Online Shopping Lets Consumers Save Time And Money (NAPS)—In the evolution of ter, shoppers have one-click access to deals on products that have shopping on the Internet, going from purchasing directly from to using one online starting point—or portal—is like making been discounted by 20 percent or more. The new enhancements to MSNeShop, according to Peters, store to using a mall or superstore including built-in security—to provide an even better online “We want to make shopping online an easier, more integrated MSNYellow Pages, for example, helps consumers find local many Internet-based merchants the transition from hunting and purchasing products store-by- dovetail with existing features— to shop in oneplace. shopping experience. experience,” said Sasha Peters, retailers that sell the items they find on MSN eShop. Seasonal gift product planner for MSN eShop, the MSNstarting point for online shopping. Peters said that in developing and refining the por- tal, Microsoft collected extensive data from consumers about what they want from an online shopping experience. With that data, Peters said, MSN eShop continues to develop new features that offer shoppers definite advantages over the mer- chant-by-merchant approach. Tools such as Power Search guides let shoppers know what’s Online shopping “portals” provide one-stop convenience andother benefits. hot and what’s not as holidays and seasons come andgo. Someof the biggest advantages ucts. Users can compare particu- to shopping on MSN eShop, Peters said, are its interactive features. expert reviews of products. Consumer reviews from epinions.com holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions, along read the experiences their fellow ideas, are sent to shoppers. My lar features, size, prices and also give users the opportunity to shoppers have had with a product. The integrated Buyer’s Guide E-mail reminders of upcoming with suggestions for unique gift Saved Items—an online registry and Quick Search let users search all the merchants on eShop at eliminates the need to go to multi- of sorts—creates a list of items shoppers would like to receive and brands, price ranges and other information, product finders and reviews, buyers can quickly and “On MSN eShop, shoppers can shop at great stores for the prod- then e-mails thelist to friends and family as a Web page. once by defining the categories, ple Websites for different people on a gift list. Using the guide’s product features for the products they are interested in purchasing. easily decide what to purchase for ucts they want at great prices,” Peters said. and at MSN eShop’s Bargain Cen- site at http://eshop.msn.com. Side-by-side comparison guides allow for easy analysis of the pros andconsofspecific prod- family membersorfriends. e Everyone loves a bargain, To find out more, visit the Web
