Wishabi Launches Flyertown

Next-Generation Digital Flyer Enables Consumers to Browse for the Best Deals Across Multiple Retailers by Category, Discount Percentage and More; Patent-pending Technology Set to Disrupt Printing Industry

TORONTO—November 1, 2011—Wishabi today announced the launch of Flyertown (http://www.flyertown.ca), a next-generation, digital flyer. Simulating a paper “flyer stack”, consumers now have access to the latest flyers through an easy-to-browse website that provides a user experience unlike any other.

“Canadian consumers are amongst the world’s highest users of flyers for deal-hunting and retailers continue to rely heavily on flyers to drive in-store traffic. However, with an estimated $2.8 billion being spent annually on printing and distributing flyers in Canada, the time has come to provide an eco-friendly, highly efficient and eye-catching way for consumers to view flyers online and from their mobile devices,” said Wehuns Tan, CEO of Wishabi. “Similar to the way that Google revolutionized the digital map, Flyertown’s intuitive and engaging experience is reinventing the way consumers interact with flyers.”

With Flyertown, users can pan across flyers and zoom into specific products, use filters to find items by discount level or category and browse across multiple flyers to find the best deal on one or more items. The interactive Flyertown experience integrates reviews, inventory levels, item descriptions, recipes, videos, links to buy online and more to provide a one-stop resource that enables consumers to take their bargain-hunting habits to a new level.

Next-generation digital flyers on Flyertown offer consumers the following features:

• High Resolution Digital Flyers All in One Place – Flyertown users can view flyers from multiple leading retailers such as Rona, Dell, Longo’s and Sport Chek using the fastest, highest resolution digital flyer technology developed to date. It simplifies browsing between several flyers online or via the mobile web.
• Interactive Product Highlights – Flyertown’s product highlights enable users to quickly identify items they’re interested in and browse through those items in the flyer.
• Online Shopping – For users who love online shopping, Flyertown provides fast and easy access to the retailer’s website from within the flyer, further simplifying the process of buying items promoted in a flyer, online.
• Discount Filter Bar – Finding the best deals is now an easy task through Flyertown’s unique discount filter bar. Users can select their preferred percentage discount and Flyertown will highlight all of the deals from across multiple flyers to match a user’s personalized settings.
• Shopping Lists – Flyertown provides the ability to create and email or print a shopping list,along with all of a user’s saved finds, for easy shopping in-store or online.
• Rich Product Information–Users can gather rich, product level information when they want it. They can easily view product reviews, videos, recipes, inventory levels, and more without annoying pop-up windows.

Flyertown is the culmination of three years of development and collaboration with many of North America’s leading retailers and media partners. Wishabi’s patent-pending digital flyer technology meets the heightened expectations and demands of today’s savvy consumer, while providing retailers with an efficient way to streamline and enhance the deal hunting experience and eventually lower their ecological footprint.

Among the more than 30 leading retailers from across Canada that are taking advantage of Flyertown are Longo’s, Giant Tiger, Dell, Sport Chek, Mark’s Work Wearhouse, PetSmart, Rona and Toys R Us. A frequently updated list of retailers is available at www.flyertown.com.

Providing Real Value to Merchants

Until now, digital flyers have only been utilized as a complement to print and not as a significant driver of retail sales. Wishabi, with the launch of the Flyertown website, provides game-changing technology that aims to significantly alter the way consumers browse for deals.

“Amid declining newspaper circulation, the retailer’s powerhouse marketing tool – print flyers – have been subject to escalating printing costs and declining readership. While print will remain a strong part of the flyer mix for another five to 10 years, the consensus from the retailers we have spoken to is that it needs to be a leaner and more precise vehicle. Our retail partners all agree that digital is necessary to bring about the type of consumer relevancy that shoppers expect now and in the future,” explains Tan.

For retailers, the Wishabi digital flyer platform offers the following benefits:

• Unparalleled User Engagement – High-resolution Wishabi flyers load instantly and work effectively to keep the attention of consumers. Inspired by the Google Maps experience, Wishabi’s digital flyers are fast, interactive, intuitive and content rich. Users are able to interact with flyers on the web, on devices such as tablets, and on smartphones such as iPhone and Android.
• Deep Consumer Insights – Retailers can achieve a greater return on investment (ROI) on their flyer strategy by optimizing their merchandising and marketing approach, through Wishabi’s advanced geo-targeted analytics and reporting. Retailers will know what consumers are most interested in, what they’re clicking on or zooming in on, what they’re buying online, and what they’re adding to their shopping lists.
• Massive Digital Flyer Distribution – Wishabi has partnered with the largest media partners in Canada to deliver retail flyers to over 19 million unique monthly visitors.
• Mobile and Social Flyer Integration – Wishabi provides retailers with digital flyers for their mobile and tablet apps, as well as their Facebook pages, using the same patent-pending flyer technology users have access to through Flyertown.

