Best e-commerce sites
- Luke Telford
- 23 February 2010
Photo credit: cienpies, sxc.hu
Big Brown Box
A relative newcomer, Big Brown Box
may have the
backing to bring consumer electronics to the populace at competitive prices, but the real success is the ever changing face of the site. It's always easily navigable, and packed with amazing deals on electronics. Moreover, they are awesome at
addressing and fixing customer complaints-they really go the extra mile, which is something that can't be said of many megalith electronics stores. All this, and free delivery. Tough to beat.
Chaos
Chaos has been around for a while: the site started in 1995, making it
one of the first independent online retailers in the world. And, yep, it's Australian, based in Melbourne. Their catalogue boasts over 1 million titles on cd, dvd and in books. They're competitively priced and operate a genuinely tantalising email
marketing campaign-both of which are tall orders given the current relationship between the internet and the music industry. The site is owned and operated by Stomp, a music distribution company, and although this weights their catalogue slightly,
there is no significant bias, rendering Chaos an invaluable player in the worlds of both Australian independent music and online retail.
The Grand Social
While on the topic of independent retail, we can't ignore The Grand Social. This is a site dedicated to providing a marketplace for designers from right across Australia and New Zealand. This means a deviantART style community portal that facilitates transactions directly between designers and
customers. The concept of the site is the real winner-a one stop shop for quality names in independent Australian fashion design-but the enormously attractive site design and elegantly functional architecture shouldn't be ignored. Neither should the
GS blog: it's updated regularly with featured clothing items, featured fashion events, and plentiful links to other top-notch fashion blogs. Every e-commerce site should have a blog that is as personable, simple and well-maintained as this one.
Fratelli Fresh
Fratelli Fresh have been
around since 1974. Their website has only been around since 2007, but it has set the benchmark for online grocery e-commerce in Sydney. The site offers a simple template for ordering from a select array of quality fresh fruit and vegetables, pastas
, soups and sweets-all to your door for the reasonable additional delivery fee of $10. The site also features a number of recipes written by local chefs, and is currently advertising Fratelli cooking classes for March 2010 (February was booked out
long ago). Forward thinking e-commerce, to say the least. #
