Shopping for Shopping Bots
Part 8

Storerunner

StoreRunner, a CBS affiliate, has the best designed front page in our test group. Not only is it visually attractive, it provides a keyword search on the front page, something many of the sites don't offer. You can define your keyword search by product, brand name or store, and then search among StoreRunner's huge array of available products. And, the site will alert you by e-mail when it finds deals that match your criteria. 

StoreRunner uses search technology that incorporates "runners," real people who review and update product and merchant information. However, we saw no indications that this improved the search.

Our front page keyword search created a list of 1,000 products - but the list included everything from books to all accessories for digital camcorders. When we narrowed the search to include only digital camcorders, the list fell to 52 items. Prices ranged from a Sony TRV-16 for $479.99 up to the Sony Pro DVCAM for $2,499.99. The least expensive Panasonic PVDV910 was $799.99, which was not a competitive bargain.

A nice feature of StoreRunner is that it enables you to search locally, viewing the deals at brick and mortar retailers near you. You can even specify how many miles away from your ZIP code you'll travel. However, this feature appeared to be in development. We searched within 50 miles and only three camcorders came up, all in the $1500 price range - and we live in a major metropolitan area.

StoreRunner is still in the process of building the site. It has plans to incorporate an auction, featuring everything from rare collectibles to airline tickets, and a "personalize" section that will facilitate the return shopper.