Social Shopping: From Vision to Reality

WINTER PARK, Fla. - March 6, 2015 - PRLog -- Portlight LLC launched the first iteration of their new online shop, www.goportlight.com on March 1, 2015. The website offers customers a wide selection of home, toy, and baby products. Portlight is inviting users to sign up and be entered into a chance to win a $250 gift card to use on the website. Additionally, Portlight is offering free shipping on all products for the month of March.

The concept of www.goportlight.com began in the fall of 2013. Six Portlight team members gathered together from their homes over a video conference call to discuss their vision for an online store. “This was back when Portlight was still in its early stages of growth,” said John Scholl, Director of Marketing and Communications. “I was working remotely from my basement in Massachusetts. It was before we had an office space and before we had the robust, talented team we have today.”

Two years later, Portlight operates out of a 4,260 square foot office space and employs nearly 60 full-time and part-time Portlighters. “We’ve gone through extensive growth and maturity since the early days in our apartments,” added Nathan Hirsch, Portlight’s founder and Chief Operating Officer.

Since it’s founding in 2010, Portlight has grown its presence on the Amazon marketplace through maintaining high customer satisfaction ratings, utilizing third-party software to obtain Amazon’s Buy Box to increase sales, and creating an extensive network of over 500 suppliers offering consumers a large assortment of home, toy, and outdoor products.

In January of 2015, the company decided to move forward with the creation of www.goportlight.com and after months of development, the site launched with an initial selection of 2,000 curated products and is anticipated to double over the course of the month. In addition to a growing product offering, Portlight will be adding new social features in future iterations.

“We view GoPortlight.com as an opportunity to create a refreshing social experience within online shopping,” Connor Gillivan, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, said. “Today, you aren’t able to interact with someone as you are when you go to the mall. You can’t ask for advice easily, suggest specific products, or interact with your friends. We are determined to introduce that concept into the website.”

About Portlight:

Founded in 2010, Portlight LLC has been a top third-party merchant on the Amazon marketplace. In 2014, Portlight generated over $6 million in annual revenue and the company is on track to increase their revenue to $10 million by the end of 2015. In addition to launching a visually appealing and functional website, Portlight plans to launch an innovative mobile application by the end of the fiscal year.