SHOP.com Adds Back to School Shopping Features for Online Merchants and Shoppers

Well, I was "jolly" yesterday because "tis the season" for comparison shopping engines and other shopping destination sites to enhance their functionality before the school shopping and holiday day season approaches. 

[Special Note: I work with many of the comparison shopping engines and shopping destination sites, over 150 , so I remain very conscious of updating eTaildTail readers on new things that are happening with the comparison shopping engines. I am fortunate to have close relationships with many of them, so, if you need information on a comparison shopping engine and you can't get the answer you are looking for from them directly, please email me at chip AT merchantadvantage.com or chip AT eTaildTail.com; I will try and get an answer for you.]

Okay, yes, we are in the middle of summer, but, if online merchants are going to utilize comparison shopping engines effectively to reach customers for the school and holiday seasons, now is the time to realize their value and to start working with them. Yes, now.

The reason I say this is becasue often it takes a good 15-45 days for comparison shopping engines to ensure that the product catalog of an online merchant is properly optimized throughout all of a particular comparison shopping engine.

A close friend of eTaildTail and MerchantAdvantage is Shop.com, which has created some wonderful new navigation methods for shoppers and listing options for online merchants.

Shop.com works with merchants either via a pay-per-click and/or a pay-per-transaction model.  So I encourage all online merchants to check out the "new and improved" Shop.com and see how they are working hard to attract their key female demographic.

MerchantAdvantage supports all of Shop.com's features and can help any online merchant feed their product catalog to them easily and cost effectively.

Here is Shop.com's announcement of their new offerings:

SHOP.comTM Helps Busy Moms Save Time and Money This Back-to-School Season

New Kids Department Debuts at One of the Biggest Back-to-School Shopping Destinations on the Web

MONTEREY, Calif.--(July 31, 2008)--To help take the “stresswork” out of back-to-school shopping, SHOP.com (www.shop.com ), the destination comparison shopping engine designed for women, today announced the launch of a new Kids shopping department featuring up to 75 percent off virtually everything for kids and baby. The new Kids department, which features a myriad of favorite brands, including Roxy, Skechers, Nike, North Face, Carter’s and more, complements SHOP.com’s already comprehensive offering of the latest clothing, gear and accessories to send kids of all ages back to school.

SHOP.com’s multi-merchant marketplace enables consumers to conveniently find and compare products and prices from thousands of merchants. Consumers can purchase on the SHOP.com web site using SHOP.com’s proprietary universal shopping cart, OneCart®, or purchase directly from hundreds of partner stores.

“One-stop shopping convenience is of the utmost importance around the busy back-to-school season,” said Mondy Beller, Senior Vice President, Marketing for SHOP.com. “The call of duty for Moms particularly at this time of year reinforces that women shop for their family first, so we’re pleased to offer a robust online shopping destination that saves women time, money and their sanity during this hectic period.”

The new Kids section at SHOP.com covers all the shopping needs for busy consumers, offering a wide selection of products in seven key categories, as follows:

Baby Clothing & Shoes - - A stylish assortment of clothes and shoes for baby and toddler from popular baby brands, including Luvable Friends, French Toast and Ugg.

Kids’ Clothing & Shoes - - Apparel to take kids from the schoolyard to the playground in style from brands, including Baby Phat, Mossimo, GUESS?, Ralph Lauren and Quicksilver.

Kids’ Rooms - - One-stop kids’ room shop offers kids' room items - - from bedding to bedroom furniture and decorative accents - - to make kiddies feel at home; a high-quality selection from merchants, such as KidKraft, Olive Kids, Room Magic and Loft...."

<<CLICK HERE>>> to read full article on all of the new product category offerings by Shop.com and more!!!  It is a quick and informative read....and you can possibly win a $1,000 shopping spree. Click away!

Well done Shop.com.

-- Chip Arndt