Tuesday, July 21, 2009

SMARTSHOPPING.CO.UK - Product- and Price-Comparison Specialist SmartShopping launches in UK

PRLog (Press Release) – Jul 21, 2009 – SmartShopping, the comparison-shopping specialist in the portfolio of United Internet Media, has formally launched its own online offer for the English market (www.smartshopping.co.uk). Nick Casey has been appointed as the Country Manager for SmartShopping UK.
SmartShopping.co.uk is the first website in the English online market that makes it possible to compare not only prices but also shops and their services.  The extensive comparison-shopping offer can also be accessed via mobile phone (http://mobile.smartshopping.co.uk) or in a variation that has been optimised for the look and feel of the iPhone (http://iphone.smartshopping.co.uk). Since the start of this year, an application that has been specially developed for the iPhone is available at the Apple iTunes Store as a free download.
With the expansion of the successful e-commerce model to Great Britain, United Internet Media - one of the leading marketing companies for digital offers in the European media market - emphasises the consistent internationalisation of its e-commerce offers and its sustained market commitment to one of Europe’s most important and strongest growth online markets. Following the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), the UK is already the fourth market in which SmartShopping is represented with an offer.
"Apart from advertising, e-commerce is and will remain the driver of growth par excellence for the entire digital sector. Great Britain also represents one of the most important growth markets in Europe in this respect. In the European comparison, the UK is already in 4th place with 86% online shoppers* and 42% of the European online advertising volumes. We also intend to expand our leading market position outside of Germany with a differentiated shopping network and excellent know-how, in addition to establishing ourselves in this strategic growth market," is how Matthias Ehrlich, CEO of United Internet Media AG, explains the bridging to Great Britain.
United Internet Media has entrusted Nick Casey with the rollout of the SmartShopping offer in the UK. In his new function as the Country Manager of SmartShopping UK, the 31-year-old e-commerce specialist is responsible for establishing the brand in the British online market, as well as for the conceptual design of new shopping products and solutions specific to that market.
Casey can draw upon his longstanding and extensive knowledge of the English e-commerce scene and its special demands for his new assignment at SmartShopping UK. Casey comes from the well-known English price-comparison provider PriceRunner UK, where he was responsible for the strategic planning of the pan-European and global brand expansion, as well as mobile services, as the Head of Products and Mobile Services. Before his time at PriceRunner, he was in charge of the successful market launch and positioning of the comparison-shopping platform Kelkoo in Australia as the Acting Head of Products at Yahoo! Australia. At the beginning of his professional career, Casey worked at Vectorcraft.com, a start-up for e-commerce and web-based software solutions that he co-founded.
"Our goal is to establish SmartShopping UK with its portfolio of offers that is equally attractive for users and shop operators among the leading comparison-shopping platforms in the English market. I am very pleased to have Nick Casey on board as a proven expert and authority on the English e-commerce scene for this challenging assignment", is Ehrlich's welcome for the new arrival on the international team of SmartShopping and United Internet Media.  
*Source: EIAA Mediascope 2008

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About SmartShopping UK
With currently more than four million product offers in more than 1000 shops, SmartShopping is one of the fastest-growing shopping portals in the English online market. It enables online shoppers to make a confident buying decision on the basis of the clear and easy comparison of product information, prices and shops to find the best price-performance ratios. Specialised in the successful trend of comparison shopping, SmartShopping.co.uk delivers comprehensive innovative comparison functions that extend far beyond just a comparison of the price at the point of decision (PoD). The portal also offers a version for mobile use at http://mobile.smartshopping.co.uk. SmartShopping UK is operated by the 1&1 Internet AG in the countries of Germany, Austria and Great Britain and marketed by United Internet Media AG.
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United Internet Media - The fine Arts of digital Media
United Internet Media stands for the consistent linking of the classical approach with the innovative design possibilities of digital technology. This has fostered a new level of maturity in online advertising: The fine arts of digital media.
Impress! Discover! Announce! Attract! Sell! Reward! Involve! Entertain! Feature! And connect!  - The many years of expertise and substantiated knowledge of more than 200 media and marketing specialists, leading technologies such as Target Group Planning (TGP®), innovative products, creative concepts and the bundled coverage of top portals flow into an innovate set of instruments at United Internet Media. These are developed into client-specific solutions for the classic goals and functions of advertising in the digital media worlds. As the pivotal hub for about 22 million German speaking, more than 160 million European and more than 390 million Internet users in 60 countries throughout the world, the media marketing agency of the company’s own online offers for the United Internet AG - WEB.DE, GMX, 1&1 and SmartShopping.de with its portals and AD Europe partner portals - provides the global variety of the new media world from one source (one-stop media shopping). United Internet Media is the partner of German and international advertising clients in the segments of media and creative agencies, as well as the advertising industry (direct clients). The company maintains locations in Karlsruhe and Munich, as well as branches in Hamburg, Dusseldorf, London and Vienna.
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Internet Addresses and more information for the reader
United Internet Media AG: http://united-internet-media.de

SmartShopping: http://www.smartshopping.co.uk
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Press releases, graphical material free of charge and background information on United Internet Media are available in the United Internet Media press lounge:


http://united-internet-media.de/presse
Printable footage are ready for downloading here:
http://united-internet-media.de/smas_uk.html
Find this press release and a printable photo of Nick Casey for downloading here:
http://united-internet-media.de/435+M5d21c96740e.html
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Press Contacts
Richard Stevenson

Media Relations, United Internet Media AG

Phone: +44 (0) 1753 490 435

Mail: richard.stevenson@1and1.co.uk
Nadja Elias

Press Spokeswoman, United Internet Media AG

Phone: +49 89 / 14339-222

Mail: nadja.elias@united-internet-media.de

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About SmartShopping UK:

With currently more than four million product offers in more than 1000 shops, SmartShopping is one of the fastest-growing shopping portals in the English online market. It enables online shoppers to make a confident buying decision on the basis of the clear and easy comparison of product information, prices and shops to find the best price-performance ratios. Specialised in the successful trend of comparison shopping, SmartShopping.co.uk delivers comprehensive innovative comparison functions that extend far beyond just a comparison of the price at the point of decision (PoD). The portal also offers a version for mobile use at http://mobile.smartshopping.co.uk. SmartShopping UK is operated by the 1&1 Internet AG in the countries of Germany, Austria and Great Britain and marketed by United Internet Media AG.
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