Website Spotlight: Itemize

Itemize.com is a new website that was just launched that aims to streamline your online shopping. It's "your favorite stylist, deal diva girlfriend and organized sister all wrapped into one (and just for you!)" The basic idea is that it aggregates the best of the day's deals based on your own shopping preferences and history. I was able to do a brief Q&A to learn a little more about the site.

How easy is it to link purchase history to the Shopping DNA?
To link your purchase history to your Shopping DNA™, you simply type in the credentials for the email account that you use for your online shopping when you sign up and the system will pull out your receipts. You can also manually forward your receipts when you make a purchase to receipts@itemize.com.

How does Shopping DNA work?
Shopping DNA™ is made up of the past purchases you've made. Itemize scans the web and its own database to identify the items you've bought and then present that back to you so you can see how you shop. It then takes the data and uses it to go find you deals based on the things it thinks you like.

What types of websites does Itemize collect deals from?
Itemize collects deals from hundreds of sites including major retailers like the Gap, Home Depot, Williams Sonoma, Walmart, Petco, J. Crew and more. Itemize also collects offers from daily deal member sites such as Plndr, Totsy, Fab.com, The Foundary, and more. We're constantly adding new sites.

What about people with privacy concerns about how they collect data from shopping preferences?
There are a few ways to limit how data is collected. Auto-importing is completely optional. A user can simply forward their receipts to receipts@itemize.com so they can manually select which purchases the system learns about. They can also simply choose which categories they want deals from when they sign up or in their preferences once they have an account. They don't even need to forward any receipts at all. Obviously, we think that the auto-importer is the best option as the deals we find will be much more personalized and the user won't have to do any more work once they provide their info. The choice is ultimately up to the user.