“I’m never gonna go shopping at the mall again!”
This was my hasty declaration last week as I became even more engrossed in online shopping. I love the convenience of browsing through online shops without pesky salespeople following you around. You can come and go as you please and not feel guilty if you don’t buy. You can go about shopping relaxed because your purchases will be delivered right to your doorstep.
Of course, there are downsides too like when the product you get doesn’t meet your expectations. (Sometimes photos can be deceiving.) Or when the product has a damage that the seller conveniently forgot to mention or show in photos. Or after buying a certain product, you find another shop selling the same thing for a lower price. This is especially painful when you buy high ticket items.
But all these can be avoided.
How? Research.
Just as you would scour the mall for best prices or window shop several times to make sure you’re gonna get the most of your purchase, search the internet for every product review possible and make sure that the shop you’re buying from is very reliable.
Wikio Shopping is a site that could easily do all the research for you. It’s like an online “shopping – pedia ” that lets you know all the possible information you may need about the product you want to buy.
It’s a new site but it already has 235,000 products on board with almost one million reviews accompanied by 600,000 photos and 475,000 videos. Now that’s a lot of numbers in one sentence. But as I write this, hundreds of products are being uploaded with more than 1,000 reviews.
The Wikio homepage may look simple but once you conduct a product search, that’s when you’ll find it choc – full of information. For example, I’ve been thinking of getting a Blackberry Bold because I’ve heard a lot of people rave about it. But I get the occasional rants too so the best way to really know for sure is to consult more people who have used it and to read more informed reviews.
So when I did a search for Blackberry Bold, this is what came out.
The first thing you’ll see are the photo of the product and the deals currently available. Pretty simple. But when you scroll down, that’s where the fun begins.
You’ll see an overview of reviews gathered from different blogs, user opinions with ratings for the product, the latest news about the product and video reviews.
This is just an overview pane but when you click on the tabs, you’ll see even more reviews…
and more videos.
I think if users like a product enough to exert extra effort to make a video review, then chances are you are onto a good product.
If you have or haven’t made up of your mind, the next info you’ll see will probably help you make the decision: a chart of all the deals available from lowest to highest price.
Still not decided? There’s a gallery of related items where you can take your pick.
If you’re out online shopping and you need something more than a product’s price comparison, Wikio Shopping is a must stop over. If you do your research well, I’m sure you’ll walk away a satisfied happy shopper.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I know what you mean about the “pesky” salespeople. The worst part of it is they can make you feel a little guilty if you don’t buy anything because they “helped” you for 10 plus minutes. So shopping online can really be a breath of fresh air. If you know where to look, you can find anything online.
Agree. That’s why before I go inside a store, I survey the salesladies first and gauge how much they hover around their customers. If they don’t, it’s a go.
Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to comment, Mandy.