E-commerce company ShopNow.com Inc. signed a deal with
permission marketing
and privacy management solutions firm PrivaSeek Inc. to allow consumers to
control their personal information while they shop on the ShopNow Network.
The PrivaSeek technology will empower shoppers to create a “ShopNow Persona”
to dictate how and where their personal information is used online.
Additionally, ShopNow.com made an unspecified equity investment in PrivaSeek.
Separately, ShopNow.com signed a deal to integrate Inktomi Corp’s. e-commerce services
throughout the ShopNow Network and syndication affiliate sites. Inktomi will
gain distribution rights to a range of ShopNow.com content and e-commerce
services.
The agreement combines ShopNow.com’s commerce offerings and content with
Inktomi’s commerce search capabilities. Financial arrangements were not
disclosed.
“Inktomi’s mission is to provide the underlying software infrastructure for
leading Internet companies, and the new ShopNow.com relationship
significantly extends our market reach,” said Stuart Spiegel, vice president
and general manager of Inktomi’s commerce group.
“Combining the strength of
Inktomi’s technology with the breadth of ShopNow.com’s network and offerings
will enhance the online shopping experience for millions of end users.”
Meanwhile, PrivaSeek and ShopNow.com are jointly launching Persona across the
ShopNow Network of 6 million monthly visitors and 40,000 businesses and
merchants.
Persona is PrivaSeek’s set of identity and permission management
tools that allows consumers and businesses to conveniently exchange and
effectively manage consumer information and permissions, and control
information usage online.
Persona allows consumers to see only advertisements or special offers
relevant to their interests or personal life events.
“PrivaSeek’s marketing and privacy management solutions will be pivotal to
the growth of merchants and shoppers on the ShopNow Network as they reach
highly targeted consumers and communicate with them to meet their needs and
interests,” said Dwayne Walker, chairman and chief executive officer of ShopNow.com.