chris's blog

Apparently there aren't any statistics to prove this, in terms of number of purchases online in the evening happy hours, but online internet shop merchants anecdotally know all about shopping under the influence.

Settling down with your computer after a hard day at work, with a glass of wine, and looking at fashion that looks beautiful on someone else online, has led to lowering inhibitions and lots of impulse shopping.

Given that most online retailers accept returns (though at your mailing cost), there must be some juicy stories accompanying many product returns.

I couldn't resist it
Your sale was soo great
It looked much better online
I realised I couldn't really afford it.

I love the acronyms:

BUI - Buying Under Influence
BLOTO - Buying Loads of Tat Online (coined by Conchango)

Thought I'd change the access so that any members can enter competitions that they know about, and want to share with others.

Another article about the popularity of online coupons and discounts.

Maybe I should create a new type called "discount" and another called "sale" to distinguish them from coupons.

Love to hear feedback.

cheers
Chris

The good old Sydney Morning Herald has another article about online shopping sites, this time targetting female fashion sites, at http://smallbusiness.smh.com.au/growing/sales/cyber-chic--907007024.html.

Apparently inspired by the success of the UK online shop, net-a-porter.com, there are many Australian imitators springing up: ilovefashion.com.au, destinationstyle.com.au, australianflavour.com.au, beloved.net.au, frockshop.com.au.

When you visit each site straight after each other, it's interesting how similar they all look: white backgrounds, spartan appearance, organising clothes by both designer, and clothes type (jeans, dress, leggings etc).  Imitation (of net-a-porter) is the sincerest form of flattery after all. But it's hard to tell them apart - which one to use?

Many of the dresses were definitely lust-worthy. But my current need is for some replacement leggings - my absolute favourites are a few years old, and starting to look quite worn. And I haven't found replacements in physical stores, casually browsing. Leggings are generally too thin, not like my thick ribbed ones, still mostly good enough to wear to work.

But buying leggings online is hard. You can't tell how thick they are. So I decided to look for shorts.

The range online at the above stores varied. Yes it's winter, so some of them had very poor selections of shorts. Some had none. Some mixed shorts with the pants category, others mixed it with skirts. Neither is satisfactory - shorts deserve their own category.  The search functions were mixed - some worked well, others didn't.

My comments?

Beloved - too slow. Poor search.
Australian Flavour - good categories.
Destination Style - no shorts in the short/skirt category. Searching for shorts, found "short sleeved shirt"
iLoveFashion - no search function!
Frockshop - had to use the search function - the pants category had a jumpsuit.

So for shorts so far, Australian Flavour was the winner! Congratulations on the best organised store, girls.

I've bought a lot of things online. Gifts, software, vouchers, tickets, food.

Most of my experiences have been good, although there was once, a few years ago, when I bought a gift voucher for one of my son's friends for his birthday. He loves computers and games, and I thought he would enjoy the novelty of buying something online, even though he was only 11.

So I bought the gift voucher, (rang his mum first to get her email address), and assumed it would get there straight away.

I only found out later that she did not receive the email with the voucher code for over a month!

That was one of the main reasons I had gone for an online gift - that I had left it so late, I couldn't get to a shop, and went for an online solution.

The problem is, I can't remember which shop I had bought it from. It was one of the online department stores, but which one?

The benefit of MyOnlineShops is that you can write in your own blog, your own experience of online shopping, so that you have notes on which shops to visit, and which ones not to use again.

And you can see reviews and ratings that others have made, against shops on the site.

Share information. It helps you and others enjoy online experiences.

I was reviewing a few competitions before adding them to the site.

They looked good on the outside - win free iPhone, or $7000 entertainment systems, or $2000.

But when you read the small terms and conditions at the bottom of the ad, it said you were agreeing to sign up for a mobile subscription service that was going to charge $4.50 three times a week, for services like horoscopes or match making.

How scary that this can be in such small print at the bottom of the ad. It shows the importance of reading the terms and conditions before giving up your credit card details or phone number.

Needless to say, they were not added to the list of competitions.

There's a poll at http://www.myonlineshops.com.au/content/how-do-you-discover-new-coupons that asks where people find online coupons and vouchers.

I'd love to have lots on the site, so please fill it in, and I'll build something to capture and display them.

cheers
Chris

Welcome to MyOnlineShops, the newest and easiest way to shop online.

MyOnlineShops is a directory of quality online shops in Australia, where you can buy products, order services, get information, discover opportunities, enter competitions, find discounts and special offers and much more.

If you just want a simple list of shops, select All Shops.

If you like to shop by category, select a high level category from the side menu, or a more detailed one from the "tag cloud" at the bottom of the home page.

You can find competitions and freebies, and very soon you'll be able to add your favourite shops to your own personal list of favourites, and keep notes and ratings on your experiences.

Share tips and shopping experiences with others, by commenting on a shop, or posting on a forum. Make suggestions for what you'd like to see more of, on the forums. I like to build websites, and make them better and cheerier.

MyOnlineShops. Making online shopping easier and simpler.