To compete with other major search engines and new comparison shopping sites, Microsoft changed its MSN Shopping site to a comparison shopping venue yesterday.
MSN boasts that the site features one of the largest collections of products on the Web, adding many new stores and including five times the items that it had before. The company needed to step up its comparison shopping game because of increased competition from Yahoo and other major players, as well as Become.com, which launched earlier this year. Become.com claims to provide research and information on more than 5 million products.
To help differentiate MSN Shopping from its competitors, the revamped site features RSS feeds.
“Now customers can sign up for RSS feeds to update them on the products they shop for the most, providing the opportunity to receive an update whenever price changes occur or a new product is added in the categories they selected,” according to a MSN statement.
MSN also refined the site's search capabilities, making it easier for its users to find products by brand, price, features, most popular and user rating. MSN Shopping visitors can rate and review products for other users. And, Microsoft is touting the site's gift-giving ideas with several “Gift Guides,” “Editor's Picks” and “Seasonal Gifts and Shops.”
MSN said consumers also can choose personalization features, such as “Recently Viewed” links from the last five products they viewed.
