Top Picks for Holiday Shopping Sites 2005

December 1, 2005

Welcome to our annual best of holiday shopping sites issue.

Each year, we comb the Internet for the best shopping experiences we can find for our Web Digest For Marketers subscribers. Subscribers to this free newsletter are internet marketing and traditional marketing practitioners who find our short reviews (like the ones below) useful in the work they do.

Online Shopping Deals

DealHunting.com

Everyone loves a deal, especially when it's a deal that wasn't even meant for you to enjoy. Before you shop online, stop at DealHunting.com, where the rabid community of deal-hunting shoppers bands together to list currently available coupon codes, discounts, clearance sales and bargains by etailer. Private codes and sales are a way of life at many online stores, who reward their best customers or subscribers to their email lists with secret savings events. With the click of mouse, that secret event is made public here - and you, too, can save. You can search the database by etailer or by category. For example, if books are on your shopping list, at the time of writing you could find dozens of promotional codes to use for everything from complimentary shipping to discounts on your purchase total at Amazon.com, Alibris.com, Calendars.com, BookCloseouts.com and more. Or let's say an iPod is in your future - why not find out first about Apple.com's one-day online sale? There are s by etailer to all kinds of one-day sales and other time-sensitive events. With hundreds of etailers to choose from, this site is a must-bookmark for the savvy online shopper.

Currentcodes.com

http://www.currentcodes.com

At Currentcodes.com, you can "beat the system" by checking for current, often unpublicized promotional codes at hundreds of online stores. Let's say you want to shop at TowerRecords.com. Check the database, and you'll find (at the time of writing) a time-sensitive code that entitles you to complimentary shipping on your online purchase. Simply enter it at checkout, and voila! You're one of the online shopping savvy. Currentcodes.com aims to be the ultimate clearinghouse for current etailer promotional codes online and supports that goal with a staff dedicated to sniffing out every current code available online.

Comparison Shopping

Become.com

http://www.become.com

Michael Yang sold his first comparison shopping site, MySimon, to CNet Networks in 2000 for $678 million. Become.com is his second attempt to perfect the art of comparison shopping. To do so, he zeroes in on product research, as Yang is of the opinion that much "product information" at the purchase level is written with your credit card sale in mind. At Become.com, the first step in your shopping process is a visit to the research section, which is dedicated to providing the best collection of professional, unbiased shopping-related information (buying guides, expert reviews, consumer reviews, articles, specifications, etc.) available online. Once you are confident in your choice of products, you can then tap into the comparison shopping service to find the best deal. In terms of product information and pricing, hundreds of online news sources are scanned automatically every 10 minutes for the most recent information, including notices of new product announcements and price reductions.

Clicks-to-Bricks Shopping

ShopLocal

http://www.shoplocal.com

Before you head out to your local stores and battle for a parking space, do check out ShopLocal. At this site, you can enter your zip code to: 1) View sales circulars from all your local stores; 2) Comparison shop for specific items to find out which local store has the best deal; and 3) Review online deals on the same items to see if you can find what you're looking for at a better price from an etailer. The site's content comes directly from participating retailers, so information is up-to-date and geographically relevant. Create gift lists, sign up for sales alerts and chart your shopping agenda here.

Wal-Mart

http://www.walmart.com

Would you rather battle millions of frenzied customers charging through the aisles of Wal-Mart in search of deals and bargains, or pray that your Internet connection is fast enough to score the same (and more) Wal-Mart buys online? Your truly would much rather tap into Wal-Mart's price-gouging frenzy online than stand in sub-freezing temperatures, and the deals are just as sweet, as Wal-Mart features about 1 million items on its site that are not available in stores. But if you're a dedicated frontline shopper, you can also use the site to scout out the best prospects at all the Wal-Marts near you and then zero in on your targets. Couch pototoes please note: Sign up for the Wal-Mart Wire email newsletter, and you'll get the latest Rollbacks delivered right to your inbox.

Circuit City

http://www.circuitcity.com

Circuit City has the "clicks to bricks" philosophy down to a science... as a matter of fact, they've got it down to 24 minutes. Place your Circuit City order online and they offer guaranteed pick-up at any one of their 600 stores within 24 minutes of placing an order. If your order is not ready, they'll give you a $24(US) gift card in apology for the trouble. It's just the thing you need to know when you suddenly find out that quick gifts - especially "geek chic" gifts for the computer-literate set - are in order.

GottaDeal.com

http://www.gottadeal.com

So you're heading to the stores but your newspaper (with all those coupons and savings circulars) is lining the bottom of the birdcage? At this site, the deal-seeking community posts all the best deals and coupons for both online and brick & mortar retailers, which you can search by category or retailer name. And talk about devotion! Once the holiday shopping frenzy is under way, these hardcore shopoholics report in from the front with advice, new deals and all the inside scoop. Within the message boards you'll find hundreds of current posts sent in wirelessly from intrepid shoppers. They'll tell you which retailers are offering gas coupons if you'll just come in and shop, where to score the hottest must-have gifts and they'll also deliver the goods on all the on-the-spot, undisclosed retailer specials happening in the stores right now. If only we had a tool to organize the message board posts by retailer and zip code - then we'd be all set. There's always next year...

Online Shopping Tools

Amazon.com Gift Central

http://www.amazon.com

Amazon.com is all about helping beleaguered shoppers find the perfect gift. To do so, they've tapped into 40 unbiased sources for gift lists: the editors of top magazines such as Bon Appetit, Cargo, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, GQ, Parenting, Popular Mechanics and more. Each editor has created exclusive, handpicked lists based upon area of expertise. Tying it all together are the editors of popular shopping pick newsletter DailyCandy, who are creating daily themed articles for the Amazon shopper with their own gift picks. And to keep all this information organized, Amazon has also rolled out the Gift Organizer - a virtual "gift assistant" that you can use year-round to save, track and receive recommendations for each person on your gift list.

Yahoo! Shoposphere

http://shopping.yahoo.com/shoposphere/

Yahoo! is tapping into the shopping community to jazz up its shopping options with the launch of Shoposphere. Here shoppers can create their own Pick Lists of products by theme or topic and write about why they love their favorite picks. Let's say you're shopping for your brother-in-law, and all you know is that he is addicted to The Sopranos. Someone in the Shoposphere - another wise guy devotee - has created a Pick List that includes all of his or her must-have Sopranos-related merchandise, from DVDs to books to clothing to things you never even thought of but you know your brother-in-law will just love. Anyone shopping in the Shoposphere can search for, view and comment upon any Pick List, and you can create your own as well. This concept of "social commerce" is based on the philosophy that those who are passionate about a topic or a product are the best source of recommendations, and Yahoo! has created the tools to make it happen. To spur the final step - a sale - they even offer coupons, rebates and shipping offers next to each product listing that is viewed within the Shoposphere.

Yahoo! is also the source of some of the season's best Top 10 Gift Lists, so be sure to check out what's hot - and what's not - before you start your shopping.

Cause Shopping

GreaterGood.com

http://www.greatergood.com

If you want to do good while shopping online, then GreaterGood.com is the shopping portal for you. This company has convinced hundreds of top-drawer retailers to affiliate with its site and donate 100% of their affiliate commissions to charity. As a shopper, if your retailer of choice participates, simply enter their store through the GreaterGood.com portal and shop as usual - the affiliate is tracked and the commission the retailer earned on your purchase will go to the charity that you choose from GreaterGood's participating nonprofit partners. Happy holidays.