Storenvy Revamps With All-New Design, Social Shopping Experience For 25K Independent Storefronts

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, December 08, 2012 (Press-News.org) Storenvy, the popular online store builder that's home to over 25,000 independent storefronts, today launches a socially-curated shopping platform for browsing items from the stores it powers, as well as a full brand redesign. The new platform will change the way people discover and buy products from the world's creative businesses.

"Right now, there isn't a go-to place on the web to buy from independent creative businesses, like industrial designers, fashion boutiques, clothing companies, nonprofits or musicians," founder and CEO Jon Crawford says. "Amazon has done an amazing job of providing a place to find almost any commodity. But Storenvy fills the gap for interesting, non-commodity items."

This release fulfills Crawford's original vision of combining both a social marketplace with the world's easiest and most affordable way to open an online store.

"While most people know us as an online store builder, the real vision for Storenvy is to be the premier place to buy directly from unique businesses all over the world," he says. "I've always believed in bringing together a store builder and marketplace. Small businesses really want their own store — it helps them express their identity and gives them a piece of real estate on the web that's all their own. But running your own store means you're responsible for driving your own traffic, and a lot of small businesses don't know how to market themselves online. The new Storenvy allows businesses to focus on producing amazing stuff while we help drive customers and sales for them."

Underscored by a major visual rebrand for the company, Storenvy's new shopping platform features a real-time social discovery experience curated by shoppers. The 6,000+ new products added to Storenvy each week are now displayed in order of real-time popularity, as determined by both user engagement and purchases. In addition, the new marketplace is mobile-ready with a full mobile web shopping and checkout experience.

To add an important social layer, products that a shopper's friends have engaged with will be marked with their friend's faces, and they can subscribe to stores to get updates on new releases. "We want shopping on the Storenvy marketplace to feel like shopping in real life, at the world's coolest mall," Crawford says.

Last month, former Tumblr president John Maloney announced he was joining Storenvy's board of directors. "As Tumblr was revolutionary to blogging, Storenvy is similarly important in the commerce space," Maloney says. "Tumblr has proven that there is strength in being part of a network, and I see the same thing happening at Storenvy."

Crawford elaborates: "We're democratizing the way excellent products get in front of the masses — regardless the size of the business," he says. "The new Storenvy removes the gatekeepers. To get into a store like Urban Outfitters, you have to get the attention of one of their buyers. Most independent merchants have no idea how to do that. On the new Storenvy, any great product can be easily discovered by the community and rocketed to stardom. YouTube has made stars of many of its users. In e-commerce, there's no way for that to happen without the permission of a gatekeeper. The new Storenvy changes that."

Storenvy now provides both the technology (easy online stores) and distribution (social marketplace) to empower any promising creative business to be successful.

Storenvy is a new way to shop the world's most creative businesses, and the easiest way to open an online store.

The Storenvy marketplace lets shoppers discover and buy unique products from independent businesses around the world by connecting with friends and influencers.

With Storenvy Stores, merchants can create a customizable online storefront in minutes. The Storenvy Facebook app gives merchants a free store on their Facebook Page. Running a Storenvy store is free, with no setup fees, monthly fees or listing fees.

Premium features are available to storefronts for a monthly fee, including custom domain support for $4.99/month and advanced discount features for $2.99/month. The company will soon introduce a commission fee for sales made through the marketplace, though sales through storefronts will remain totally free.

Storenvy raised a venture capital seed round in 2011 from Spark Capital, First Round Capital, Kleiner Perkins, CRV and others. The team of nine is based in San Francisco's Mission District.