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Internet Malls

Internet Malls

There are three types of Internet malls. There is a traditional full-service mall, which is self-contained, a directory-based mall, which is basically a listing of storefronts by category, and a hybrid of the two. Many search engines offer directory-type malls where all the listed shopping sites are arranged in a single directory. Sometimes they are product searchable, sometimes not.

The Internet Mall, www.internet-mall.com (part of the shopnow.com network), is one of the largest cybermalls on the World Wide Web. The Internet Mall features more than 20,000 merchants and storefronts and offers a complete range of products and services to the consumer. The Internet Mall offers one-stop business development tools, much like the storefront generators mentioned above. From domain registration to building your storefront to helping generate more customers and advertising your business, the Internet Mall’s business development center is a great resource for getting started online.

Another large cybermall is the iMall. Featuring more than 1,600 storefronts, iMall offers a variety of options for site building, adding e-commerce capabilities to your current Web site, and getting a merchant listing of their mall directory. One of the most intriguing features is “bolting” e-commerce capabilities on to an existing Web site that is not enabled for commerce. If you have an online brochure but no ordering capability, iMall will help you attach shopping cart technology, start up a merchant account, and help with generating sales reports. They also offer database services for developing your catalog and product promotion within iMall, Stuffmall.com, and Excitestores.

The Awesome Mall of the Internet is a hybrid of a full-service mall and a directory, offering both full-service storefront hosting and advertising and directory options. The Awesome Mall of the Internet is a more entertaining mall, offering news and information and chat features in addition to a wide variety of online stores. The Awesome Mall offers hosting and site generation services through a Web site development company at a la carte pricing. Before generating your site with them, you should check their pricing against Web development costs in your area.

The Awesome Mall also offers you the ability to list your business in its directory. You can list under a few different categories for as low as $17 per month. (To get the lowest rate you have to sign on for a full year.) They also offer an advertisement option: Generate a display ad or a banner and you can choose where your ad will appear in the mall and how often. The Awesome Mall of the Internet offers great results tracking for your advertisements.

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* Source - Everything Online Business Book
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