Buzzillions Blogs

Online it’s harder to make purchasing decisions because you just can’t examine a product in the same way.  Until now.  In addition to customer submitted images and stock product photos, Buzzillions has launched new functionality to display multiple views of a particular product.  This means you get the glamour shot from the front, the side, the top, the bottom, and anything else the photographer thought captured the true character of that precious little shoe.

One of the differences between online and in-store shopping is the ability to see a product up close and personal.  In the store, you can try on a pair of shoes, admire your newly-adorned feet from the top,

from the side,

at all angles in the little mirror on the floor.

You can even get the bug’s-eye view.

Now you can do the same on Buzzillions. For the time being, we’re trying out the new look on Zappos products, but many more images, of more than just shoes, are on their way shortly.  Be on the lookout for glamour shots from merchants like Essential Apparel, Gardener’s Supply Co., EvoGear, and Abt Electronics soon!

At last count this aquarium in a box had 94 customer product reviews on Buzzillions!  Some reviewers raved about their aquariums, while others called it a “Frog Torture Chamber“. According to Brookstone’s description, here are the contents:

2 aquatic mini frogs – live up to 4 years
1 snail – lives up to 4 years AND cleans the tank
1 bamboo plant – presumably for ambiance
Living gravel – “Acts a biological filter, converting excess food and waste into a soluble form that can be used by the bamboo plant”. Ooh lala!
Year’s supply of food

Pet Product Reviews

Top Rated Aquarium Products

Top 10 Fish Tanks

Competing in the Wildflower Triathlon in May this year, I have to say I felt a little smug. As the designated runner on a relay triathlon team, I had spent $80 on a pair of sweet running shoes, rather than thousands on the gear that seemed to be standard for pro triathletes and weekend warriors alike. The aerodynamic helmets, bouyant wetsuits & aerobars seemed laughably excessive in contrast to the equipment needed for even the longest running race.  Suckers.

Dude, seriously?

Fast forward three months & I found myself shelling out a month’s rent on a brand new road bike.  Ironically, what brought me to this hypocritical juncture was my love of running. My self-diagnosed achilles tendonitis had been hampering me since well before the Wildflower race thanks to up to 50 miles of running a week. With a marathon closing in a few short months, something had to change.  Not quite ready to hang up the racing shoes altogether, I decided to focus on my training on quality, not quantity, with liberal amounts of cross training. I started prepping for my October marathon using the FIRST training program – three days of running and two or three days of cross training every week. The theory goes that cross training allows for better recovery between running sessions & prevents injury. Perfect.

Being a miserable swimmer, I chose biking as my cross training method. After checking reviews & taking the Specialized Allez & the Trek 1.2 WSD for a test ride, I bought the latter at my local bike store in exchange for my minimalist-runner soul & a good chunk of cash. A few days in & my achilles seems a little bit better. Hopefully, this will all pay off come race day. As for triathlons, I don’t see one in my future, but I know better than to say never.

Buzzillions has grown a lot in the past year. We’ve added a lot more features, including:

• Buzzillions Reviewer’s Choice Awards
• Search within Category
• Product Histogram
• Product Q/A
• Similar Products Module
• Review Face-Off
• My Lists
• Review Comments

In order to support all these cool new features while still maintaining site usability, we decided to overhaul the site design.  This has given us an opportunity to strengthen the branding on Buzzillions.  You’ll notice a new color scheme and header, as well as enhanced navgation as you browse the site.  We’ve tried to keep things simple, which is one of the things many of you said you liked about our site, but also added in some more color and pizzazz, another frequent comment about the site (too plain!).

So what do you guys think?

Old Product Page

New Product Page

Congratulations are in order for the Buzzillions team, particularly our design & development folks. Buzzillions was awarded the distinction of “Best in Class” for a Ratings/Review site in the Interactive Media Awards contest. IMA evaluates nominees based on design, content, usability and feature functionality. We’re thrilled to be recognized & hope to keep our 2-year winning streak going!

Official press release