Write to Yourself in the Future!

I came across this website, Futue Me.org, which I think has come up with a very unique idea! It lets you write an email to yourself today which it will deliver to you in the future at a date determined by you.

For example, you can write an email today and set it to be delivered to you in 5 years, 10 years or 20 years or more. That will be nice; you will get an idea of what you were thinking today sometime in the future.

As per the statistic on the site, 178745 emails have been written as of today. I read some quite interesting ones which are in the public domain. Check it out at http://www.futureme.org/ and have fun!

Survey Says Interest in MP3 Players Grows

According to the Ipsos Insight survey, more than one in five U.S. consumers, or 22 percent, say they plan to buy an MP3 player in the next three months, up from 13 percent from last year.

If you are looking for an MP3 Player, check out our Electronics Department

Online Flight Bookings about 400 Million a Year

Just came across the following news release:

Geneva: About 400 million passengers around the world are now booking their flights over the Internet each year, a decade after the technology was first inaugurated, a technology firm owned by airlines said Monday.

The airline industry is now saving an estimated $1.2 billion a year by not having to pay flight reservation fees for the tickets sold online, said SITA Information Networking Computing.

The company said British Midland Airways, now known as bmi, started using its first online booking engine in December 1995. The system allowed passengers to search for low fares across a date range, book two-for-one companion fares and pay online.

But usage was limited because only 16 million people had any experience of using the Internet at the time.

"The first booking was made by a passenger traveling from Paris to London," a company statement said, but it didn't identify the individual.

SITA noted that the technology had extended beyond airlines. Among non-airline users is Amtrak, the U.S. passenger train service, "which recorded a new Internet booking record in the run-up to Thanksgiving," it said.

Amtrak received 17,269 bookings on Nov. 21, the first time in the history of Amtrak.com that daily bookings exceeded the 17,000 mark.

Additions to Our Online Shopping Mall

I made the following additions to the Mall:
1. Added Google Search so you can search either our Mall or the web using Google.
2. Added a new vendor, Vistaprint, to Our Office Supplies department. For a limited time, they are offering 250 Free business or personal cards. I think it's a good deal, check it out.

Holiday Online Shopping Tips

Online shopping is becoming more and more popular with consumers citing convenience, variety and bargains as the main reasons for shopping online. The following tips may help you save some time and money this Holiday Season.

1. Many vendors are offering online shopping incentives like Free shipping offers, Online Discount coupons and clearance sales. You can save some money by taking advantage of such offers. Most of the time, these deals are available only for online shopping. This is so because vendors have a lower overhead selling online and can afford to pass along these savings to online shoppers.

2. Many, but not all, stores offer gift wrapping services for a small extra charge. If you are strapped for time, it may be a good idea to use such a service.

3. You probably know that just because you have added an item to the shopping cart doesn't mean you have to buy it. You will have the option to remove any item from your cart at checkout

4. A bit of planning will help you a lot. Make a list of all the items you plan to buy at one store and buy those items together at one time. This will minimize your shipping charges, if any, because the store can ship all your items at the same time.

5. Shop early to avoid disappoinment. Online stores can and do run out of stock especially during the holiday shopping season.

6. Shop at a time that is most convenient to you, online shopping stores are open 24/7.

7. The last and the most important: Comparison shop! It only takes a few clicks to check out a few stores selling similar or same item and price difference may be quite a bit.

Feel free to post your comments, suggestions or ideas by clicking on the Comments below. You can also email your friends a link to this post by clicking on the Envelope below. Enjoy your Online Shopping!

Online Shopping: What Happened on Cyber Monday?

Free shipping and enticing discounts appeared to have paid off for online merchants, who enjoyed a robust Monday, the official start of the holiday shopping season for electronic retailers. According to comScore Networks, non-travel spending rose 26 percent to $485 million on the Monday after Thanksgiving. Marketers have dubbed the day Cyber Monday as droves of consumers return to the office and use their high-speed Internet connections to click and shop. Analysts said enticements like free shipping and discounts are drawing more people to online shopping.