DiscountMore.com views comparison shopping sites like Shopping.com, PriceGrabber.com, ShopZilla.com, PriceRunner.com and Shopper.com essentially as search engines similar to Google and Yahoo-the difference being comparison shopping sites search for products and prices as opposed to news and web sites, the company says.

The problem online shoppers face, founder and CEO Bobby Kalili says, is "there are so many comparison shopping sites, who really has the lowest price?" The solution, he says, is to "search the top comparison shopping sites all at the same time and get the results all on one page."

When Gap.com re-launched with a new site design a year ago, it left out a site search function-a key tool of most apparel sites-until it develops one that supports the experience Gap offers in shopping for outfits, Gap.com general manager Will Hunsinger tells Internet Retailer.

"We don't want to put up something on our site just to have it," says Hunsinger, who is also a vice president of Gap Inc., No. 24 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites. "A lot of times we see interesting shopping features that come out into the marketplace, and retailers put them on their site whether or not they fit within the experience they're trying to craft on their site."

For a preview of what type of site search might eventually appear on Gap.com, Hunsinger says, shoppers can visit Gap Inc.'s new footwear retail site, Piperlime.com, which offers a pull-down menu within the search window to search by product category.

"When we launch site search on Gap.com, it will be similar to the site search on Piperlime," Hunsinger says. "We want it to go along with the overall customer experience."

Going against the traditional wisdom spoken by the philosophers from Fugazi, "You are not what you own," Zebo defines you by what you own. Your profile is filled with information about what gadgets you buy and which brands you dig. There's also some integrated MySpace and YouTube functionality. The idea is that you can check out what other people are buying, get product recommendations, go shopping, and potentially hang out with (date) other Zeboers who are into the same brands, bands and styles as you.

The site matches up buyers and sellers in a patent-pending marketplace in which interruptive advertising is replaced with added value for online shoppers. At least half of the advertising revenue generated from each sale is shared with the consumer. Because retailers compete to get to the top of search rankings by increasing the amount of cash back that will be provided to consumers, Jellyfish hopes to maximize savings for the consumer.

"The Jellyfish model really levels the playing field for retailers," said Adrienne Hartman, Internet Business Manager at ShoeMall.com. "With the transparent Jellyfish model, ShoeMall competes and the customer is more satisfied with her experience, knowing that she got the best price possible in the end."

The method is similar to major Pay Per Click search engines, but those engines keep all of the monetary value the advertising competition generates.

In-store pickup users tend to be men (52%), probably because men are more likely to buy consumer electronics online, and consumer electronics retailers are the most common retailers to offer the service, Jupiter said.

The study also found that in-store pickup drives more spending. Online buyers who use in-store pickup spend about 10% more than overall online buyers and 20% more than online buyers who do not use the service. That difference could be due to the fact that in-store pickup items tend to be larger items, with larger tickets, Jupiter said.

In-store pickup users also display cross-channel store affinity. In-store pickup users are more likely to be same-store multi-channel buyers and have higher expectations of cross-channel consistency when it comes to services like returns, according to the report.

Remember Kozmo? It was an immediate delivery ecommerce service that launched in 1998 (ahhh...1998...sigh). They'd deliver a packet of skittles, or a new Palm Pilot, to you within an hour. After burning through $280 million in venture capital, they called it quits in early 2001. Kozmo had plenty of demand, but its cost structure just didn't make sense: free delivery, which equaled low or negative margin sales.

Well, Robert Pazornik, CEO of new San Francisco-based LicketyShip, isn’t afraid to try the whole thing again, albeit with a significant twist. LicketyShip is now in private beta in select Bay area markets: San Jose, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Santa Clara, and Milpitas.

Local search engines, especially local shopping engines will continue to be important as most people still research online and then buy offline at local retailers. As Scott explained to me, "even people who go to online shopping comparison engines still buy offline. 98% of commerce is still done locally." Yokel is set up to solve this problem. Scott continued "there seems to be a void. Yokel answers the question, where do I buy [product x] at a physical retailer near me?"

Scott admitted that we're still very early in the shopping game. Yokel does not provide real-time local inventory information, but rather looks at ever increasing specificity questions. Consumers first want to know what stores carry a particular category of items, then a particular brand, and then a particular item. Consumers don't start out knowing they want a HLR5667W (specific Maytag dishwasher). This also reflects the approach Yokel took to aggregating local information.

