Shopping.com, Krillion Team on Local Retail, Online Product Locator

EBay’s Shopping.com has teamed with Krillion to launch The Krillion 360 Product Locator, which steers shoppers toward both online e-commerce sites and local retailers. The Locator can be added as a button to any Web site.

On one level, The Locator doesn’t seem to aid Krillion’s core mission: boosting local retailer sales. Just when you were going to buy a new phone at the local Fry’s, you see the cheaper version on Shopping.com. But if the button gets widely syndicated, the extended reach might result in more traffic.

Krillion CEO Joel Toledano tells us the Locator reflects a basic reality: You have to give shoppers all their options. “You can’t hide or show one channel,” he says, emphasizing that Krillion still provides leads to retailers and helps product manufacturers sell their products.

Toledano also says the relationship with Shopping.com (and eBay) is a limited one: While Krillion’s local listings are featured on other e-commerce sites, such as TheFind, they are not being featured on the Shopping.com site. Generally speaking, Toledano notes that the 13-person company has made steady progress in building more manufacturer and retailer relationships, and it continues to work toward profitability.