Etsy
Etsy is just about a year old now, but they continue to impress me and in my book are quietly creating a new paradigm for online shopping.
I happen to be a business shopper: I know what I’m looking for, how much I want to pay, head into a store and aim directly for it. My wife, on the other hand, has a much more organic method of shopping and sort of lets things speak to her. A lot of her experience involves scanning, touching and aisle hopping.
Etsy has come up with some absolutely incredible user interface methods for shopping their store that give you a much more real world experience. Options are big when it comes to online shopping, and they’ve got lots: categories, colors, time, materials. Shopping via the sampler gives you the feeling of walking through a store and just scanning what catches your eye. Shopping by color gives you the option to drill down to the colors you like. Check out the time machine and see what’s new since the last time you dropped by.
Often times things like this can come off as gimmicks, but Etsy pulls it off and I find that I prefer to shop via these interfaces than just sorting through categories. Add on the fact that you can become a seller, and that you’re supporting a community of artists and I continue to be inspired.
Happy Birthday Etsy!
