Yahoo to acquire social shopping site Polyvore

It looks like Yahoo has done a little Friday afternoon shopping -- by snapping up social shopping site Polyvore.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo Inc. and Mountain View, Calif.-based Polyvoire Inc. issued a press release at 2 p.m. Pacific announcing that the two companies had “reached a definitive agreement” for the former to acquire the latter.

According to the announcement (posted by Yahoo here), the acquisition “will enhance Yahoo’s consumer and advertiser offerings -- Polyvore will strengthen Yahoo’s digital magazines and verticals through the incorporation of community and commerce, and together Yahoo and Polyvore will power native shopping ads that drive traffic and sales to retailers.”

Boil down all those tenpenny words and you get “synergy”: The fashion and shopping world has proved to be a slippery critter for the titans of the Internet to monetize, and it seems that acquiring the 8-year-old, venture-backed website that boasts an average purchase of $383 could be taking a shortcut of sorts.

Polyvore’s success has been in finding a way to marry the solitary act of online shopping with the social interaction of a shopping trip to the mall, bringing 350 retail partners together with a cadre of fashion-loving stylists and bloggers to offer community-sourced trends (as of this writing, the Polyvore peeps are loving black-and-white-striped skirts, turquoise handbags and mohair cardigans, for example), visual outfit boards assembled by other members and tips on mixing and matching items.

What this ultimately means for Polyvore’s customer remains to be seen (it’s worth noting that the deal is subject to “customary closing conditions”), but for the fashion bloggers and stylists who showcase their fashion skills at the site, having Yahoo as the parent company will probably have them saying ... “Yahoo!”

For the latest in fashion and style news, follow me @ARTschorn

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