DoBizBuzz promotes local shopping websites

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, May 7, 2012

BernsteinMINNEAPOLIS - Furniture-Dealer.net has launched a new service - a home furnishings social and business network of sorts - designed to connect local retailers, sales reps, suppliers and consumers and combat the sales inroads of pure e-commerce players.
     DoBizBuzz The Furnishing Network features more than 1,000 interconnected local shopping websites, such as DresserDealers.com, SofaDealers.com, state dealer locator directories and single dealer websites - rich with product catalogs, videos and details about local stores, their services and their products.
     Andy Bernstein, founder of both FurnitureDealer.net and DoBizBuzz, said the network of websites is attracting more than 3 million consumer visits per month, even though it has only been soft launched.
     Users can sign up and link in to the site at http://dobizbuzz. com.
     "This platform allows products and stores to get found locally when the consumer wants to shop at their convenience, 24 hours a day," Bernstein said.
     "We maintain the product catalog. We take the responsibility of keeping it fresh by constantly updating the new introductions and by eliminating discontinued items from the network."
     His retailer clients, he said, "believe that when customers pre-shop online before they buy, they are likely to buy with more confidence and ultimately be happier with their final selections."
     Bernstein said the network was developed to drive business to local stores rather than to "virtual retailers that ship nationally."
    Through the network, suppliers can control distribution in geographical markets. Retailers that display the products consumers are searching for will come up at the top of store locator lists. When retailers sell a product but don't necessarily display it, they will show up further down the list.
     DoBizBuzz plans to add functions that will give suppliers the ability to enforce minimum-advertised-price policies and weed out retailers who sell online into territories beyond their physical store markets.
     The service will rely on advertising support, Bernstein said.