Hi, I recently posted a thread to gather pivot ideas for my startup (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1734466). I got many ideas, and I thank HN for being so helpful.<p>Given our less-than-satisfactory traction, we would be willing to try a rather major pivot. Do give your feedback on this idea:<p>1) Imagine an Addthis/ShareThis button, made specifically for ecommerce. Just a sharing button on your store/product pages.<p>2) Anytime a visitor shares to Facebook/Twitter and that share results in new visitors/leads coming in, the sharer gets a discount coupon as an incentive.<p>3) Alternatively, the sharer gets a (bigger) discount coupon only for sales made by their friends, not merely visits.<p>4) For either scenario, the technology provider gets a cut.<p>Would you want to use a system like that, say, if you are a retailer?
The problem with competing with AddThis and ShareThis is that they're dirt simple to slap on a page and free (not to mention they target more than just Facebook). The advantage you have is that their target is sharing web pages and your target is sharing products - so make your widget dirt simple, free, and very good at sharing products. Then add things like discounts and analytics to a premium plan.
Usually this is a problem, of what can you do for them more than what can they do for you. Your biggest issue as you pointed out is adoption by retailers, and if really they have a problem with giving out coupons.