ValueCommerce launches Web service. Product information from participating advertisers is databased and published to affiliate partners.
ValueCommerce Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, Stock Code: 2491 on TSE Mothers, President & CEO: Brian Nelson) has today launched the ValueCommerce Web Service.
The ValueCommerce Web Service is designed to serve as an interface for sharing product information between e-commerce websites and affiliate partners. It consists of a product database and a search API. The product database contains product information supplied from e-commerce websites, with advertisement codes by ValueCommerce added. Affiliate partners may either receive all product information in a predetermined procedure or directly search the product database using the search API to obtain search results in the XML format.
Brian Nelson, President & CEO of ValueCommerce, explains: “At the moment, many of the e-commerce websites that take part in the ValueCommerce Affiliate Program offer product information to affiliate partners in the CSV format. The ValueCommerce Web Service opens the way for providing affiliate partners with up-to-date information quickly and in large amounts. It also gives affiliate partners free access to the latest product information in designing their websites and enables them to speedily create articles on their products. We believe that this will deliver higher e-commerce sales while also generating greater revenues for affiliate partners.”
ValueCommerce will be asking its 1600 e-commerce websites under the Affiliate Program to provide product information for the product database and to step up sales promotion activities to encourage corporate affiliate partners using web services to introduce the new service. Moreover, an interface for creating MyLink, which will allow personal affiliate partners to search the product database and to easily provide links to individual products, will be offered in the future.
■ Benefits
Partners running product comparison websites:
Will be able to receive product information by carrying out the predetermined steps and to import it into their databases to improve their price comparison information
Partners running websites for members of mileage programs and credit card holders:
Will be able to stress the appeal of individual products although conventional mileage malls focused on the appeal of individual e-commerce websites
Partners running blog services, social networking services (SNS) and other consumer generated media (CGM) services:
Will be able to allow users to search for product information on blogs and SNS websites and to easily create affiliate ads on the basis of search results
Personal affiliate partners:
Will be able to more easily and quickly create ad links that feature individual products with the use of an interface for creating MyLink (tentative named), to be offered in the future
■ Example of use of the search API
Adding a product search function to a product information website:
http://www.allec.jp/pdb/
Enter a keyword to perform a search. The search API enables users to deal with an enormous amount of product information on their own websites. (* It is possible to actually purchase products.)
Posting an article on products written by bloggers through a blog service:
http://preview.valuecommerce.com/PDBDemo/blog-live/
Press the Logon button without entering anything in the username and password fields. Click on the AFIRI (Affiliate) button and you will see a product search window pop up. Users can easily place affiliate links for products searched into their articles. (* It is impossible to actually purchase any product.)