Surf's Up: Shopping and networking? Social shopping here I come!

'Social shopping' - what is it? Well it tries to combine two of our favourite online activities: shopping and social networking. Social shopping sites are gathering consumers in one place to swap shopping ideas, prices, deals and product information. Some sites also allow you to create custom shopping lists that you can share with friends.

I'm a fan of shopping and networking, and sites that combine both of these elements have great potential. I really like the variety of products and ideas you can find by looking at what other people have found, not to mention the value that large volumes of customer reviews can provide when researching a specific item.

Well I’ve searched and here are some interesting websites I’ve come across and some I have used, enjoy a bit of retail therapy:



http://www.kaboodle.com/
"Shopping is more fun with friends. Share recommendations and discover new things from our community."



http://www.thisnext.com/
"ThisNext is a social shopping network where members discover products based on recommendations."



http://www.wists.com/
"Using Wists is not like going to Walmart or searching a price comparison shopping site - we try to encourage the discovery and promotion of products from small retailers and manufacturers and young designers."



http://www.wishpot.com/
"Wishpot makes it easy for you to shop anywhere, keep all your finds in one place, connect with friends, and discover the hottest deals."



http://www.stylehive.com/
"Stylehive.com is an online style club for people who live for fashion, design and shopping. It's where you meet your style muses and follow them as they discover and share their latest finds."



http://www.nomorenotebooks.com/
"No More Notebooks is a social shopping experience that allows members all over the world to create an unlimited number of lists containing an unlimited number of items from any webpage."



http://www.boxedup.com/
"It's all about people listing the things that they want, and using their lists as wish lists, gift lists and shopping lists."



http://www.blippr.com/
"It's all about the blips. Blips are 160 character reviews with smiley icons that represent your rating. Simple really."



http://www.viewscore.com/
"ViewScore provides online shoppers with a comprehensive shopping decision-making tool. ViewScore's product search-engine provides shoppers with aggregated product reviews and simple and easy-to-follow product recommendations, aiming at helping potential shoppers answer the essential question of "what to buy".


I hope you've enjoyed looking through these great sites. Look out for future Surf's Up features where I'll be looking at other areas of the internet and what it has to offer. If you want to keep track of sites I find follow me on twitter @kunji.

Kunji