Epinions
Epinions, operating as Shopping.com, is a consumer reviews and price comparison platform founded in 1999 that serves online shoppers with aggregated product evaluations, unbiased advice, and personalized pricing comparisons across multiple retailers globally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1999
- HeadquartersBrisbane, United States
- Headcount5,001–10,000
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Epinions does
Epinions is a consumer reviews and price comparison platform that operates under the Shopping.com brand, founded in 1999 and headquartered in Brisbane, United States. The platform serves online shoppers seeking product evaluations, unbiased advice, and aggregated pricing information to inform purchase decisions. Its horizontal go-to-market targets individual consumers globally through a single self-serve website channel, enabling users to compare prices across multiple retailers, access consumer reviews, and identify deals and special offers without enterprise contracts or tiered pricing.
The platform's core technology centers on aggregating retailer pricing data alongside user-generated product reviews. Specific technical architecture details, recommendation algorithms, and proprietary technology components are not disclosed in available source data. The company distributes exclusively through its website, with no mobile applications, API offerings, third-party integrations, or developer SDKs documented. The customer base consists entirely of individual online shoppers conducting product research and price comparison shopping; there are no enterprise clients, named anchor customers, or B2B revenue streams identified.
Epinions' revenue model is not disclosed in available source data, with no pricing tiers, subscription structures, or transaction fee mechanics identified. Historically, the company raised approximately $45 million across three funding rounds between 1999 and 2001 from investors including August Capital, Benchmark, Goldman Sachs, Headline, Bowman Capital, and Dell Technologies Capital. Epinions was acquired by Shopping.com in 2005, and the current ownership structure is not clearly established in the available data. The platform appears to remain operational based on live website content, but no recent strategic activity, product launches, leadership changes, partnerships, or expansion initiatives are documented, leaving the company's current operational and financial trajectory unclear.
Epinions firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Epinions
- Legal name
- Shopping.com
- Website
- https://epinions.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1999
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 5,001–10,000 employees
- Short description
- Epinions, operating as Shopping.com, is a consumer reviews and price comparison platform founded in 1999 that serves online shoppers with aggregated product evaluations, unbiased advice, and personalized pricing comparisons across multiple retailers globally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Epinions industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Consumer Reviews & Price Comparison
- NAICS
- General Merchandise Retailers (455)
- SIC
- Retail-Misc General Merchandise Stores (5399), Retail-Miscellaneous Retail (5900)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Price Comparison/Aggregator Generalist Marketplaces (CRAFAAAI)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Price Comparison, Deals, Cashback & Loyalty Shopping Platforms (BPAMAGAH)
Keywords
Where Epinions is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Brisbane
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Epinions business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Distribution channels1 record
Epinions product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Epinions operates an online consumer reviews and price comparison platform that aggregates pricing information across multiple retailers and provides user-generated product reviews, unbiased advice, product evaluations, and personalized recommendations to help online shoppers make informed purchase decisions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Epinions Consumer Reviews & Price Comparison Platform
Companies that use Epinions
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Epinions technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Epinions partnerships and signals
Strategic signalRecent moves4 records
Epinions competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- ShopSavvy: Mobile-first price comparison and barcode scanning app. Comparable in price-comparison use case but skewed to mobile-native shopping behavior.
- CamelCamelCamel: Price-tracking and deal-alert service focused on Amazon listings. Comparable in deal-discovery and price-comparison use case, narrower in scope.
Direct peers
- Yelp: Consumer reviews and recommendations platform. Comparable on the user-generated review/advisory side of Epinions' offering.
- Trustpilot: Consumer reviews platform serving shoppers and merchants — directly comparable to Epinions' reviews/advice layer.
- PriceGrabber: Direct competitor in online price comparison across consumer electronics, home, and general merchandise — overlapping audience of deal-seeking online shoppers.
- Shopzilla (BizRate): Long-running price comparison and shopping aggregator across general-merchandise categories. Closely overlaps Epinions/Shopping.com in vertical, audience, and comparison-shopping economics.
- Nextag: Comparison-shopping marketplace aggregating merchants and product offers. Comparable in core functionality and target shopper use case.
Broad incumbents
- Amazon: Largest e-commerce destination that increasingly internalizes comparison and deal discovery. Adjacent competitor for shopping-intent traffic and affiliate economics.
- Google Shopping: Incumbent comparison-shopping surface integrated into the dominant search engine. Competes for the same high-intent price-comparison queries and merchant feeds.
Regional players
- Idealo: European price comparison platform with comparable aggregator model and merchant feeds. Comparable product but primarily serves European geographies.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Epinions social profiles
Digital presenceEpinions financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Epinions leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Epinions funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors6 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Epinions M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Epinions
What does Epinions do?
Epinions operates an online consumer reviews and price comparison platform that aggregates pricing information across multiple retailers and provides user-generated product reviews, unbiased advice, product evaluations, and personalized recommendations to help online shoppers make informed purchase decisions.
Is Epinions a public or private company?
Epinions is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Epinions founded?
Epinions was founded in 1999. It employs 5,001 to 10,000 people.
Where is Epinions based?
Epinions is headquartered in Brisbane, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Epinions's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are ShopSavvy and CamelCamelCamel. Direct peers are Yelp, Trustpilot, PriceGrabber, Shopzilla (BizRate) and Nextag. Broad incumbents are Amazon and Google Shopping. Idealo is listed as a regional player.
Does Epinions have an API?
No public API is recorded for Epinions.
What industry is Epinions in?
Epinions's product category is Consumer Reviews & Price Comparison. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAFAAAI, Price Comparison/Aggregator Generalist Marketplaces, with a secondary code of BPAMAGAH, Price Comparison, Deals, Cashback & Loyalty Shopping Platforms. Its NAICS code is 455 and its SIC code is 5399.