Sell your stuff, 3 widgets to do it
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July 30th 2007 |
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E-commerce, and in specific, E-store widgets have been one of the commercial high hopes for many,from vendors who want a easy way to sell their stuff, to publishers who want easier options to gain some extra cash from commissions and even to users, who want hassle free ways to buy while they do their regular blog or social network surfing, because unless you haven`t noticed, it is quite the rage since last year.
And here 3 options for such easier ways of selling something in a widget:
Blinkcart
Blinkcart is a fairly new service that truly relies in the widget they are offering as their main focus, the widget can be posted to either social networks like myspace or blogging platforms, the blinkcart widget is really more of a gateway widget in the form of a “add to cart” button, like the ones used by paypal in the merchant options, what is the main difference then?. well, it is easier to set and you can pretty much place it anywhere as the examples in the blinkcart page shows. i named it a gateway solution because the e-store service is not yet entirely complete. you can easily build your store with it, place the button along the pic of the product you are looking to sell, then the customer can click the “add to cart” and a lightbox will appear without leaving the page to add the product, with the option to continue shopping, that will close the lightbox so the customer can continue shopping, but once the checkout process is done, a new tab or window will open taking it away from your page into a landing page to end the buy, that page offers logo customization. however i don`t agree with it, simply because, how hard it was to do it inside the lightbox in the first place?.
Another reason for me to be nitpicky even if the service seems to work flawlessly, is because it goes from 12$ to 59$ a month, with no free option at all. since i do know paypal merchant services very well, i can`t really figure out besides some minor conveniences how is this better than paypal?, paypal will charge you by transaction, but you only pay if you sell. in blinkcart case, you still need to pay 12-59 dlls a month, no matter what, without knowing what other terms could apply next.
Blinkcart allows you to sell your stuff, and get commission to sell products you choose too.
So, in resume, blinkcart needs to be even more convenient, more transparent and offer more widget options to really have something going on.
they do have proper demos, you can check the one for blogger here
Rightcart
Rightcart was pretty much the first venture to go for the e-store widget all the way, the promise is simple,they give you “add to cart” buttons for you to put in your blog or website and they also provide a end to it all same page e-commerce transaction without your visitors having to leave your page during the whole process, and it does deliver such a promise, pretty much the only inconsistencies exist in the service itself, not the widget that is pretty much fantastic. the widget is given in the sole form of a full sidebar widget, something that eliminates any chance from getting any action in most social networks.
It allows you to sell your stuff, and to sell others by commission, the only problem it has is that sometimes it fails to do the transaction, sometimes the buttons are quite slow to respond and it charges a commission that can be actually more expensive that using paypal Merchant solution.
But they only charge you by transaction, there is no monthly fee and as i said, it is a integrated solution.
So, the only thing rightcart needs to get better is improve the reliability, more size/settings options for the widget so it has a chance to take advantage of the social network market, and maybe a “start small” option so it only expands when someone clicks a “add to cart” button.
Everything you need to know or see, is at the rightcart homepage, i would give the blog url too but at the moment of writing this, the rightcart blog seems down.
Flogd
Flogd is the newest entry in this niche of e-stores in a widget space and they have come up with quite a different approach from the other options presented before, and that is because the widget is in flash, something not really rare for all kinds of widgets, since it is the easiest form to spread a widget around anywhere, and that is what they are going for with this widget, the entire action of your browsing and purchase happens inside the widget like with Rightcart, no need to go elsewhere with it, and it can be placed around in any social network and blog given is done in flash.
And there is something more to it that can make it extremely tempting, it is free to use.
The only thing that people seems worry about is the security and how trusted the company can be with the data. well, some of those concerns are resolved Here and as one of the founders says in that post it is all about of perception and the fear of new. so i may try this flogd widget myself down the line once it has evolved a little more.
One of the things needed before it can gain adoption is also to offer a sidebar widget version of it and even the option to get fully customized versions for full branding convenience.
You can see a video of how to create your widget, you can see the screencast in Flogd homepage and a sample of the actual functional widget.
And here you got them , these are the very best examples of e-stores in a widget you will find so far, from the early competitor to the new novel flash based and daring try.
Any of them can do the job of providing you a easy e-commerce experience, but one thing that is sure, is that they are meant for the casual and medium sellers for the most part. since a full fledged web 2.0 e-store system is yet to come, it is needed some kid of special layout and a easy to add system like the one in these widgets. however, i believe that the real innovation for a full e-store solution in a widget is entirely possible to do, just not in the way they have been done so far, i think that such widgets will arrive thanks to Silverlight, AIR and even Javafx. but in the meantime the best you can do if you are interested in easy e-commerce is to check the options listed here.
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Thank you for bringing such nice posts. Your blog is always fascinating to read.
Comment by Bashe — 07-30-07 @ 6:28 am
This is killer! I just wish I had something to sell
Comment by Derek Anderson — 07-30-07 @ 8:52 am
Thanks Avatar…some good stuff to be aware of and keep tabs on.
Comment by Ann Bernard — 07-30-07 @ 9:53 am
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Pingback by Sell your stuff, 3 widgets to do it (Learn About Network Marketing Opportunities Blog) — 07-30-07 @ 11:15 am
Than you Bashe, Ann (howdy) and Derek..
Still 8 more of these posts to come in the near future.
Comment by Avatar — 07-30-07 @ 7:34 pm
These are great and all, but I would check out Cartfly.com for simplicity sake and ease. Plus, it’s built in Flex…It’s sick!!
Comment by chris — 08-12-07 @ 3:35 am
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