A Click Away: Personal Shopper at Your Fingertips
November 23, 2006
Perhaps nothing strikes more fear into the hearts of holiday shoppers than the thought of battling endless lines. Whether hunting down a parking space out in the cold or being entrenched among the throngs at stores waiting to pay for their purchases, much of the holiday season seems to be spent on line. But thanks to modern technology, many consumers are choosing to go online rather than wait in line for holiday shopping this year.
Whether to spend more time with their families or just to find the best deals among a wide selection in the shortest time possible, more and more consumers are heading to their computers as opposed to the mall to get their holiday shopping done. In a study released earlier this year titled, "The State of Retailing Online," Forrester Research estimated that online sales will grow to $172 million in 2005, a 22 percent increase over 2004.
Such a sharp increase shouldn't be a surprise when you consider the numerous benefits to shopping online. In addition to giving consumers the chance to avoid the crowds descending upon their local mall, a site such as Shopzilla (www.shopzilla.com) acts as a user's very own personal shopper, searching from among 31 million products in more than 55,000 stores while offering an array of resources to potential users, guaranteeing shoppers the chance to hone in on the best prices in the fastest possible time -- all without having to leave home.
Shopzilla users can enjoy features such as SmartChoice and FlexiBrowse, a pair of tools that helps users of the popular site to do their comparison shopping without having to shuttle back and forth from store to store. Through the use of SmartChoice, a search will flag the lowest price from a high-quality rated merchant that has the product in stock, a tool that comes in particularly handy for hot holiday items. With FlexiBrowse, users are capable of specifying a specific price range before their ensuing search will produce items within that previously determined price range. Both tools let your new personal shopper do all the work while you sit back and reap the benefits.
"During the holidays, everyone wishes they had a personal shopper to avoid becoming overwhelmed and over-extended," says Shopzilla chief shopping expert Helen Malani. "To preserve your sanity and your cents, the key is to use the right online shopping tool."
If you shy away from online shopping due to a fear of high shipping costs, consider the benefits of free shipping offered by many retailers. On any given day Shopzilla has more than 1,000 free shipping offers. In fact, the site boasts so many such offers consumers can just click on the "Special Offers" section and see which merchants are offering free shipping, a practice that greatly increases during the holiday season as merchants are looking to offer potential customers more incentives to buy.
In addition to finding the lowest possible price for a particular item, online shoppers are frequently treated to tax breaks on the items they purchase. Since many online shoppers purchase products from stores that are located outside of their home state, these users save on local taxes, numbers that can add up during a purchasing season as busy as the holidays.
If you're ready to avoid lines at malls, annoying holiday "Muzak" in crowded elevators, and want to enjoy the convenience of shopping any time of day ... or night, online shopping is right for you. For great gift ideas for the holidays visit www.shopzilla.com.
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