An online shopping directory is the "Yellow Pages-Style" web directory that specializes in e-commerce sites (which are websites that sell products or services). Inspired by the organizational structure used in traditional shopping center directories, online shopping directories organize ecommerce sites by categories and subcategories of goods sold. Without the constraints associated with shopping in physical malls (eg distance, location, hours of operation, access to transportation), online shopping directory serves to gather all e-commerce sites in one central location to help users decide where to shop online.
Video Shopping directory
Variations
Shopping directories are different from shopping comparison websites (also referred to as comparison shopping engines or shopping comparison sites). Although shopping comparison websites present product lists, by category, so users can compare prices on the same and/or similar products, shopping directories do not provide product, review or sales comparison. Examples of comparison shopping sites include: Google Shopping, Shopping.com, Shopzilla, TheFind.com
Shopping directories are different from the online market. The market sells products and/or services collected from various e-commerce sellers but is sold under the brand and infrastructure of the named market itself. Examples of online markets include: Amazon, Etsy, and Ebay.
A special form of shopping directory is coupons, daily transactions and/or promotional saving sites. Coupon sites provide niche web directories that center on transaction aggregation by listing only ecommerce sites that offer additional savings to users. Coupon sites are very popular among users but are often viewed negatively by merchants. Examples of coupon sites include: Retailmenot, Coupons.com, Groupon
Maps Shopping directory
History
Free directories like Open Directory Projects, often updated by volunteers, lose their lead and relevancy on the internet driven by the current search. Prior to the increasing popularity of Google search engine, shopping directories, such as those found on Yahoo! Directories or Shopping Directories Paypal, plays an important role in the habits and behavior of online shopping users. When Google gets dominance, users tailor their shopping search behavior to the new system. Most search engines take over roles that are traditionally filled by shopping directories.
Recently, critics have emerged above the limit of using search engines like Google and Bing for use in e-commerce cycles. The dominance of search engine structure in searches makes fierce competition among merchants as they struggle to position on Google search results pages.
The new methodology for shopping directories popping up when startup sees to bridge the gap between e-commerce and search. As the growth of e-commerce continues to grow, startup companies are reinvisioning the shopping directories to make it more relevant to the needs of emerging online shoppers.
Business model
- Filling a one-time and/or recurring cost recording fee to an ecommerce site
- Use of an affiliate program from a registered ecommerce site to earn commission by reference
- Ads in the directory itself, such as banner ads, contextual ads like Google AdSense or some form of sponsor listing (usually pay per click based)
- Combination above
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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