Wishpot.com is an online social shopping site that allows you to keep all of your gift wish lists in one spot. The site features a wish list, a wedding registry, a baby registry and the ability to simply share something interesting you have found with friends. Items can be added to lists from anywhere on the web – simply copy and paste the link into a new item and the site does the rest. Or users can get a convenient button for their Internet Explorer or Firefox browser that allows them to add items without visiting the Wishpot site. There is also a mobile phone application available which allows users to add items from their mobile phone while visiting a brick and mortar store. Users can also interact with friends on the site, and have the option of making an item or list viewable to the public, just to their friends, or just to themselves. Users can search all of the public items that have been added by others, or browse them according to several categories – Gifts, Wedding, Baby, Fashion, Gadgets or Indie. Clicking on an item found in a list will take the user to the item’s original homepage. Users can also message their friends and share list items with them. The user’s My Wishpot page gives them a summary of their lists, with a link to each one. It also contains links to invite friends and to send/receive messages. Wishpot was founded in 2006 by Max Ciccotosto and a private partner. Max Ciccotosto is now the Chief Product Officer of the company, Tom Humphrey is CEO and Tom Lianza is CTO. The site has tens of thousands of monthly visitors, an Alexa page rank well below 50,000 and continues to expand rapidly. Angel investor Adrian Hanauer backs the company, along with the H-Farm and Monster Venture Partners capital venture firms. Wishpot is very similar to the social shopping site Kaboodle. Kaboodle is the more mature site, offering more features. Kaboodle offers Polls, which allow users to ask for help in choosing an item and other users vote for their choice. Kaboodle also features Styleboards, where users can show off their favorite look by making a composite of items that go together. Wishpot is more intuitive and easier to navigate than Kaboodle. Wishpot has a very clean and uncluttered user interface. There are few ads displayed on the site. Navigation is obvious and intuitive. There is a convenient top menu bar which is shown on all pages on the site. In addition, there are links to Home, the users My Wishpot page, and a Tools page which contains links to download the button for the users browser or the mobile phone application. The site is very responsive, with pages loading very quickly. Adding items to lists happens quickly as well, whether done from the site or using the browser button. Registration is required to do anything other than browse or search the public lists. The registration process is easy, simply asking for first and last name, email address and password. Validation of the user’s email address is required. The user is prompted to choose the lists they wish to belong to after registering. After that they are taken to their My Wishpot page. Installation of the browser buttons is quick and easy, and they functioned flawlessly in both browsers. Membership at Wishpot is free. Wishpot is recommended to anyone with an interest in shopping sites, particularly if they want to be able to interact with their friends on the site as well as shop. It is a one-stop site for all the users’ lists, including a baby and wedding registry along with a personal wish list for gifts for other occasions. For the user who wants to make his or her wishes known to friends and family, the site provides an excellent vehicle for doing so. Overall, Wishpot is a very nice site, and makes a good alternative to Kaboodle. It’s not quite as complex as Kaboodle, so it is a good site for beginners. Even advanced users will appreciate the clean layout, the quick response time, and the seamless integration of the site with their favorite browser.

• Users can maintain a Wishlist, Wedding registry, and Baby registry
• Ability to share list items publicly or just with friends
• Ability to message and share items with friends
• Browser buttons integrate the site with Internet Explorer and Firefox
• Convenient My Wishpot page summarizes lists, friends and messages
• One-stop site for sharing gift wishes with friends and family

http://www.wishpot.com/