• VentureBeat, Wednesday, November 16, 2011 11:47 AM

Zappos founder Nick Swinmurn is dishing on his latest project, RNKD, the goal of which is to gather information about what brands people are loyal to, and then use that data to shower brands with invaluable consumer insights. What’s in it for consumers? RNKD (pronounced “ranked”) plans to give them virtual badges and product discounts in return for information they provide.

Entering beta testing this week, Swinmurn believes RNKD will serve as a far better predictor of purchase behavior than even a direct conversation with consumers. “What you have is a better predictor than what you say you want,” Swinmurn tells VentureBeat “In other words, you might say you want a nice Brioni suit, but if your closet is full of Mark Ecko T-shirts, the odds are pretty high that your next purchase will be at the mall, not Fifth Avenue.”

More to the point, "if the Mark Ecko company only knew what a loyal fashion victim you were, it could probably get you to buy even more stuff by giving you discounts or early access to new clothing lines,” VentureBeat adds.

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