Yahoo’s Shopping group yesterday announced a new set of commerce features which are designed to bring social elements to shopping online. The new features, some of which are in beta now, are highlighted by offerings called The Shoposphere and Pick Lists.
Pick Lists, said Yahoo, “allows users to save their favorites from any of the 90 million product offers available via Yahoo Shopping onto one personalized page. Shoppers can create and assign a theme to as many lists as they wish, and similar to a blog, users can personalize their pages with a title, a note describing the particular list, their name, photo and a listing of other self-generated Pick Lists, plus reviews, thoughts or descriptions of each product. Consumers can also comment on others’ Pick Lists, subscribe to and view Pick Lists via RSS, and also see how another user may be connected to them through the Yahoo 360 community service.â€
The Shoposphere builds on Pick Lists by aggregating and sorting “Pick Lists created by the Yahoo Shopping community, facilitating a social online shopping experience by allowing users to search, view, read about and purchase specific products recommended by people they know and trust, experts they’ve never met, and everyone in between.â€
The other features and enhancements announced in conjunction with Pick Lists and The Shoposphere include a new search interface, online coupons and open web service APIs.
“Our goal is to make online shopping better and easier by leveraging emerging technologies and the vibrant Yahoo! community, allowing shoppers to create, build upon and share their areas of interest and expertise,” said Rob Solomon, vice president, Yahoo! Shopping Group. “We’re excited to deliver a more personalized, entertaining and informative online shopping and search experience by pioneering innovative products that usher in an era of social commerce.”