New Social Shopping Site, Picsity.com, Helps Small Retailers Reach the Masses

Online, April 21, 2013 (Newswire.com) - Many small online retailers understand the difficulty of building a brand and marketing. With limited budgets and fees eating in sales, store owners on sites like Etsy, eBay, and Amazon are seeking new and creative ways to attract customers.

Picsity (www.picsity.com) is a new social shopping site that focuses on building a community of products lovers, while doubling as a cost-free showroom for merchants. Co-founder and CEO Kevin Chow stresses that his company can be a healthy complement to any retailer's marketing strategy. Unlike a traditional e-commerce site, there are no clearly-marked prices or labels. The emphasis is on beautiful, attractive pictures.

Chow believes that this method of social e-commerce is less invasive and would result in healthier conversions. He describes, "We are about creating a window-shopping experience, where our users don't have to be distracted by the prices. If they wish to see it, they can, but only after they have developed a certain level of interest."

A database of gifts, jewelry, apparel, and home decor, Picsity for the typical user is about discovery: find something of interest and build a portfolio that identifies you. They act as curators for the larger community, voting what is good and interesting to the top. In today's socially connected world, people trust the opinions of others over those of product-pushing retailers. Furthermore, the site makes very little distinction between buyers and sellers. Chow hopes that people will use Picsity to find things they never knew about--perhaps through the recommendation of someone they follow--and make a purchase.

As a smaller firm, Chow believes that his company has an edge over some his larger competitors when it comes to innovation and the release of new features. Picsity rarely goes through a long testing period before letting its users try something new. Recently, it released a Facebook-like wall that allows merchants to post updates and interact with potential customers.

Picsity does not charge a fee for its services, even as it refers thousands of people daily to stores off its site. However, Chow believes the possibilities for monetization are endless. Already, his company receives plenty of requests to advertise and merchants are seeking ways to get their products higher up on the site. As of now, though, he would like to keep it the way it is and "let the community" dictate what they like best, with the most popular products making their way to the front page.

About Picsity

Picsity is a rapidly growing online community of product lovers. People use Picsity to collect and curate amazing products, while discovering things they might know is out there. Merchants use Picsity as an interactive showroom to help gain access to a large audience than they otherwise would. From dresses to jewelry to furniture, Picsity is window-shopping at your fingertips. Visit http://www.picsity.com today and create your own collection to share with the world.