News

Social marketplace Addoway rewards shoppers for sharing deals with friends

September 6, 2010

Addoway.com, an online marketplace that helps people buy and sell with their friends and the merchants they trust, has announced that it will begin rewarding shoppers for sharing deals with their friends on social networks.

Addoway has created a virtual currency called “Addo Bucks” that shoppers can earn after sharing deals with friends, according to the company. Shoppers can cash in Addo Bucks for discounts on merchandise sold on Addoway, redeem them for free gift cards from popular retailers like Starbucks and Best Buy, or use them to enter limited-entry private giveaways of prizes like an Apple iPad or Nintendo Wii.

"Merchants that use the Addoway platform are continually seeking new ways to tap social media to bring in more buyers, and reward those buyers for their loyalty and support," said Fredrick Nijm, Addoway co-founder and CEO. "On Addoway, we have discovered that shoppers referred from social networks are eight times more likely to make a purchase than those that come from comparison shopping engines, so it only makes sense to give our merchants more and more ways to reward shoppers for sharing their positive experiences with their friends."

Addoway also announced upgrades to its platform to help merchants build their Facebook Fan base. The upgrade allows merchants to reward shoppers with exclusive discounts and other deals only available to fans of their pages.

Addoway launched in public beta in April, and to date has had over 100,000 products listed for sale by merchants on its platform, company officials said.