PROFILE
Israeli startup tackles social media/e-commerce disconnect
Michael Levinson, co-founder and head of product at Joyned, tells Kate Harden-England why collaboration æśĺƃšĒİĉǝĒšǝËǝšŘóçĒƛçǝŘËĒİǝŘĺĒİŨǝĈĺśǝŨďóǝŨśËƂóĨǝĒİíŭšŨśƉ
Born out of an innate curiosity to solve complex human problems, Joyned started when two students, both studying physics, stumbled across the discovery that two major industries were not properly integrated with one another. The Jerusalem-based social
commerce-as-a-service startup spotted a need for digital collaboration between social media and e-commerce for ŨśĒŘǞŘĨËİİĒİĉǝĒİǝĺśíóśǝŨĺǝËĒíǝ purchase decisions. Currently, China is the only country
where the two are not disconnected, thanks to the likes of WeChat, and Michael Levinson (pictured) believes the world needs an intermediary between the industries to facilitate the connection. “We went from collaborative browsing
to understanding that e-commerce needs someone to intermediate with social media, and that users really, really need this,” he explains. When it comes to travel, Levinson says
ŨďóǝĒİíŭšŨśƉǝďËšǝËǝšŘóçĒƛçǝŘËĒİǝŘĺĒİŨǝ and a need for social decision-making. “Travel experiences are social and the purchase itself is a social process, but
carts and lists, not just single items, without leaving the merchant’s website and without friends and family having to log in to be able to view them. Larger players that have
created options like this still make users log in to view information shared by loved ones. Levinson says: “If I can browse a website but for the critical part of my decision I must identify myself,
ŨďËŨǛšǝËǝæĒĉǝŨŭśİĺƖǝĈĺśǝŭšóśšƿǙ The Joyned platform allows all stakeholders to come together in one organised place to make a
decision. Users can browse separately so
there’s no need for passive viewing, for example via another Zoom connection. Functionality allows for comments on
the websites, no matter how optimised they are, don’t allow for this,” he adds.
SOCIAL BOOKINGS Joyned is tackling issues for the user ƛśšŨƺǝËšǝËǝçĺİšŭįóśǛšǝíóçĒšĒĺİǑįËĥĒİĉǝ ŘśĺçóššǝĒšǝƂóśƉǝšĺçĒËĨĨƉǝĒİƜŭóİçóíƿǝ ǘ=śĒóİíšǝËİíǝĈËįĒĨƉǝďóËƂĒĨƉǝĒİƜŭóİçóǝ
our decisions, but no website in the travel industry supports that.” The platform allows users to share
each item, discussions about budget and dates, and for users to vote on their choice – in one place – without having ŨĺǞĨóËƂóǝŨďóǝįóśçďËİŨǛšǝƃóæšĒŨóƿ Instead of users having to chat with
parents or friends via email or WhatsApp, for example, Joyned will eliminate the need to collate and will summarise all the conversations taking ŘĨËçóǝĺİǝíĒƖóśóİŨǝŘĨËŨĈĺśįšƿ Individuals can join via their preferred
16 — OCTOBER 2023 —
TRAVOLUTION.COM
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