Venpop's Max Ciccotosto

More and more retailers are thinking about ways to conduct business on Facebook and Twitter. That, in turn, is sparking the rise of startup companies that want to help those big brands make use of the social media channels in the best ways The latest to emerge in that realm is Venpop, an outgrowth of the Seattle online gift registry Wishpot.

“Our self-service solution allows retailers to be up and running incredibly fast (in some cases minutes),” explains Max Ciccotosto. “We are focused on delivering the key building blocks to make social media a retail channel.”

That sounds an awful lot like ShopIgniter, the Madrona-backed startup that just scored $8 million in funding last month.

Ciccotosto says there is some “overlap” with the base offering from ShopIgniter, and there will likely be more over time. However, he said that Venpop has a strong focus on agility, customer engagement and retail branding.

Because of that, he said that the company can work with a wide variety of retailers, from individual merchants to bigger retail brands. Among the offerings provided by Venpop are Facebook storefront’s that integrate with the retailer’s fan page as well as deeper engagement with Twitter followings.

Ciccotosto said they’ve been working on Venpop since early 2010, and have been acquiring new clients along the way.

To date, more than 1,000 retailers — including Guess, Bestbuy, Bulgari and others — are using the platform.  Partners of the company include Cafepress,  Zoovy, Volusion and Mercent.

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