“2nd Generation Comparison Shopping has arrived…”

ChoiceIT.com - powerful feedback from in-depth, independent choices

Comparison Shopper web-sites are now an essential part of shopping on the web – how else can you sensibly pick the right deal when there are literally hundreds to choose from? Are you really being looked after, as you face a barrage of distracting pop-ups and competing ads when making financial decisions based on bewildering screens of techno-speak? When shopping, we consider a variety of factors – not just price. My preferences are likely to differ in type and importance from yours. Wouldn’t it be useful, if Comparison Shopper sites were geared specifically to our own individual requirements?

1 st Generation Comparison Shopper sites offer simple price comparisons. Specialist and consumer magazines go some way to addressing the importance of additional features with blobs and stars to identify the “best” buy. But who actually decides that a particular feature is more important than another – you or the magazine? We also need the confidence of knowing that products are being fairly presented to us – preferably from an independent source. With many comparison sites, fee-paying products are usually the first that are presented to the Shopper.

Why stop there? Why not consider also the needs of all parties involved in the chain – shoppers, manufacturers, retailers and marketing - and if possible, bring them together in an efficient and mutually supportive way? ChoiceBiz is a UK based company which has spent the last five years developing a new 2 nd Generation Comparison Shopper site www.choiceit.com that addresses and incorporates each of these inter-relationships offering a free, informative, and impartial service, to make for a more satisfying shopping experience.

As Shoppers ‘point & click’ their preferences, thumbnail photos of non-qualifying products fall away - revealing their personalised shortlist. These preferences can be as simple (for example, just "pricing") or as in-depth as the Shopper requires.The key here, is to use the Shopper’s own needs to get a ‘better fit’, while at the same time maximising use of graphics to make the experience satisfying. www.choiceit.com also makes a point of not using distracting pop-ups and unsolicited advertising, to keep the shopping experience simple and focused.

Clicking a thumbnail reveals full product details with links to relevant retailer web-pages from where you can make a purchase or view more information. These retailer links are further qualified by location and price to help guide the Shopper to the most appropriate retailer. Such retailers benefit, as they receive visits from “hot prospect” Shoppers who now hopefully have sufficient confidence to close a sale, and who have already shortlisted the retailer’s product.

But why stop at retail products? We all need plumbers at some time, so ChoiceBiz has now launched services as well, where things like pricing, location and range of services are provided in just the same way as choosing digital cameras. Additionally, resisting the temptation to remain with mainstream products, www.choiceit.com has added a whole new category of "Alternatives" – starting with Solar Panels and Windpower generators – (an “Alternative-Fuel car” category is already in place). In this way, www.choiceit.com hopes to play a small part in helping to increasing public awareness and take-up of these important technologies.

Check out www.choiceit.com to see how you and your preferences can give manufacturers a better idea of what we consumers really want in a product (without compromising Shoppers’ privacy rights). This in turn should hopefully lead to the generation of better shaped products for us – and a new and enjoyable way from which to choose them.