Company description
SnapShop Inc. provides a new experiential mobile shopping platform designed to give consumers comfort and confidence in their “big-ticket item” purchasing decisions.
Our first product, SnapShop Showroom, is an augmented reality mobile app that helps consumers preview home decor in their own living rooms using their phone camera. We work with top retail customers including Pier 1 Imports and CB2 to help consumers "try before they buy".
We use AR (augmented reality) technology to combine product marketing, social shopping, and content creation into an indispensible mobile application that consumers will use during every step of their shopping experience.
The result is an entirely new way to shop that offers significant advantages over the traditional online and retail shopping experience.
Team
Eduardo Hueso
Eddy has 15 years of software development in computer graphics and virtual reality applications. While at the R&D department of ILM Eduardo helped code animation software used to produce films like Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean and Spiderwick Chronicles. Eduardo has led technical teams both at medium-size and start-up companies. Eddy earned his MS in Computer Science from Brown University.
Brian Chaikelson
Brian has architected and consulted on large retail e-commerce websites including Jo-ann Fabrics, Musicland, Gloss.com and Gap. As Product Manager of Omniture’s Test&Target product, Brian helped Fortune 500 companies adopt actionable web analytics and A/B testing programs, optimizing websites with relevant content and targeted experiences. Brian earned a Bachelor of Computer Engineering from McGill University.
Kimberley Wray (Advisor)
A home furnishings industry expert, Kimberley served as VP Marketing for the High Point Market Authority from 2006-2010, running the largest furnishing industry trade show in the world.
Business model
SnapShop creates destination shopping apps that combine AR (augmented reality) as a visualization tool with social shopping. We give consumers an enhanced shopping experience, monetizing through retailers and other brands via sponsored product listings, advertising, and affiliate commissions.
SnapShop also licenses its technology to key strategic partners for use in their own apps, like the VELUX Skylight Planner.
Competitive advantage
Existing visualization tools, web and mobile-based, require 3D models of products which aren't generally available and are expensive to create. This requirement constitutes a limitation on the product selection available to such tools. SnapShop is developing a patent pending process which generates the Augmented Reality experience using as input 2D product images readily available from retailers. This process is scalable allowing for a quick and affordable integration of new products to the SnapShop interactive catalog.