Tech May 26, 2015 02:07 AM EDT

Shopping app Spring to welcome its new investor Snapchat?

By Staff Writer

Snapchat, the most downloaded messaging app in the world is reportedly interested to invest in mobile shopping app Spring, which is now valued at $90 million.

Aside from usual text messages, Snapchat allows users to take photos, add text and drawings, record videos and send them to any contact on Snapchat.  In November, Snapchat added a money transfer feature on its app where users can pay their friends if both debit cards are connected to the app. Adding this kind of prop in the app makes it a more logical move for Snapchat to invest in a shopping app.

Here comes Spring, the most plausible candidate. It is a mobile shopping app that resembles Instagram's photo feed. There are lots of brands to follow, and according to co-founder David Tisch, Spring charges brands at a rate lower than the typical affiliate sales made within the app.

"Sometimes you know categorically what you want, sometimes you know what store. But other times you're just going to hang out. We killed the shopping cart," said Tisch. By using Spring, a user's shopping experience has been transformed. By just liking a photo of a particular brand, the company will notify online shoppers if the item they liked is on sale or about to be sold out.

Both Snapchat and Spring however did not comment on the rumors circulating the web.

We have seen messaging apps venturing into the world of e-commerce. One example is Facebook Messenger's payment feature where you can track some online purchases within the app. Also, Tango, another U.S.-based messaging app has put up its own shopping tab thus enabling users to purchase from Walmart and Alibaba's AliExpress.

But the real leader in the integration of shopping in messaging apps is WeChat, Chiina's biggest messaging provider that has widely used its platform to let Chinese users conduct their business within the app- from booking an airline ticket to hailing a cab.


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