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Last December, the Internet shopping mall Auction started a service called Pumbl that allows users to share information about products that are sold on Auction. The site has grown quickly as comments piled up in different blogs devoted to various products.
To find information on many products, you don't have to waste time searching through the Internet -- you can find much of what you need just by browsing through the Pumbl's blogs. People with similar interests swap information on Pumbl, and sometimes even band together to make joint purchases.
The nature of the site also tends to filter out bogus claims -- for example, if a manufacturer pretending to be a consumer writes an exaggerated post about his product, other writers will point them out and eventually that blog will die out. Pumbl is a big hit -- about 40,000 blogs were created in just three months since it opened.
Kim So-yeon is a Pumbl user who buys diapers from the site. "I share childcare information and buy products with other mothers through a blog I visit frequently. Since the information comes from consumers like me, it's more trustworthy." The sharing of product information has transferred tremendous power to consumers, and it's changing the way things are bought and sold.
¡ß Consumers producing and sharing shopping information
Next month GSeStore plans to launch a new service called Itsme. The service will allow consumers to share shopping tips and information on various products and make recommendations on them. For example, if a shopper writes that he wants to buy a pair of jeans, another person who happens to know about jeans can supply information and recommend some brands. Algosa is another shopping information sharing site that opened last month, letting customers swap all kinds of shopping tips.
¡ß Social shopping, a new distribution trend
In America where the distribution system is more advanced information from consumers has already begun to have a serious effect on the market. Internet shopping sites like ThisNext and StyleHive are becoming like online bazaars as they allow consumers to find products and share their ideas about them.
The phenomenon has been dubbed "social shopping" because it allows the power of a social network to distribute information, with customers now shopping according to the public opinion that is formed through these networks.
Distributors are even encouraging consumers to participate by making homemade video clips, or user-created content (UCC). Online shopping mall GS-eshop now has a corner called "UCC product comments" that hosts these informative clips.
An official from Auction said, "Social shopping is a combination of social networking and shopping, the two most basic activities on the Internet. Consumers are doing the work distributors and merchandisers used to do by themselves."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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