Shop.com Site and Service Review
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Written To Better Inform Our Visitors Regarding These Deals: • Billabong Mini Tank Dress Discount [INSTANT SAVINGS] • Circulon Covered Casserole $5 Off Sale [COUPONS] • Baking Days 8 Cup Round Covered Deep Dish $5 Off [COUPONS] • Ugg Women's Raya $10 Off [COUPONS] |
Price comparison sites were the hottest thing a few years ago, and you couldn’t go two seconds online without finding another one. However, many quickly failed as they did not pay enough attention to revenue models. The few sites that remain are generally pretty well loved and used by a die hard fan base.
Shop.com was one of the few that managed not only to stay in business but flourish in these tough times. As more people look to save money with the weakening economy, comparison sites are suddenly back in vogue. Whether we’ll see another big comparison site boom remains to be seen, but the old favorites are certainly doing well.
Does Shop.com have what it takes to earn your business and help you save money? Let’s find out!
In 1997, Shop.com began as Catalog City, after its founder received more than a dozen mail order catalogs in one day. The main premise was that it would be easier to shop from all of those catalogs at once, and that you could easily search for what you were interested in, saving time. The concept took off and soon, the vision was transformed into Shop.com as it is today. They have been a pioneer in the comparison shopping business and have been helping consumers in numerous ways throughout these years.
Today, Shop.com is one of the most popular comparison sites and they have managed to weather many ups and downs. The latest version of the site includes a lot of great features that are very consumer oriented and it is clear that Shop.com will continue to remain on top, so long as they keep this focus and keep innovating.
Our first impression of the site was very good. Everything is well laid out, and easy to find. It’s clear that this is a place that is going to save you money, so they managed to accomplish that right off the bat. We love the OneCart technology that has made Shop.com a leader in the industry. Basically, you can buy products from numerous different stores, and pay for everything at once, using your Shop.com account. This makes shopping online a lot easier and saves a lot of time. So far, so good!
The design is very clean and logical. Important information is at the top where it should be and all of the different categories are well laid out. The coupon section is very easy to find, as are the deal pages and special offers. This is probably one of the best feature of the site and they’ve done a great job promoting this angle.
The navigation system is easy. All products are divided up by type and then you choose to narrow your search once you’ve clicked on the category. For example, with coats, you can select the material you’re looking for, or the brand or store. We would have liked to have seen a few more options here however. Bluefly.com is one great example of using intelligent search, where you can narrow down your results by size and color. This feature would make Shop.com just about perfect.
When you click on the product you’re interested in, a new window opens and you’re taken right to that store. It gets a little confusing from here however. The default display of results is for all stores, not just the stores that participate in the Shop.com OneCart program. This is not intentionally misleading, but it is easy to see how consumers could be confused if they were expecting to be able to use the feature.
A quick solution for this would be to make it clearer whether or not an item was available for the OneCart feature. A small graphic or even defaulting to OneCart stores first would be an easy fix.
The customer service link is a bit buried and we would like to see it moved to the top of the pages. As it is, you’ve got to scroll all the way down and click on Help to get to their actual customer service page. The information there is very helpful, but it won’t do much good if no one can find it.
While we didn’t expect a comparison site to have a toll free number, they could do a little bit better with their contact options. Right now, there is a simple email form. While this is nice, it would be better to see some live help options, or a help desk to make it feel a little less static. While their site feels very cutting edge, this form is very 1997 and could use a lot of improvement.
Another problem that is a tough one is order tracking. Since you’re being taken to other sites, you’ll have to rely on their customer service and order tracking options if you have any questions. OneCart customers can get a little help from Shop.com, but usually, it’s going to be up to the individual store to provide service. There’s nothing wrong with that, but they could do a little bit better making that point clearer.
Shop.com has hit almost all of the right notes here. We love the ability to use OneCart, but wish they would have done a better job making it easier to find deals that were eligible for it. The majority of people shopping online are in a hurry and don’t want to have to dig for this feature that is so touted on the main page. It gets a little confusing and this is definitely an area that could use improvement.
