8 Social Shopping Sites + Ideas for Testing their Marketing Value
I read about 2 new-to-me social search sites yesterday and decided to take this opportunity to share the new ones I heard of plus several I've had catalogued but not published.

Springwise hipped me to:
Crowdstorm
http://www.crowdstorm.com/
Crowdstorm would be, based on my first glance, a good tool for folks who like to buy new stuff first. Crowdstorm will help users determine, based on buzz from blogs and comments from other users, whether that sexy new cell phone is worth buying.

ThisNext
http://www.thisnext.com/
ThisNext enables users to create and label lists. Such as Artisan Wines Under $20. Further, you can publish wishlists or recommendation lists on your own site. I wonder if Amazon will enable this (have they already?).

And here's what I'd put together for that social search article but won't be including because it's too granular:

dealbundle
http://www.dealbundle.com
If you sell goods based on price then consider becoming a member of dealbundle and submitting your deals to its members. Your prices will be reviewed by the dealbundle community and rated. It's Digg, but for good deals.

Quick test: If you sell on price, pick your lowest priced product, check dealbundle for competition and undercut them. See what happens for a week.

Zixxo
http://www.zixxo.com
Online coupons with a social twist - use Zixxo to create coupons and the Zixxo community will tag them and rate them for each other. Further, Zixxo users can subscribe to feeds in which your coupons will appear if they subscribe to your category. Site requires registration, which is likely to slow adoption.

Quick test: like dealbundle, Zixxo is great for those who sell on price. Unlike dealbundle, Zixxo enables its coupon creators to drive traffic to brick and mortar stores as well as ecommerce stores. You have complete control over how long your deal is good for. Once you create a coupon post it in dealbundle. Test two birds with one stone.

Yahoo Shopping
http://shopping.yahoo.com/shoposphere/
Yahoo enables shoppers to create "pick lists." Target created one for its patio furniture. Creativity and utility are both huge plusses here. Standouts from today (7-21-6) include the cheeky but insightful "Jean Guide for Men", and the dorky but endearing "I want to be Napoleon Dynamite." Both lists include commentary and items for purchase.

Quick test: Tell your favorite customers about Yahoo's pick lists. Incent them to create pick lists that include your products. Create a pick list with your company's top selling products perhaps as a way of sharing the Yahoo social shopping experience with them.

MyPickList
http://www.mypicklist.com/
Sort of like Amazon, except they pay if items that users recommend are purchased. This is more of a serendipity find site than a good deal hunting site.

Quick test: you have to be an affiliate on this one, because the site pays recommenders of its affiliate members only. Try this if you're an affiliate, but my guess is that in the long term this model will be too limiting for strong and sustained growth.

StyleHive
http://www.stylehive.com/
Stylehive enables the stylish set to login and post especially stylish finds. This site is crucial to boutique fashion site marketers and no one else. If you participate be strategic - try just mentioning the site to your site visitors first rather than posting anything.

Quick test: Incent your customers to list your products in StyleHive, and share the site with them as a resource for their endless pursuit of personal style.

Wists
http://www.wists.com/
This goes in the stylish category along with stylehive, though it covers a wider range of items. The userbase appears to be "hipsters."

Quick test: Incent your customers to list your products there, and to check the site out as a resource for finding cool stuff.

First 2 social shopping sites via: Social shopping | Update

Allegedly social shopping sites for consideration for this list, from the Springwise post:
http://www.shopwiki.com/
http://www.kaboodle.com/
www.zlio.com
http://www.amie.st

From twistermc in comments: http://wize.com/

What social shopping sites (besides Amazon and eBay ;P) am I missing?

Ad for MSI:
If you'd like to take a creative approach to your holiday marketing call MSI's Elliott Greene at (877) 433-3013 and he'll set up conversations with me, JP Sherman and Geoff Lamm on competitive intelligence and integrating your media buys, social media, search and email marketing for maximum holiday ROI.
Garrett French - MarketSmart Interactive | permalink | +marktd |