Boo.ly's browser add-on aims to take the friction out of online shopping
The way boo.ly works is as follows: once the browser add-on is installed (Firefox, Chrome, with IE to follow) any product searches on supported sites show up with a boo.ly icon next to the result if a match is found. Clicking on the icon brings up those price comparisons that point to a better deal if there is one and any known discount coupons. There’s a social shopping element too in the sense that results can be shared via boo.ly’s built-in URL shortener – hence the startup’s name – through email and social networks such as Twitter, Facebook etc.
Moving forward, boo.ly, whose competitors include InvisibleHand and Cheep, plans to add product reviews to the mix, which makes a lot of sense. The Angel-funded company is also working on an API so that site owners can more easily monetise their own sites by tapping in to boo.ly’s technology.