Shopping for the holidays just became a lot less stressful with a new, free Facebook App called Shopycat. The app, developed by @Walmartlabs scrapes information about your friends and family via their Facebook activity. Now, every “Like” comment, poke and status update can factor into a virtual brainstorm for finding the perfect gift – even for the Facebooker who’s appears to have everything.
No more falling back on fruitcakes, socks, gift cards or other boring, last-resort purchases – Shopycat analyzes your friend based on her activities and interests as shared through Facebook and provides instant, unique recommendations. Shopycat suggestions feature gift ideas from stores like Walmart, Hot Topic, Bed, Bath & Beyond, ThinkGeek, Barnes & Noble, and RedEnvelope and can include flicks, tunes, books and digital products.
Shopycat works by retrieving data about your potential giftees via their profiles and news feeds, and then running that data through Walmart’s Social Genome Technology (which is the result of Walmart’s recent purchase of the start-up social media site, Komix). A deep keyword matching process takes place, and the upshot is a fun, efficient, less aggravating way to think up great gift ideas – especially when your imagination may be a tree-light flicker away from shorting out.
For those concerned about infringing on your friends’ privacy, fret not – Walmart promises that the information gathered is obtained strictly from that on your own profile, or what your friend has publicly posted for you to see. The company also assures that the data obtained will not be sold or rented for marketing or other purposes to third-party companies. And the best part may be – for those who are not so keen on broadcasting their lagging creativity, the App does not show up on your news feed, so you can definitely get your Secret Santa on without a glitch.
