Social Shopping, Product Sharing & Recommendations

A large part of selling Online and getting others to know about your product line is by word of mouth and using peer to peer networks. Having others share or recommend the products you offer is a great way to increase sales, increase brand awareness and inform others about the location of your storefront. The sites listed below are ideal for merchants who want to leverage and use social shopping networks, product sharing communities and merchant recommendation sites to help spread the word about the items they offer. Social shopping sites are quickly becoming one of the best places to include your featured items, hot specials, new products or those products that always sell well no matter what site you list them on. One you have listed with comparison shopping sites and deal finders, consider adding your products or store items to these social shopping communities and product recommendation sites.

StyleHive (Free) - A social shopping network that allows users to share and recommend favorite items, products or special deals with other members or Online shoppers. Merchants can post items or products from their catalog to be discovered, shared and reviewed by members in the community. Free to use, free to sign up and list products.

ThisNext (Free) - Social shopping engine for users to discover, share and recommend great products from many Online stores. Merchants can create lists of related products or upload single products to be reviewed by other community members and shared with social shoppers interested in the products they offer. Free to sign up, free to list and use.

Crowdstorm (Free) - Allows social shoppers to find products to purchase by measuring the social buzz around those items and see recommendations from friends and other trusted community members. Merchants can add products, discuss items others have added or create buzz around products offered in their catalog. Free to sign up, free to list and use.

FavoriteThingz (Free) - Social shopping community allows users to create badges, add brands, items and other products for other community members and friends to see and vote on. Community members can earn money when users click on favorite items and make purchases from a badge. Merchants can create a badge with items from their catalog to be found and discovered within the community or shared. Free to sign up, list and use. Members can make money from purchases.

Jellyfish.com (CPO) - Social shopping network that allows users to find and share products from a variety of Online stores. Shoppers who make purchases are eligible for small discounts on items they find in the community, called cash back buying. Merchants can list products sold through their Online shops for community members to discover, share and buy. Cost Per Order (CPO) pricing model, free to use, free to sign up. Wists (Free) - Social shopping network, community scrapbook and product wishlist engine. Allows users to save their favorite items and products as they surf the Net using a browser bookmarks and site buttons. Merchants can create list of products from their catalog to be discovered and added to other members lists. Free to sign up, free to list and use.

Shoppero (Free) - Social shoppping network that allows users to recommend, discover and make money from products listed within the community. Merchants can list items, write articles and get additional exposure from other members writing reviews, ratings and posting their items to their own blogs and other sites to make money from. Free to sign up, list and use.

StyleFeeder (Free) - Social shopping network that allows users to find, share and keep track of hot shopping items Online using visual bookmarks. Merchants can add items to lists, their site and bookmark favorite items straight from their browsers to be found by community members. Free to sign up, use and list products.

Shelfari (Free) - Social shopping for authors, books and other written publications. Allows users to create virtual book shelves to share, read and explore with other friends in the community. Merchants can create their own book lists to be discovered in network and discussed among users. Free to sign up, list and use. For books and written publications only.

Recommendr (Free) - Social shopping community for products and people. Allows users to find and recommend great products, keep track of items, create a network of shoppping friends and share opinions about the items they like. Merchants can add items from their Online catalog for other community members to find and recommend. Free to sign up, free to list and use.

Kaboodle (Free) - Social shopping community that allows users to discover new products or items, recommend stores and create simple shopping or wish lists. Merchants can list items from their Online store to be included within the community and get discovered by other members. Free to sign up, list and use.