Comparison sites are all about the search and while Shop.com’s engine is powerful, it could also use a little improvement. As mentioned above, we would like to see more narrowing options to make it even easier to find what we were looking for. There is nothing more frustrating than finding something you love only to find out later that it’s the wrong size or color.
Shop.com was one of the few that managed not only to stay in business but flourish in these tough times. As more people look to save money with the weakening economy, comparison sites are suddenly back in vogue. Whether we’ll see another big comparison site boom remains to be seen, but the old favorites are certainly doing well.
Does Shop.com have what it takes to earn your business and help you save money? Let’s find out!
About Shop.com
In 1997, Shop.com began as Catalog City, after its founder received more than a dozen mail order catalogs in one day. The main premise was that it would be easier to shop from all of those catalogs at once, and that you could easily search for what you were interested in, saving time. The concept took off and soon, the vision was transformed into Shop.com as it is today. They have been a pioneer in the comparison shopping business and have been helping consumers in numerous ways throughout these years.
Today, Shop.com is one of the most popular comparison sites and they have managed to weather many ups and downs. The latest version of the site includes a lot of great features that are very consumer oriented and it is clear that Shop.com will continue to remain on top, so long as they keep this focus and keep innovating.
First Impression
Our first impression of the site was very good. Everything is well laid out, and easy to find. It’s clear that this is a place that is going to save you money, so they managed to accomplish that right off the bat. We love the OneCart technology that has made Shop.com a leader in the industry. Basically, you can buy products from numerous different stores, and pay for everything at once, using your Shop.com account. This makes shopping online a lot easier and saves a lot of time. So far, so good!
Site Design and Navigation
The design is very clean and logical. Important information is at the top where it should be and all of the different categories are well laid out. The coupon section is very easy to find, as are the deal pages and special offers. This is probably one of the best feature of the site and they’ve done a great job promoting this angle.
The navigation system is easy. All products are divided up by type and then you choose to narrow your search once you’ve clicked on the category. For example, with coats, you can select the material you’re looking for, or the brand or store. We would have liked to have seen a few more options here however. Bluefly.com is one great example of using intelligent search, where you can narrow down your results by size and color. This feature would make Shop.com just about perfect.
When you click on the product you’re interested in, a new window opens and you’re taken right to that store. It gets a little confusing from here however. The default display of results is for all stores, not just the stores that participate in the Shop.com OneCart program. This is not intentionally misleading, but it is easy to see how consumers could be confused if they were expecting to be able to use the feature.
A quick solution for this would be to make it clearer whether or not an item was available for the OneCart feature. A small graphic or even defaulting to OneCart stores first would be an easy fix.
Customer Service
The customer service link is a bit buried and we would like to see it moved to the top of the pages. As it is, you’ve got to scroll all the way down and click on Help to get to their actual customer service page. The information there is very helpful, but it won’t do much good if no one can find it.
While we didn’t expect a comparison site to have a toll free number, they could do a little bit better with their contact options. Right now, there is a simple email form. While this is nice, it would be better to see some live help options, or a help desk to make it feel a little less static. While their site feels very cutting edge, this form is very 1997 and could use a lot of improvement.
Another problem that is a tough one is order tracking. Since you’re being taken to other sites, you’ll have to rely on their customer service and order tracking options if you have any questions. OneCart customers can get a little help from Shop.com, but usually, it’s going to be up to the individual store to provide service. There’s nothing wrong with that, but they could do a little bit better making that point clearer.
Overall Opinion
Shop.com has hit almost all of the right notes here. We love the ability to use OneCart, but wish they would have done a better job making it easier to find deals that were eligible for it. The majority of people shopping online are in a hurry and don’t want to have to dig for this feature that is so touted on the main page. It gets a little confusing and this is definitely an area that could use improvement.
Comparison sites are all about the search and while Shop.com’s engine is powerful, it could also use a little improvement. As mentioned above, we would like to see more narrowing options to make it even easier to find what we were looking for. There is nothing more frustrating than finding something you love only to find out later that it’s the wrong size or color.