Mobile shopping start-up Digby snags BlackBerry deal

Alltel’s BlackBerry devices will now come preloaded with a mobile shopping application called Digby. Just in time for holiday shopping.

Digby, of Austin, Texas, aims to make shopping-on-the-go easier. Web surfing on the Blackberry can be cumbersome, given most web sites aren’t designed for mobile devices. With Digby’s interface, users get immediate storefront access to partnering vendors, and can buy books, flowers, music, electronics, and such without hassle.

Digby says you can make purchases in 30 seconds through its interface because you do all your browsing and product selection offline. After loading purchases from various retailers into a shopping cart, you access the Web only once to complete a transaction. Payment is made through the credit card number stored on your BlackBerry, and shipping confirmations are e-mailed to you.

Digby’s catalog is automatically updated nightly with the latest products and prices, or, if the user’s BlackBerry is turned off, when it is powered on again.

Digby competitors include mPoria, which lets shoppers use any telephone from Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel and AT&T, and has links to about 100 retailers. Overstock.com, Amazon.com and Google are developing their own mobile shopping sites. And Sprint Nextel Corp. will launch Mobile Shopper, which is free, though with data usage charges and has links to 30 stores, including Target and eBags. Finally, a number of retailers have enabled mobile transactions through PayPal’s Mobile Checkout.

Some of these offerings are clunky. Besides having to browse the web, Mobile Shopper customers have to set up an account with shipping and credit card information, enter their phone number and PIN when making a purchase. And PayPal Mobile Checkout has customers key in their PayPal user name and password or their mobile number and PIN to complete a transaction.

Alltel says Digby’s quick shopping time is a major reason it chose to partner with the startup. Another reason, says Joe Johnson, Manager of Product Marketing in Alltel’s Advanced Data Solutions Team, is that Digby is currently the only mobile shopping interface provider available for smart phones. The carrier says it has plans to extend the application on Windows Mobile devices early next year.

Digby first launched its shopping service for BlackBerry users in January, 2007 and has picked up a dozen vendor partners since then, including Barnes&Noble.com, Best Buy, and FTD.com. It has been available for download to BlackBerry users for some time already, but with its Alltel partnership, it stands to take its service to tens of thousands of BlackBerry users each month, says Digby VP of Marketing Munira Fareed.

Digby is working towards deals with other carriers.

Digby raised $2.5 million in September but hasn’t disclosed the names of the investors. The company has 20 employees.

Alltel ranks fifth nationwide in terms of subscriber base with 12.5 million subscribers in 39 states, and claims to have America’s largest network. Its market is primarily in the southeastern United States, throughout the mid-west and the southwest.