App developer Alt12 Apps is launching a curated mobile store for moms, the company announced today. As you may know, it is already responsible for popular women’s health and parenting apps such as BabyBump, PinkPad and Kidfolio, which boast over 1.2 million active users.
Alt12’s mobile commerce platform is integrated with its apps, and you will have to download at least one of them to enter its native store. According to its CEO, Jennifer Wong, this is due to the fact that Alt12 positions itself as a mobile-first company:
“That means we believe in the future of mobile devices, including tablets, as being where people will be spending the majority of their time.
One of the distinct advantages of being a native app is being able to offer a great user experience that builds phenomenal engagement. Our active users open our app multiple times a day. We wanted to provide a great social commerce experience for our users at the place where they engage each other (in our apps) and at the right time (when they are at a point in the decision tree to make a choice about a product).”
The store includes a catalogue of 600 products that have been vetted by the company, based on the following criteria: Design, Innovation, Responsibility, Eco-Friendliness, Makes Life Easier, and Award-winning/Tested.
“Since we are only providing what we believe to be the best products on the market, our users can save time knowing the hard work has been done for them and that they can easily buy from their mobile device,” Wong says.
Alt12 also unveiled lists of recommended holiday gift picks for ‘high tech moms’ and ‘eco moms.’ These lists are also available as curated ‘Mommy Profiles’ sections in its store.
While deliveries are only available to the US, Alt12 plans to expand its reach to other countries. In addition, it will also roll out Web versions in the future.
It’s interesting to see an app developer such as Alt12 venture into the e-commerce space on its own. “We don’t link to other retailer sites for affiliate deals,” Wong confirms. “We’ve established key partnerships with a few hand selected brands for our launch and handle all order exchange on behalf of the user for a seamless shopping experience.”
As you may remember, the company had raised $1.26 million last April in a round led by Aydin Senkut’s Felicis Ventures, with participation from InterWest Partners and other individual angels.
Image credit: Thinkstock
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