Where to buy
… online that is. Yes, we have looked at a few online shopping sites over the last couple of months, but today we are looking at what is essentially the mall. Well, first of all, we need to understand that all a mall is - it is nothing more than a huge building with a lot of smaller shops inside. So my analogy of an online shopping directory being a mall is right on the mark - it is just a “building” with lots of “shops” in it - regardless of the fact that it is all virtual.
So, what does an electronic commerce mall do? Simple, just like a regular mall it puts Internet stores in the same place so you can wander thru them all - just like walking thru a regular mall. Just like a regular mall it has shops for finding various items - such as Books, health and Pets. You can wander around each category and then visit each store by selecting a category from the main page. You can even put your own store into this “mall” by following the submission guidelines.
As we have discovered, nearly all directories have multiple submission categories - Elib has a basic submission which is free and also a couple of paid options for inclusion. The site itself is nothing special to look at, but it offers something that I have not seen in a directory before - an additional 2 languages being Dutch and Italian. By having a website that is in multiple languages you have the chance to cater for and capture a larger number of potential visitors. Whilst I cannot read either of the additional languages to verify if it is all the same, the layout looks very similar and I can guess the occasional word. Next time I build a website I am definately going to look into how easy or difficult it is to add another language. I think this is a great Idea.
Visit www.elib.org
