Proving that publishers have a vested interest in the shopping activities happening on mobile, Swirl has raised $8M led by an investment from Hearst Ventures. Swirl launched in August 2012 and has information about sales across 33,000 stores and 220 brands. Some of their major partners include Nordstrom, Ann Taylor and J. Crew. The pilot retail program which launched in May was such a success that stores such as Kenneth Cole and Timberland saw a 75% open rate of the Swirl app in-store. Read more about the investment here.