Auction site Bidorbuy, SA's version of eBay, has bought a stake in the parent company of a local comparative shopping Web site.
Bidorbuy purchased a 22% stake in Jump Internet Technologies, owner of South African shopping comparative site Jump Shopping, for an undisclosed amount. The auction house says it has an option to acquire a majority shareholding in Jump Shopping.
It has been an international trend that online auction sites purchase comparative shopping sites. eBay purchased shopping.com and Yahoo Auction bought Kelkoo.
Andy Higgins, MD of Bidorbuy, says the move was inevitable. "This is a long-term investment for us, emanating from a synergy between bidorbuy.co.za and jump.co.za, which has resulted in a natural progression towards an obvious relationship."
Albert Bredenhann, MD of Jump Internet Technologies, says the company needed other avenues of growth. "We need investments to take Jump to the next level."
He notes: "There's a trend towards buying comparative shopping sites around the world and Bidorbuy is following that trend."
"Jump Shopping aggregates all the shopping sites," says Higgins. "It works on a transactional model which we see developing our business."
The comparative Web site runs on "cost-per-click" revenue, which is similar to a model used by Google. It provides South African merchants with an online platform to display their products, which in turn allows consumers to search and compare prices.
The comparative search engine has over 70 companies listed, with 600 online stores in its directory.
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