Click on the Flowgram slideshow above to play. I did a quick comparison of popular shopping-related social networking services, then zero in on Singapore-based Shoplette.com and their Google map integration.
I believe that Singapore has a unique shopping experience where being geographically small means that individuals would rather buying from brick & mortar stores than to purchase online (i.e. wasting time and money shipping). The location-awareness of items shared on Shoplette adds a touch of cultural relevance to Singapore users.
As seen in my flowgram above (first time user), I gave two suggestions for the beta service:
- Bring mapping to the forefront of the service. Have it display items on a map, rather than show the map within item pages.
- Focus on Singapore users. Localize the service to a point where specific needs are met (e.g. bounding the map entries to Singapore, recommend popular places to shop)
Since I’m trying out both services, let me know what you think of Shoplette.com, as well as Flowgram which I’ve used for this overview.
