An avid online shopper, Sharon Clark was often comparing products she wanted to buy. But she grew frustrated there were no tools available to help her save and compare those items easily.
The best Clark could manage was taking screenshots on her smartphone. Not ideal. In fact she ended up with over 4000 screenshots of products she was considering buying.
So she and co-founder Charles Young created Clinch, a mobile web browser which is designed specifically for online shopping. Clinch allows users to store items they find online, organise them in a library to find and compare later. They can also create a canvas, grouping items that fit together for whatever reason, style, inspiration, or event planning.
“What it does is gives the user a better browser experience and increases the conversion rate for retailers. And the way we do that is by offering a really empowered engaging mobile browsing experience,” Clark says.
Clinch launched recently and is currently only available on iPad, however, there are plans to develop apps for all mobile devices. Young says Clinch is relying on an advertising revenue model, so success will require lots of users. The startup plans to grow its user base by leveraging the networks of its online retail partners.
“The way this thing will make money is by creating a large and active user base and affiliate revenues from brand partners. We have about 2000 and are steadily growing partners worldwide.
“Out of those 2000 affiliate brands around the world, we’ve found it’s a really valuable tool for increasing the conversion rates of those brands.
“We’ll also have the ability to really mine the data we’re collecting. We’ll be able to understand what people are considering buying. It’ll have the ability to have laser-focused opt-in advertising opportunities for these brands. And down the track, in-app purchases.”
The startup is currently being funded by Young and Clark but the duo are about to head to the Echelon Asia Summit 2015, after being selected as a Top 100 startup, where they’ll begin searching for seed investment.
This article was originally published on StartupSmart.
Kye began his career at a Fairfax daily on the North-West Coast of Tasmania. He has since taken his belongings, and keen interest in technology, to Melbourne. He has a bachelor of Arts majoring in Political Science from the University of Tasmania and a Graduate Diploma in Journalism from RMIT University.
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