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  <id>tag:,2009:/1/tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3577-</id>
  <updated>2009-11-23T19:52:52Z</updated>
  <title>Comments for ShoppingPath&apos;s Unique Product Comparison UI</title>
  
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  <entry>
    <id>tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3577</id>
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    <link rel="service.edit" type="application/atom+xml" href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-atom.cgi/weblog/blog_id=1/entry_id=3577" title="ShoppingPath's Unique Product Comparison UI" />
    <published>2007-03-09T05:18:20Z</published>
    <updated>2007-12-16T23:11:10Z</updated>
    <title>ShoppingPath&apos;s Unique Product Comparison UI</title>
    <summary>ShoppingPath.com is launching the beta version of its shopping comparison service. A preview of the ShoppingPath technology is located (for some reason) at the domain www.CrispyShop.com. What caught my eye was its unique, ipod-like, product comparison UI. It&apos;s a mix of Ajax and Flash and is quite interesting... maybe even compelling. Here is a screenshot,...</summary>
    <author>
      <name>Richard MacManus</name>
      <uri>http://www.readwriteweb.com</uri>
    </author>
    
    <category term="Ecommerce Services" />
    
    <category term="Startups" />
    
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      <![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.shoppingpath.com/">ShoppingPath.com</a> is launching the beta version of its shopping comparison service. A
preview of the ShoppingPath technology is located (for some reason) at the domain <a
href="http://www.CrispyShop.com" class="black_bottom">www.CrispyShop.com</a>. What caught
my eye was its unique, ipod-like, product comparison UI. It's a mix of Ajax and Flash and
is quite interesting... maybe even compelling. Here is a screenshot, taken from <a href="http://www.crispyshop.com/search/?c=Television%252520and%252520Video&sCategory=Television%252520and%252520Video&rt=Television+and+Video&rv=&f=0&t=&subCat=Televisions&Brand=Sony%253E4168-Brand%253DSony&Store=All&Special+Deals=All">a TV example</a>:</p>

<p><img border="0" src="http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/shoppingpath1.jpg" width="520"
height="306" /></p>

<p>How this works is that you scroll along either the blue dotted line (representing
price) or the bottom line (showing product images), until you find a product you like
that fits your budget. The scrolling is very reminiscent of using the scroll wheel on
your iPod - it's the same kind of interface theory of being able to scroll through
hundreds of options easily.</p>]]>
      <![CDATA[<p>During the scrolling, you see details of the product - e.g. the Pioneer one in the
screenshot above - and there are many ways to filter your search by feature, via tabs at
the top and drop-down boxes to the left. One good example is sorting by 'Diagonal Size'
(I assume the tabs are different for each product type). It displays something like
this:</p>

<p><img border="0" src="http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/shoppingpath3.jpg" width="520"
height="307" /></p>

<p>The green dots <a href="http://www.shoppingpath.com/blog/?p=7">signify</a> TVs
available with larger screen sizes for a lower price.</p>

<p>After you've chosen a suitable product, it displays more details and popularity
measures:</p>

<p><img border="0" src="http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/shoppingpath2.jpg" width="520"
height="380" /></p>

<p>There is plenty of data available if needed: product reviews, ratings, pricing details, etc.</p>

<h2>Conclusion</h2>

<p>There's a lot going on in the interface, but it all seems to work very smoothly. The
green dots were probably the only thing that needed explanation when I tested it. Note
that the product also uses the Yahoo Shopping API.</p>

<p>Right now ShoppingPath is hoping to be a meta shopping engine, pointing users to
retailer websites to complete purchases. It's not clear to me what the business model is,
other than contextual ads. Certainly this kind of technology would be superb at
Amazon.com, so long term an acquisition of the technology could be the play. Or maybe
white labelling it to various retail websites.</p>]]>
    </content>
  </entry>

  <entry>
    <id>tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3577-comment:29979</id>
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    <title>Comment from Theo Tonca on 2007-03-09</title>
    <author>
        <name>Theo Tonca</name>
        <uri>http://esylife.wordpress.com</uri>
    </author>
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://esylife.wordpress.com">
        <![CDATA[<p>The dots are a little confusing. But my hats off to them for actually innovating and bringing something new to the table, that's what i like to see.</p>]]>
    </content>
    <published>2007-03-09T08:36:54Z</published>
  </entry>

  <entry>
    <id>tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3577-comment:29980</id>
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    <title>Comment from Ben Straley on 2007-03-09</title>
    <author>
        <name>Ben Straley</name>
        <uri>http://springcreekgroup.blogspot.com</uri>
    </author>
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://springcreekgroup.blogspot.com">
        <![CDATA[<p>Thanks for pointing our attention to this.  ShoppingPath's definitely delivered an innovative presentation of shopping info and a doo-dad that's fun to play with.</p>

<p>In addition to ShoppingPath, there are other sites out there, Mpire comes to mind, that are also doing innovative things with aggregated price and product information.  The question remains how do/will these new and different approaches to shopping comparison lift click-through and conversion rates thereby displacing the dominant players in the comparison shopping space (shopping.com etc.)?  Not saying they won't, just wondering...</p>]]>
    </content>
    <published>2007-03-09T09:17:22Z</published>
  </entry>

  <entry>
    <id>tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3577-comment:29981</id>
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    <title>Comment from Yan on 2007-03-09</title>
    <author>
        <name>Yan</name>
        <uri>http://probargainhunter.com</uri>
    </author>
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="http://probargainhunter.com">
        <![CDATA[<p>This is really cool. Visual shopping has really kick started recently. Like.com, Mpire ShopWave, and now ShoppingPath! Who is next?</p>]]>
    </content>
    <published>2007-03-09T20:53:53Z</published>
  </entry>

  <entry>
    <id>tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3577-comment:29982</id>
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    <title>Comment from Rahul Dighe on 2007-03-11</title>
    <author>
        <name>Rahul Dighe</name>
        <uri></uri>
    </author>
    <content type="html" xml:lang="en" xml:base="">
        <![CDATA[<p>why does it need Flash 9?</p>]]>
    </content>
    <published>2007-03-11T13:36:04Z</published>
  </entry>

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