Internet's top 10 best shops
Online buying has come a long way. Virtual assistants and celebrity recos are just some of the cool new features. Pallavi Srivastava trawled the internet to shortlist the 10 best online stores.
Online shopping just got more exciting. Stylefeeder’s “Personal Shopper” tool helps you shop, narrow down purchases and even find StyleTwins!
It can also create wishlists, tell what others are buying, add product lists to your blog and even connect with friends to help make shopping decisions. Users include celebs like the Olsen twins, Mary-Kate, Lauren Conrad and Kelly Rowland.
USP: You can display your wishlist on your website or blog or download the application onto your Facebook page.
It’s the ultimate shop for tees.
One can pick from a range of more than 200 designs, with 8-9 new ones being added every Monday.
Here, you can find some of most colourful, creative, witty and extremely unique designer T-shirts.
What’s more, you can even send in your own designs and win prizes! Since 2000, the site has received 60,000 T-shirt design submissions from across the globe.
USP: Lot of options in design, size and prices.
If you are planning to go on a cruise, you may want to check out the cabin of the ship. But what if it’s docked in another country? Never mind, you can do that now through the site, virtually, of course! Royal Caribbean allows you to take a virtual 3-D tour of the entire ship, besides giving information on the itineraries.
USP: Virtual tour lets you know what you are getting into.
It’s the big daddy of the domain name game. The web site registers, renews or transfers a domain name every 1.3 seconds, and has under its management 23 million domain names, besides a wide array of on-demand and other services. After Quick Blog and Quick Podcast, the site has now launched Quick Blogcast, which allows people to tell their own stories with audio, video, photos and text over the internet.
USP: Specialist in its trade.
This comparison shopping site also boasts of online catalogs, video uploads, live-webTV, auction capabilities, chat rooms and video blogs.
The vlogs and live-webTV are meant to relieve the monotony of text as well as entertain the user.
The web site also allows auction of products by merchants as well as consumers.
USP: First comparison shopping site to have web-TV and vblog.
Despite its spammy nature, IT’S perhaps one of the few web sites of its kind: It sells overstocked items such as electronics, computers, housewares, bedding, jewellery, home decor, apparel, etc at clearance prices. You can land the best deals by comparing the bottom line prices of goods. If you factor in the big discounts and freebies thrown in by the site, your best deal could turn out to be a steal.
USP: Branded merchandise for up to 80 per cent discount.
It’s music to your wallet, literally! the site gives 25 free downloads just for checking out the free trial. Subsequently, you can get a song for 33 cents (Rs 13) or less ($9.99 to $19.99 a month for 30-75 song downloads). It also boasts of more than 2.5 million tracks, including a great backcatalogue in jazz and blues, and claims to serve eclectic rather than mainstream tastes.
USP: Music is in MP3 format; no DRM; monthly flat-rate subscription fee for service.
Since this web site sells high-value stuff like computers, laptops, MP3 players, motherboards, electronic items, jewellery and even software, it understands it must create the trust in buyers. And so, it lets you know things like how long it’s been working with the vendors! The site also shows price fluctuations for a product over the last two hours to enable the buyer get the best bargain.
USP: Minute-by-minute price coverage for serious penny-pinchers who know what they need.
It’s a mad e-tailer; sells just one product per day, which could be gadgets, devices or even wine. The site is loved for the element of surprise it offers, be it the “$5 mystery”, “Bag-o-Crap” or a “woot-off” that can be released anytime. The products are described in a very prosaic way. But the zaniest part is this: Woot anticipates profitability by 2043!
USP: Sometimes offers products ahead of their official launch.
This site calls itself a “Shopcasting” network where you can recommend, share and discover great products! Basically, when you shopcast, you let the world know what you think is great. A shopcast could be on products, lifestyle or even activities. The newest items are showcased on the home page and can also be searched by category or tag.
USP: Shopcast lists and picks are tagged and searchable on ThisNext for easy discovery by others.
