere. With the focus being on customer reviews, revolutionary search technology, access to 60 million products, the personal touch of Shop Consultants and paying customers up to 35% cash back on purchases and one half of a percent on referral’s purchases forever, we will be in a position to dominate all other online shopping sites as we know of no one else who is doing all of these things.”
The acquisition combines SHOP.COM's strength in technology and merchandising, providing customers with the latest, high-tech online shopping, with Market America's high-touch, personal shopping experience and its unlimited cash back program. It will expand Market America’s current people-powered, relationship-based shopping portal into a content rich destination that informs, entertains and personally guides customers in their shopping experience.
"The partnership between Market America and SHOP.COM is explosive and will dominate the online shopping world, offering distinct areas of expertise and customization," added Vince Hunt, COO of the new entity. “We’re creating a game changing shopping experience with transformative potential for our customers, retailers, consumer brands and business partners. We couldn’t be more excited about the future."
ABOUT MARKET AMERICA
Market America is a product brokerage and Internet marketing company that specializes in One-to-One Marketing. With more than six million customers and 180,000 Shopping Consultants worldwide, the company has generated over $3.4 billion in accumulated retail sales. Headquartered in Greensboro, NC the company was founded in 1992 by president and CEO JR Ridinger and employs over 600 people globally with international operations in the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and the Philippines. Through its revolutionary One-to-One Marketing concept, Market America combines the Internet with the power of people – creating the ultimate online shopping destination. More information is available at MarketAmerica.com (www.marketamerica.com).
SHOP.COM is the comparison shopping engine designed to meet the shopping needs of the consumer and the business needs of merchants. Leveraging the features of our patented OneCart® along with extensive partner marketplace integration, and thousands of pages of unique shopping-centric editorial, SHOP.COM helps customers "Shop Smart, Save Big" across thousands of online stores. SHOP.COM also powers ShopCompanion, a comprehensive directory of online and brick-and-mortar stores, and The Shopping Vine (http://theshoppingvine.com), a shopping blog network. For more information, please visit (www.SHOP.com).
