Just in time for the holiday shopping rush, Yahoo has made a “social commerce” update to its site to add community feedback on products to the shopping experience.
Is social networking the next big thing in shopping, or do free shipping and discounts matter more? Tag us with your opinions on WebProWorld.
Yahoo posted details about its Shoposphere and Pick Lists features recently.
One joins the Shoposphere by creating a Pick List. The list can be themed however the creator wants it to be. People can list similar products, accessories for a popular product, or products for certain hobbies or interests.
Lists can be shared on Yahoo, and by email and RSS feed. Other users can rate a list, and those garnering the highest ratings could show up on the Shoposphere’s home page. The company has integrated Yahoo 360 social networking into Pick Lists and user reviews, too.
Filling a list shouldn’t be too difficult. Yahoo said in the post it lists some 90 million items for sale. As the beta progresses, Yahoo plans to make other features available, like tagging, Pick List badges for one’s blog, and more 360 integration.
Part of the beta involved updating Yahoo’s shopping search; they talk more about it in the post:
We’ve also done a lot to improve our core shopping search, starting with a new search UI with easier scanning of prices and product reviews. We’ve integrated deals into search results so that free shipping offers, rebates, and coupons are a click of the mouse away.
Why the changes? Rob Solomon, vice president and general manager of Yahoo Shopping, told Search Engine Watch: “What drove us to start thinking about commerce in a new way was the amount of information that’s out there.”
Yahoo ranks well in getting visitors to that information. Search Engine Journal listed the traffic rankings of US-based shopping engines, according to comScore, for August, 2005:
1. Shopping.com sites (eBay)
2. Shopzilla/BizRate sites (E.W. Scripps)
3. Yahoo! Shopping
4. NextTag sites
5. inStore (AOL)
6. PriceGrabber
7. ShopLocal (Gannett, Knight Ridder and Tribune)
8. Froogle (Google)
9. CNET Reviews
10. Monster Marketplace.com
David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. Email him here.
