ShopWiki Color Search!
ShopWiki Color Search –Just saw this on comparisonengines.com and loved it: Shopwiki uses Web a Web 2. interface to let users search by color. Simple and innovative addition to the online shopping behavior. Very cool.im thinking that so many folks like to shop by color.
Ok, just talking about ShopWiki’s new color search tool is not enough. You have to experience it for yourself to understand the ‘cool’ factor of this funtionality. So go and test it out:
Go here (a search for a - something). Click on the ‘Colors’ beta button. Then choose a color. Then another. Then another. Then another. Now try searching for ‘vacuum’ or ‘cell phone’ and use the color search tool. It’s not perfect, but you’ll quickly get the picture.
Seriously. Leave. But please come back.
If you take a close look at what ShopWiki is doing, the color search tool is probably just the start of a flood of innovative ways to shop. Many shopping comparison engines are set up to quickly and efficiently monetize incoming clicks. If you look at the UI of most engines, there’s no Web 2.0 technology like Ruby on Rails or AJAX. There’s no sleek or simple interface like you’d see on SimplyHired or Kayak. And many of the current breed of shopping comparison engines are now owned by larger entities that are public or are going public so there’s not necessarily going to be a drive to take a step back and figure out how to innovate, but rather a full fledged assault on increasing revenue per visit.
The point is that ShopWiki has the freedom to think about the activity of shopping search much differently than NexTag, PriceGrabber, or Shopping.com. I’m not saying that ShopWiki is correct in its approach and every other company is wrong, but this color search innovation is what comes from thinking about a better user experience. I have not seen new features like this on the more established engines in a while. And isn’t the shop by color feature a better way to search for a sweater than the current options out there?
So where does this leave ShopWiki? Because of the potential for comprehensiveness, the low cost model, and focus on user experience, it’s exciting to think of the possiblities. Expect the company to continue to launch new features to create a more engaging shopping experience. Taken as a whole, this is one way (note, it’s not the only way) to build a loyal audience and not rely on the PPC engines. The more established players should pay attention.
Women are going to love this!
I need to play some more to get the color just right - you are right - it is fun!
Now, maybe I can match shoes and a purse without spending hours at the mall!
This entry was posted on Friday, February 16th, 2007 at 3:13 pm and is filed under My Musings, Cool Software, Cool Stuff!, World Around Us!. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.