Randy Shoup, the architectural guru credited with scaling eBay as it evolved from beanie babies to billions in revenue, tweeted Monday evening that he has left the online auction giant to co-found a new consumer-focused e-commerce startup, Shopilly.com. The Shopilly.com url is still under construction, but in his tweet, Shoup promises us “online shopping is about to get a makeover.”
@randyshoupRandy Shoup
Shoup has been the primary architect behind eBay’s search infrastructure since taking over as chief engineer in 2004. Not going entirely solo on the new venture, Shopilly co-founder and CEO is Anirban Datta, a former senior product manager at eBay. Datta was most recently listed as the vice president of marketing for Lealta Media, a customer loyalty and rewards marketing company.
What is Shopilly about? We’re not sure exactly, but given Shoup’s experience with scaling systems and Datta’s loyalty program experience, it could be a service designed to bring intelligence derived from data around a user’s shopping pattern to influence their online retail experience. Shoup’s new startup promises to “cut through the clutter” while navigating the world of big data.
From the Shopilly Linkedin page:
“We’re building Shopilly to save you time and trouble. You’ll be able to cut through the clutter to find what you are looking for and discover shopping opportunities you never knew existed. You’ll feel much more organized and in control.”
Big data, shopping and advertising could combine to create an awesome opportunity for retailers to offer customized recommendations or deals. Or it might just be another comparison shopping site. We’ll have to wait and see.
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