About Wishabi

Wishabi is one of North America’s largest retail technology companies, and is dedicated to transitioning print retail advertising online. Backed by the expertise of an ex-Microsoft team with extensive experience in technology and retail, Wishabi develops, designs and operates sites that reach over 30 million Canadians each month. More information on Wishabi’s technologies can be found at www.wishabi.com.

About Flyertown

Wishabi reinvented the digital flyer with Flyertown, the first of its kind to simulate the paper “flyer stack” online. Flyertown’s digital format provides consumers with a visually appealing, fast and eco-friendly way to browse through multiple flyers. Consumers get the best deals and offers delivered to them from their favourite stores. For retailers, the next-generation, pdigital flyer enables them to provide their customers with an unparalleled user experience, while gaining deep consumer insights and distribution across North America. Flyertown is available today, free to consumers across Canada. Visit www.flyertown.com for more information.

Press Contacts

John Dick
Managing Director, Business Development Wishabi
john.dickwishabi.com
(416) 988-4091

Michelle Magee
Echo Communications (for Wishabi)
michelleecho-communications.com
(416) 471-2336

Canadian Consumers Flocking to U.S. Online Retailers

Wishabi study shows that 63% of online shoppers are taking advantage of strong Canadian dollar

TORONTO—October 21, 2009— The strengthening Canadian dollar has caused a sharp increase in the number of consumers researching and doing business with U.S. retailers, according to a new study of cross-border shopping trends by Wishabi.ca, Canada's leading comparison shopping service.

The study, done over the past month by Wishabi, found that more than six in 10 users (out of Wishabi's 150,000 unique visitors over the study time period) researched a U.S. price, and nearly 15% of those users purchased from a U.S.-based merchant. When compared to the online research and shopping habits of consumers in April 2009, Wishabi has seen an increase of more than 1,000 % in cross-border purchases.

"As the Canadian dollar approaches parity with the U.S. dollar, it's not just our borders that are congested with Canadian shoppers heading south in search of a good deal. In the world of e-commerce, cross-border shopping is also booming,” says Wehuns Tan, Wishabi's CEO. "Increasingly more consumers from across the country are going online and making the time to compare deals offered by retailers on both sides of the border. As a result, over the past 30 days, we have seen a significant increase in the number of Canadians who are favouring purchases from U.S. retailers, particularly when it comes to electronics, fashion accessories and baby products.”

Of the leading categories researched by Wishabi users, the average discount ranged from $8.80 per item for purses to $123 for digital camcorders. Actual pricing differences varied greatly, with some per-item discounts of more than 60% in certain categories.

"Canadian consumers are not only taking advantage of the Canadian dollar but also making smarter and more informed purchasing decisions than ever before,” says Tan. "Canadian retailers that are more competitive and aggressive in both their pricing and the value they deliver to shoppers will emerge as winners despite the strengthening loonie.”

The study was conducted by Wishabi by evaluating normalized usage statistics and behavioral data over a 30-day period beginning September 15, 2009. It also includes a statistical analysis of Wishabi's product database, which captures prices for more than 3M items from over 300 merchants. Pricing and discount data provided is based on information gathered this past weekend.

Canadian Cross Border Shopping Statistics April 2009 vs. October 2009 Source: Wishabi Canada Analytics Index per 1,000 users
	April 2009 (Average Per 1,000 Users)	October 2009 (Average Per 1,000 Users)	% Change
Researched Canadian Price	922	910	-1%
Researched US Price	170	635	+273%
Purchased from Canadian Online Retailer	81	84	+1%
Purchased from US Online Retailer	7	78	+1014%

