Are you completely tired of online shopping websites that constantly clutter up your email inbox with deals on items that you would never purchase? Delete, delete, delete can be such an annoyance.  If this is the case then you will definitely want to learn more about a  revolutionary online shopping website called, ‘Hukkster.’

I recently had the opportunity to interview Erica Bell and Katie Finnegan, who are the Founders of Hukkster and they gave me the details on what sets this website apart from all the others.

Erica and Katie

1. Erica and Katie, I just joined Hukkster to see what the hype is all about and I have to say that I am impressed by it’s concept and easy-to-use functionality. I really believe that it is going to revolutionize online shopping.  Can you explain in your own words what exactly Hukkster is and how it is different from other sites such as Groupon? Also what does Hukking means or explain to my readers what it means to Hukk an item?

As former J.Crew merchandisers, we were frustrated by all of the offers and special deals that were piling up in our inboxes. We were intent on finding deals yet didn’t have time to sort through all the noise for the diamond in the rough. Hukkster is an online personal shopping concierge that tracks specific products across your favorite stores online and lets you know when they go on sale. The key word here is specific. You, the shopper, pin point the specific style (down to size and color) and we let you know when that style goes on sale (including coupon codes and promotions) in real-time so only relevant information is sent your way. Just in time for the holiday season we’ve launched a list and sharing feature so that all our members can share holiday wish lists with friends and family (and give the gift of savings!)

Hukking is the act of identifying products you want by clicking the Hukk it button. When you’re browsing your favorite store online and see a product you’re interested in but not quite ready to pull the trigger and purchase, you simply click the Hukk it button. Once you’ve hukk’d an item, Hukkster will save all the product information at www.hukkster.com where you can view, organize and share at any time.

2. How did you both come up with Hukkster? Do you have a personal story/experience behind how it came to be or did you just come up with a business model to fulfill a need to what you felt was missing in the online shopping marketplace?

Last December around the holidays, we sat down over coffee and were commiserating. We were working in management consulting at the time and no longer had access to our J.Crew corporate discount nor did we have the time to sort through our email inboxes for all the special offers and holiday deals. We felt like we were missing out on all the great deals and knew there had to be a better way to pull relevant content our way.

3. Would you compare Hukkster to social media outlets such as Pinterest?  In other words, do you think it goes beyond just online shopping?

Hukkster is a commerce tool but there is definitely an organizational aspect to the product where you can curate lists and share with friends.

4. What is your business background?  Have you studied business and/or are you just naturally business savvy women?  Is this your first entrepreneurial launch?

We worked side by side at J.Crew as retail merchandisers. In 2008 Katie went to Duke University to get her MBA in corporate finance and strategy. Then we joined forces again at A.T. Kearney where we worked in management consulting, focusing on the retail sector. This is our first entrepreneurial launch.

5. From conception to present day, how long did it take you to get Hukkster launched and what surprised you most during the process?

The idea for Hukkster was born in December of 2011 and we launched our private-beta in May to a few hundred users. The public version of the site launched in October. I think the most surprising and helpful aspect of our initial phase was the overwhelming support and feedback that we got from our contacts in the New York tech community. Everyone was so kind, willing to take meetings with us and share their experiences and hardships.

6. You both just announced that Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (who are Olympian twin brothers, Co-Founders of ConnectU, and who were also involved in the famed legal battle with Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook) have invested $1 Million into Hukkster.  How did this business relationship come to be and what did you see in them over other potential investors?

We were introduced to the Winklevoss twins by a mutual friend. Having met with many formal and informal investors over the past couple months and after speaking for only a few minutes we knew that the Winklevoss twins “got it”. They completely understood Hukkster’s value proposition from a technology standpoint as well as from the user’s perspective. So many sites today are pushing social. Hukkster, on the other hand, is not an overtly social platform as we believe that commerce is not inherently social and therefore it is critical that we allow our members hukk in a private and share hukks at their discretion. This is a key differentiator for us in the market place and it is important to us that our investors understand and stand by Hukkster’s mission statement. We knew that the Winklevoss’ vision for Hukkster was totally in line with our own from the first conversation. They have a great network that they will be reaching out to in order to help us make a big splash for the holiday season and tremendous resources to help propel Hukkster forward.

7. Where do you hope to see yourselves and Hukkster 5 years from now?

We truly believe Hukkster will revolutionize the way people shop online. We could see people using Hukkster to organize all of their spending online, everything from clothing to electronics to grocery so that they can stay organized and track savings in one centralized location.

8. What advice can you share with other business minded, entrepreneurial women such as yourself?

We knew retail inside and out but the tech world was a new territory for us. So we would encourage any other entrepreneurs to ask questions! We spent several months early on talking to anyone who would take a meeting with us to find out more about the tech industry and we learned so many valuable lessons that helped inform our decisions early on. We would also would suggest rolling up your sleeves. Early on we did not have an engineer on board so we did a manual test, nights and weekends to prove out our concept. We tracked products for women within our target demographic, woke up at 4 am to check prices and proved that this service was in fact a viable business model.

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After completion of the interview it occurred to me that people may be wondering how they came up with the name Hukkster, so I asked Erica and this is what she had to say, “A “huckster” is a term people used to throw around for a peddler, someone out on the street making deals. We revamped the term to “Hukkster”, bringing modern day deals straight to your inbox!”