Uber has been helping people find quick and easy rides in the city for cheaper than a taxi driver, now the same founder is creating a new shopping app.
Uber founder Garrett Camp developed Uber; a service that detects an Uber driver through GPS systems, and it became an instant success earning him $5.3 billion.
Camp has developed a new app that he believes is the next big thing; It is called Operator. This app will connect consumers with retailers to buy and sell items through their mobile device.
The customer will take a picture of a product and upload it to the app, with the help of GPS systems; the app will route the customer to a store selling similar shoes where she can either sell or buy new ones. On the other side will be the salesperson to connect with the customer on pricing and show them their inventory.
Going to the store will not be necessary anymore as the customer can make the purchase right through the app and have it shipped.
“Our goal is to help people find the right product within the right store and to do it interactively,” says Camp, “It’s like Siri, but with a person on the other end.”
Operator will connect consumers with stores and merchants. Consumers will be able to browse through an archive of items and connect with the merchant whose item they like. The merchants can even look at the consumers profile to see their style by looking at past purchases and pictures of items they prefer.
Buying items on the app is as simple as a “Buy it now” button.
Operator is free to use so far and does not charge any fees. The only thing to pay for is the items being purchased.
Camp has not said how he plans on making money on his new idea but he has now put himself into the busy e-commerce world.
To stand up to other online mass sellers like Amazon and eBay, he has to ensure a great deal of traffic on the app. It is also more expensive to run then these competing websites because of its operating feature that guides customers to their product.
Another downside according to Reuters may be a retail store’s unwillingness to participate because of the lack of time they have to respond to so many customers on the app.
Co-founder and chief executive officer Robin Chan says, “We wondered, Why can’t you press an app and there’s a network of human beings that help you?”
Operator is said to run in New York late this spring according to Chan and Camp. It is still not known what merchants will be involved as it seems they are running with the idea and planning on making a business later.
“If there’s real transaction volume going through this, we will find ways to build a business on it,” says Josh Elman of Greylock Partners who gave $10 million to fund Operator.
Camp and Chan’s only concern with the app is the deliveries. Right now it is separate from the app and is something the store and customer work out on their own.
But they have also thought of this as a way to merge Camp’s two companies by having Uber drivers make the deliveries.
“There are many options and scenarios where the companies can cooperate,” said Chan.
Chan believes their idea will be worth $100 billion. While Camp keeps modest saying, “I can never predict these things. I couldn’t predict the success of Uber. Let’s put it this way: It looks more like Uber than a traditional social media site.
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