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Loogle - local barcode-driven shop site for everything everywhere

“This idea has been percolating for a long time ever since I wanted to involve Ernst & Young in this kind of thing back in 1998.
      The driving issue for me is to make the web more relevant locally but even easier to use than great sites like Craigslist.”

Note: Loogle is a working title and may be changed before release.

Loogle is a web service that automatically builds shop sites for anyone on-the-fly. All you need is a  webcam and a browser and you are set to sell anything with a bar code (maybe even without a bar code in the future).

Loogle sets up a customizable Amazon-ish type site for you automatically, registers it with search engines and its own product search engine, along with your zip code, so that people can FIND YOU EASILY.

Loogle is Google product searching... but local. It’s Craigslist, Gumtree and Ebay without having to write your advert or having to ad photos.  It's for all those people out there who have stuff to sell or want to buy stuff LOCALLY and without the fuss.

To find stuff is really easy, just type in the product description and your postcode into your favourite search engine or go to the  Loogle search engine and search for your product.

Professional retailers and private sellers are welcome. A key feature of the service is inventory management. This means that Loogle will check from time to time with shop front owners whether the items they list have been sold or not.

For retailers with bigger inventory we will be providing API’s to allow your own inventory system to talk to Loogle to tell customers what is in stock and what isn’t.

We even have a free inventory system planned that allows any shop owner to hook a bar code scanner to their computer or even a webcam and keep track of the value of everything in their store so that their shopfront on Loogle is always up to date…. this may even turn into a free accounting package.. now that’s worth exploring.

Its like Google’s Froogle except that Loogle assumes that the person browsing for stuff is looking for local sellers rather than the cheapest online price with all its complications like shipping and delivery delays… maybe they just want to jump in the car and go looks at the goods and pay like we normally do with most things… hey, the internet is not just for finding stuff for everywhere else buy near your place!

We are also exploring using Loogle as a personal inventory system so you can enter everything as you buy it and then decide later on if you want to sell it… just check a box and now everyone in your neighbourhood knows you have something to sell. Imagine, all your books, CD’s LP’s, computers all listed and available securely online and ready for you to turn into cash when you want.

Maybe we should also include a loan module that keeps track of

Loogle is in alpha research and testing. If you are interested in being a beta tester or have ideas or suggestions for us to consider then add a comment to this post and we'll include you in the near future.

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