Just because Christmas is almost here doesn’t mean the shopping season is coming to a close. There’s always last-minute gifts that might not arrive in time, but a nice “I.O.U.” card under the tree is always appreciated. And what about upcoming birthdays? And you’ll need a new outfit for that New Year’s party. Not to mention some winter boots, and new calendars, and Valentine’s Day isn’t too far away…

Whether you shop mainly for gifts or for yourself, there’s an awesome new trend in online shopping that can help you get the best products and deals. It’s called social shopping, and here’s how it works.

People have always swapped stories, recommendations, and informal reviews of products they’ve bought – it’s only natural to want to share your favorite and least favorite shopping experiences. Recently, many websites have caught on to this, and have integrated shopping and social networking into one all-inclusive package. The same site allows you to shop, learn about products, and communicate with people whose products or reviews interest you. It couldn’t be any easier to make sure that you’re spending the smallest amount of money on the highest quality product available. And after all, isn’t that what we all want?

Here are some of the sites you should definitely hit up if you’re thinking of dipping your toe in the social shopping pool.

Amazon.com
But wait, you say. I already shop at Amazon all the time! Millions of people do, but only a fraction of them are taking advantage of some of the social shopping opportunities on the site.

If you’ve ever poked around in the profile editing features on Amazon, you might have noticed that you have the opportunity to create lists of products. There’s the obvious stuff, like wedding and baby registries and wish lists, but there are also Listmania! Lists and So You’d Like to…Guides, which open up whole new opportunities for discovering interesting products and people.

With Listmania!, you can create any type of product list you want. Best Romantic Comedy DVDs, Most Delicious Teas, My Favorite Types of Socks – whatever. A single list can include up to forty products, and is automatically shared with the Amazon universe. By browsing other people’s lists who share your interests, you can discover some of the best (or worst) of the products that Amazon offers.

So You’d Like to… guides are self-explanatory, and range from “So You’d Like to Become a Sausage Gourmand” to “So You’d Like to Watch Every Vampire Movie.” Again, customers can compile the products they believe are most useful in the pursuit of their particular brand of enlightenment.

With both types of lists, you can friend users or add them to your list of “interesting people,” both viewable on your public Amazon profile. And let’s not forget old-fashioned product reviews – once you’ve found someone who shares your tastes, you can find out what they loved and hated. If, say, you’re a big fan of Stephen King’s books but haven’t checked out many of the movie adaptations, you can seek out another King fan and find out which movies they liked best. Though Amazon doesn’t bill itself as a social shopping resource, it doesn’t get any better than this.

Etsy
Social networks are already abuzz with news of Etsy, which has become what eBay used to be in the good old days. Featuring millions of handcrafted, vintage, and completely unique products, Etsy’s social networking capabilities are just icing on an already delicious cake.

Sellers on Etsy, rather than being anonymous (and mildly suspicious) storefronts, are as interesting as the products they create and sell. The big “Community” tab on the top of the front page should clue you in to what they offer – forums, chat, virtual workshops and classes – the site describes the community as the “heart of Etsy.” Its members can even unite into shared-interest teams, which are “groups of organized Etsy members who network, share skills, and promote their shops and Etsy together.” A team might be based on a location, a crafting medium, or any other interest.

Meanwhile, in the Treasury, members can share some of their favorite products with others. If you’re sick of prefabricated, anonymous gifts, Etsy is your ideal one-stop shopping experience.

Kaboodle
Rather than a site that manufactures or sells products and has a social shopping spin, Kaboodle is a social networking site that focuses on shopping. Its advantage is that it can features products from any website, anywhere – not to mention that its lack of ties to any particular site allows it to point you towards the best deal for your chosen product. There is also a network of blogs where people can share their thoughts about their purchases, good or bad.

The best part? As a newlywed, I deeply appreciate their wedding registry feature. You can add products from…ANY WEBSITE. Think of the possibilities! No longer are you limited to the inventory of a single site, or forced to create multiple registries to cover all your bases. The possibilities are endless!

Wishpot
Similar to Kaboodle, Wishpot is a networking site with an emphasis on shopping. Anyone can add products from their favorite sites, add reviews, recommendations, and ratings, and create all kinds of wish lists. (They also allow you to import wishlists from other common sites, such as Amazon.com.)

eBay
While it might not be like Etsy anymore, eBay is still a highly valuable shopping resource – and they’ve jumped on the social bandwagon as well. With their Neighborhoods, they are encouraging users to network and share their favorite products. Some of the most popular groups are Coffee Lovers, Dogs, Jewelry, Harley Davidson, Cats, Designer Purses, and Apple iPhone. While many of the Neighborhoods are overrun with people spamming their auctions and get-rich-quick schemes, eBay’s got their heart in the right place and this venture should be supported. The more legitimate people join up in Neighborhoods, the quicker spammers can be kicked out.

Happy shopping, everybody. Maybe you can even get a head start on next Christmas.

And for those of you who write for, blog, or even own and develop sites like this, Kwanzoo is working on some exciting new quiz widgets that will drive user engagement and keep people coming back. Right now, our trivia banks are chock full of movie, T.V., celebrity, and sports trivia, like in this widget:

However, we’ll soon be unveiling brand new personality quizzes that will help direct users towards products that might interest them. You’ll be able to grab widgets similar to the one above, but serving questions that will help to organize your users into useful demographic groups (while they’re having fun at the same time). Keep an eye out, and contact us for more information on what we can do for you.

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