Time to don my suit of armour and set forth on another quixotic adventure. A while back, I introduced you to my Grazr shopping directory, boldly proclaiming it as Ireland's newest shopping directory. Well, things have progressed since then and the directory is starting to develop nicely. I keep reminding you about it, I know. Apologies for that.
Anyway, now, I have decided to take the experiment a step further. Not content with finding you the best websites, I've decided to save you some time in searching for the most interesting products on those websites as well , by starting a new shopping blog called Siopa Eilecourtesy of hosting365's excellent free blog plan. Siopa Eile is Irish for "other shopping" or alternative shopping if you like. As the name suggests,this blog will be focused on all sorts of unique products, which you will not normally find on conventional shopping portals . There is a heavy emphasis on artisan products and it will cover everything from Arts and Crafts to Furniture to Fashion to Artisan food to unique services to things I haven't thought of yet. I will also include popular gadgets and use price comparison engines to find you the lowest prices. As I have shown, it's possible to save a lot of money by using price comparison engines. Ethical and eco friendly products will also feature prominently.
I know I'm trying to cover a lot there and I'm not sure if this formula will work, but the great thing about being a one man band is, that I can always change my mind and go another direction, if need be. So for the time being, its going to be that way.
To my eyes, the Internet has progressed in 2 phases. The first phase can be characterised as an effort to replicate structures and conventions of the real world. So, you get online shops trying to mirror closely the model thats apparent in the real world. Some online retailers have realised, though, that the online world offers more possibilities then the real world. Amazon has discovered the potential of long tail selling. It's possible now to make money selling products, for which there is a weak demand, due to the low cost of storage made possible by large warehouses. Conventional shopping malls, on the other hand,cannot economically sell these products, because of the high price of retail storage space. They are only interested in high selling products, which they can offload quickly.
Unfortunately, the more conservative approach to online shopping is evident in Ireland, with the most prominent Shopping portal, choosing simply to act as a gateway to conventional shopping stores. Naturally, they do offer more choice then your regular shopping mall, but not a whole lot more, I believe.
Siopa Eile on the other hand will give you access to a real choice of quality and unique products.
I am not against products that are mass produced. I like my mp3 player too much for that, but I do think we need to shift the balance towards more life enhancing and cultivated products. Culture, good food, ethical consumerism are all things that I want to promote.
Who will be interested in this blog? I guess, anybody who shares my (gulp!) taste. Anybody who's looking for something different. Thinking about buying something special for someone, I'm hoping you will head straight for 'SiopaEile' when you do. Can I hypnotise people through my blog?...just relax and think 'siopaeile', 'siopaeile, 'siopa.... Embed it in your subconscous and make sure to bookmark or add it to your feed reader :)
Thanks to James Corbett for introducing me to the Grazr Widget and OPML editor. This has really helped me in compiling my shopping directory which is a great resource for Siopa Eile. To any blogger out there.... a link back would be much appreciated. Hope you find the blog interesting.
And remember to check out hosting365's excellent free blog plan
technorati tags:artisan, jewellery, art, shopping, online shopping Ireland, unique, furniture, gadgets, crafts, irish, shopping portal, christmas shopping, christmas
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