Buyer’s guide producer Active Research Inc. has signed
agreements with Clickthebutton.com Inc. and
Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine and Consumer Reports Online.
The partnership with Clickthebutton.com is aimed at creating a one-stop
comparison service that offers consumers all the information necessary to
make smart shopping decisions, from product information to merchant pricing
and availability.
Clickthebutton will offer Active Buyer’s Guide product
recommendations directly from its shopping site.
The deal with Consumers Union will make Active Research’s product data and
information on a wide range of consumer goods available to Consumer Reports
subscribers, which includes 4.2 million for Consumer Reports magazine and
more than 425,000 paid subscribers to Consumer Reports Online.
Active
Research will provide detailed product information and images on consumer
electronics, baby products, home office equipment, appliances, lawn & garden
products, and tools.
Financial arrangements were not disclosed for either deal.
Active Buyer’s Guide helps shoppers in over 100 product categories by honing
in on each
user’s individual preferences and identifying the products that best match
their individual needs. The recommendations returned are unbiased, highly
personalized, and culled from comprehensive catalogs of virtually every
product available on the market, the company says.
“The advent of the Internet has increased the consumer’s appetite for
research on detailed product information,” says Jeff Asher, vice president of
technical operations at Consumer Reports.
“While Consumer Reports continues
to focus its work on the unique product testing, performance ratings, and
reliability data that millions of consumers trust and rely on, Active
Research will provide us with a greater breadth of information on product
details and features, such as dimensions, prices, and availability.”
Clickthebutton will also enable Active Buyer’s Guide to expand it s
comparison shopping service by providing consumers access to up-to-date
pricing and purchase location information on all the products in its
extensive, hand-matched database.
“Our partnership with Active Buyer’s Guide brings `what to buy’ and `where to
buy it’ together for consumers,” said Cheyenne Ehrlich, chairman and chief executive officer of
Clickthebutton. “In addition, by powering Active Buyer’s Guide’s new price
comparison feature, we will significantly increase traffic to
Clickthebutton’s merchant partners.”
Clickthebutton’s first product is a downloadable roving shopping
companion that alerts users whenever a price comparison is available,
allowing them to shop anywhere and buy at the best price. This service
currently covers more than three million products at over 400 stores.