South Africans are faced with a plethora of e-commerce sites with each promising to be better than the next, but often there is seemingly no differentiation between the sites.
However, Fingershopper is attempting to make the online shopping experience slightly different for consumers.
The site focuses on gifts and lifestyle products and features a reminder service as well as a loyalty programme, which is quite refreshing among local e-commerce sites.
Registration to the site is free. The registration form requires your contact details as well as a user password number. Confirmation is received on screen as soon as the consumer completes the form.
After registration, the consumer can set up to five reminder dates that cater for all those special occasions. The forgetful among us will appreciate the fact that an e-mail message will magically appear before an important date takes place.
The site is divided into various categories, including books, jewellery, gifts for him and gifts for her.
Although the categories are fairly self-explanatory, the lack of a search facility is a serious impediment to successfully navigating the site or when one is looking for a specific product.
While the site was only officially opened last week, one would expect more items to be listed under the various categories. At the moment there is only a few items with some reporting errors when linking to them.
These are all problems that one hopes will be corrected after the initial teething phase.
However, where the site really comes into its own is its loyalty programme.
According to the site, the Web Rands scheme is a way of giving consumers incentives for buying products from the site. When a consumer buys anything from the site, a certain percentage of that purchase will go towards his/her Web Rands fund.
The consumer can use these Web Rands when making a new purchase or when next visiting the site. Loyalty points are also awarded when the consumer registers friends or family.
The site promises complete security with the user having the option to fax, phone or enter credit card details over a secure Internet connection.
Fingershopper is definitely a site worth visiting but one must not expect too much at first. However, the site has definite room for expansion and improvement and is sure to be a hit with local consumers.
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