How is ShopWiki different? Kevin Ryan, ShopWiki's CEO, tells us that, instead of relying on products feeds to populate its site, as some shopping sites do, ShopWiki crawls 300,000 sites. So ShopWiki comprehensiveness is one selling point.

The other is the abiity of users to write buying guides that anyone can edit or add to. This search for coffee makers turns up this buying guide. that people can add a comment to or edit.

"Hopefully, when you read the buying guide on ski boots or fondue pots, it'll help you figure out what you want,'' Ryan said.

Editors monitor the wikis to make sure the content is relevant, and to prevent companies from trying to hype their products.

Now rival CompUSA is taking a stab at the eBay drop-off market with a service it calls Easy to eBay. A rival of Circuit City’s, CompUSA, with 240 stores, has launched an eBay drop-off, auction listing and fulfillment service at stores in Las Vegas and nearby Henderson, Nev. CompUSA will compete with the 20 or so national franchise chains that offer stand-alone eBay drop-off services.

In addition to offering the usual menu of listing, packaging and delivery services for a cut of the final eBay selling price, CompUSA is offering something its rivals don’t: the option to receive credit toward purchases in CompUSA stores, in lieu of cash as payment for goods sold on eBay. “We’re in a unique position to simplify this for our customers and at the same time extend their buying power at local CompUSA stores,” says Larry Mondry, president and CEO.

Assuming the iPod is in good working condition, the company, which runs an online consignment service, will offer a guaranteed price for any machine and take the task of reselling it online.

"We're trying to create an alternative to buyer's remorse," said David Chen, CEO. "If you want that new iPod, then go for it."

In terms of reselling iPods, one stumbling block may be ongoing complaints by some users about problems with batteries and hard drives in the machines.

"Price conscious customers are some of the ones who investigate the most," Mulpuroo said. "If you think there's a good chance you'll be getting a lemon, I'm not sure you'd want to buy the product."

Products on the shelves of a Snappy Auctions store are only up for grabs to buyers in the world of online auctioneer eBay. Customers bring in their goods and Snappy sales staff manages the process from starting bid price to pay-out.

And Gordon's custom-made software is what makes the process a breeze. She says most locations can operate with fewer than two full-time employees. The system helps the salesperson determine the item's value based on the market demand and even the best day to kick off the bidding. In exchange, customers fork over between 15 and 35 percent of the sale, depending on the price of the item.

Gordon says this arrangement works because sellers don't "want to put up with all the hassles" of selling on eBay. When Gordon got the idea for Snappy Auctions, she says only 2 percent of registered eBay users were sellers. And buyers "are more likely to bid on our items than someone who hasn't sold much," she says.

If you got a gift card to a store that you'd never shop in, and you can't return it to the merchant, how about selling it or swapping it for another?
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Numerous websites allow you to buy, sell, or swap gift cards with someone else. You'll have to register with the site, and there's usually a small transaction fee.

Tomczyk's business has been challenged in other ways. In April 2002, he made the Snip program eBay-compatible. Soon after, eBay Germany prohibited the use of automated programs on its auction site, at one point suing a company that sold automated bidding software. A settlement was eventually reached and eBay revoked the ban. eBay has since acknowledged the existence of automated bid programs, but refers to them as "outbid" services in its help section.

Tomczyk has now set his sights on the U.S. market. "We currently have about 30,000 Snip users in the U.S.," Tomczyk said. "The potential for Snip in the U.S. is huge because of the popularity of eBay in that market. It dwarfs the online auctions of Europe."

The growth of Snip from a hobby to a worldwide enterprise has consumed much of Tomczyk's life. Last September, after seven years of study, he achieved his Bachelor's degree. He is now pursuing a Master's degree in Computer Science.

Why would people want to pay someone else a commission to sell their old junk on eBay when they can do it themselves for free?

Sully said most people don't because it's too complicated and time-consuming. Only 8 percent of eBay users actually auction their stuff online, he said. Using an expert auctioneer helps people increase their chances of getting a sale and a higher auction price. Also, bidders are confident when they see the company's logo guaranteeing the product.

"Thirty percent of what is always the question," he said. "Is it worth your time to save $30 or not? People don't have to know anything, they don't have to do anything -- they just have to bring it in."

"Right now we are using Pricegrabber, but we have also increased the number of merchants we're working with directly. The long term the strategy is to explore and investigate ways to bring in relevant offers to consumers. We are launching with Pricegrabber because of the number of merchants they have and the ratings they have. Our relationship gives us a jumpstart in terms of ratings and reviews so we aren't starting from scratch. We are also taking feeds directly from our own merchants."