Top Cross Border Shopping Categories Volume and Discount Source: Wishabi Canada Analytics October 2009
Category	Category Popularity	Average Discount $ (US vs. Canada)	Average % Price Difference	Max $ Difference (US vs. Canada)	Max % Discount
GPS (Fitness and Automotive)	1	$71.09	18.59%	$306.36	61.00%
Digital cameras	2	$21.93	5.03%	$1697.01	49.97%
Digital Camcorders	3	$123.39	10.25%	$1817.28	57.63%
Books, Music, DVD's	4	$15.03	6.02%	$65.15	37.02%
Sunglasses	5	$6.01	1.02%	$94.25	42.03%
Cologne & Fragrances	6	$15.66	27.90%	$21.66	28.05%
Purses & Handbags	7	$8.80	11.57%	$23.44	48.48%
Baby Toys & Accessories	8	$32.03	31.80%	$77.48	64.40%
Watches	9	$49.77	16.50%	$300.67	64.67%
Notebooks & Laptops	10	$94.32	5.35%	$893.23	45.98%
Power Tools	11	$16.83	16.85%	$153.89	62.95%
Kitchenware and Dining	12	$42.37	15%	$579.75	65.02%

About Wishabi.ca

Wishabi.ca is a social shopping service that helps Canadians shop online by providing intelligent shopping information. Unlike typical comparison shopping sites, Wishabi uses the power of the community to help find online deals for consumers and validates them through Wishabi's patent-pending deal ranking system. Since its January 2009 launch, Wishabi.ca has grown to over 150,000 users, 300 merchants and three million products; and more than 30,000 crowd-sourced deals have been posted by deal hunters.

Wishabi Unveils New e-Commerce Technology

Lets Shoppers Make Smarter Buying Decisions to Get the Best Available Deals

TORONTO—July 8, 2009— To address the needs of consumers who are looking to make even smarter buying decisions, Wishabi (http://www.wishabi.ca) has launched the e-Commerce industry’s first predictive intelligence technology, enabling both price and value comparisons of more than three million products. Using statistical analysis, trending and a patent-pending deal-rank algorithm, Wishabi tells consumers if they are getting the best deal possible for local or cross-border shopping. Wishabi also lets consumers know if the price is anticipated to move lower of higher, and enables them to follow prices for items on their wish list.

Wishabi is also expanding its shopping categories beyond Electronics, Appliances, Books, Music & Videos, Furniture and Indoor Living to include Babies & Kids; Fashion & Style; Health & Beauty; Home & Garden; Musical Instruments and much more.

"While consumers love the convenience of online shopping, they also want to get great prices and the best deal available," said Wehuns Tan, CEO of Wishabi, Inc. "With the latest features offered on Wishabi.ca, consumers now have ready access to more complete information to ensure they can make smarter and more confident buying decisions, and get the most value from their purchase.”

Predictive intelligence is among several innovative new features launched today by Wishabi. The company is also introducing:

The Next Generation of Canadian Shopping with Wishabi:

• Value Visualization – provides transparency about a retailer’s reputation, return policies, shipping time windows, and whether price-matching is offered. Merchants are evaluated on over 42 different values, enabling Wishabi’s patent-pending deal-vectoring system to give consumers an at-a-glance view of the added value that retailers provide.
• Demand-driven Social Shopping – uses aggregate demand information to help consumers follow items they want, and automatically get the best offers targeted to them. Merchants can use Wishabi’s demand-driven system to see what products are in demand, and create offers to meet that demand.
• Cross-Border Analysis – takes into consideration the growing number of deals that can be found south of the Canadian border. Wishabi lets consumers see all costs upfront – including brokerage fees, duties, exchange rates, shipping and customs fees – to ensure any comparisons take into account hidden fees that are typically only revealed once a product arrives at the consumer’s front door.

Seeing the Real Value Provided by Merchants

Wishabi’s industry-leading new features reflect how consumers are looking for more insight when making online purchases. The development of the new features was supported by a survey of more than 200 users in June 2009 that put the spotlight on purchasing decisions. Only 10% of users responded that pricing was the only factor that influenced their purchase. Factors that most influenced shopping behavior are: shipping speed and reliability (81.3%); a long and risk-free return policy (77.1%); a trusted extended warranty plan (76%); and the store’s brand strength (47.9%).

About Wishabi.ca

Wishabi.ca is an e-commerce service that helps Canadians shop online by providing intelligent shopping technology that facilitates more informed buying decisions. Unlike typical comparison shopping sites, Wishabi also gets the shopping community to help find online deals for other consumers. Since its January 2009 launch, Wishabi.ca has grown to over 50,000 users, 250 merchants and three million products; and more than 20,000 crowd-sourced deals have been posted by deal hunters. Wishabi is led by an ex-Microsoft team and has raised $1.5M in Venture Capital to date.

Wishabi.ca Launches Canadian Only Social Shopping
To Help Consumers During Recession

Canadians can now compare deals from US and Canadian merchants with the help of their Facebook friends