Couldn’t you just put your clippings directly into your virtual shopping cart?
Well, you could if e-commerce pioneer iBuying.com were around when you did your weekly shopping. In this column, I’ll answer the question “How do you use iBuying to find (or order) the perfect party dress?” There’s no place for iBuying on Apple’s Siri voice app. The iBuying team designed their own customized shopping and buying tool called eShopCraft and Amazon lets users create their own tool using the Alexa voice app. And when the iBuying outfit-app was launched, Echo smart speaker maker Amazon offered free use of the app. But why can’t Siri purchase such items through this tech-powered partner?
The answer lies in the unclear legal boundaries of e-commerce. Despite a 2014 ruling in favor of T-Mobile that makes it clear which court rules on e-commerce patent lawsuits, iBuying co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Ellen Riecken says any relationship with Amazon or another digital sales entity can get complicated. “For iBuying, when we took it to Amazon, they wanted our existing arrangements that we had with T-Mobile. And we were not in a position to give up on either of those,” Riecken told The New York Times. “It would basically have left us broke.”
So instead, the iBuying outfit-app takes direct aim at the still-expanding category of event-specific events such as weddings. Created in a partnership with independent weddings planner Elaine Gelman, iBuying’s outfit-app is the marriage guide for the florist, coordinator and maid of honor.
Each of those players involved in making a wedding day happen deserve to be well trained on the exact color, quantity and type of event. Between poring over the hundreds of invites and sending out a dozen bouquets and up to 5,000 flowers from many vendors, these wedding professionals probably need a complete tool that helps them find and assign vendors for each job.
Myriad app options are available to help wedding planning couples make their yesterdays, but few have the depth and versatility of the iBuying website. Here’s how:
Enter a phrase or couple’s initials into iBuying’s Android, iOS or Web app and be rewarded with such information as the likes and dislikes of the bridesmaids and groomsmen. The iBuying outfit-app then allows wedding party members to search through vendors and share completed orders within a range of six-week window for tax and tip reimbursement. With a trial period of six weeks, couples can start to calculate costs and payment processing on the iPad app. Couples can take advantage of the system at their wedding and then track if their vendors are paid up or not.
Are you shopping for a wedding? Here’s a great way to find the perfect outfit without having to rely on an expensive clothing store.