Welcome to to the November 2007 issue of ZooNews, from professional Web site design company Zoonini Web Services.

With December nearly upon us, peak gift-buying season is here. To help spark some ideas that don't involve trekking from store to store in a packed mall or on a frigid downtown street, I'd like to share two new online-shopping discoveries – plus a reliable standby.

Etsy highlights a selection of unique, handmade items from artists and craftspeople around the globe, from movie-inspired limited edition prints to creative jewellery made from recycled sewing patterns. It reminds me of a giant online craft fair but with goodies far funkier than anything you're likely to find over at the local church bazaar.

Launched just last week, Montreal-based Razzle! is here to satisfy the cravings of Canadian consumers for rock-bottom "one-deal-a-day" sales like those Woot has offered to US shoppers for the last three years. With early offers like $9.99 VoIP phones and $44.90 cordless Sennheiser headphones (which normally retail for as much as $130) this is a site to peek at daily. Just beware that all sales are final!

An Amazon wish list is a boon to your loved ones who may not know your tastes as well as they think or you would like. A wish list lets you pick a set of items you actually want to receive – books, DVDs, or anything else offered at each store. You can even assign a priority to each product. Wish list all set up? Tell your friends and family about it – there's even a built-in announcement tool to do this quickly – and make their gift-giving lives easier!

My dear old friend (and Zoonini client) Victoria Stanton coined a term recently that made me howl – and she's kindly allowed me to share it with ZooNews readers. Facebook fascism describes an increasing number of people's irritating assumption that everyone who matters to them is signed onto Facebook and is therefore privy to their invitations, news, and other day-to-day information. As Victoria says, "Maybe that's an extreme way of putting it, but there have been a few occasions lately where people have just assumed I'm registered and will be able to read some post they've made for an art event, birthday party, etc. I got an email from (my friend) and her partner who invited me to join so that I can 'keep up with their news'. So if I don't join, then I don't get to know what's going on with them?"

I have no problem with people using Facebook as a channel to disseminate information, but please folks, don't make it the exclusive channel. It can't be just Victoria and I who are resisting joining the Facebook throngs. We don't want another online addiction, but we don't want to be completely shut out of the loop!

Got a technology term you'd like demystified in ZooNews? Send it to questions@zoonini.com.

Two years after their 2005 site remake, remote fly-in fishing tour operator Wilderness Air has jazzed up their homepage with a snazzy new Flash slideshow. Put together by our partners at Protopop Design, the new feature blends photos of the stunning scenery and trophy fishing enjoyed by visitors to Wilderness Air's remote outposts.

Michael Bungay Stanier's blog has a new home at his Possibility Virus portal, which showcases a spiffy new logo created by frequent Zoonini collaborator Mobius2. Now powered by the ever-more-popular WordPress platform, the blog makes it easy for Michael, a well-known coach, speaker and author, to share his wisdom and inspiration with loyal readers in over 170 countries around the world.

I am seldom surprised and delighted when navigating the anonymous world of online shopping, but that is exactly what happened recently. I was scanning the Amazon.com wish list of a family member living in the US, dreading having to register with yet another username & password to be able to buy him a birthday present. On a whim, I tried logging in with my Canadian Amazon.ca user info, not really expecting it to work. But lo and behold, the next thing I know, I'm logged in and ready to purchase the gift! Kudos to Amazon for making ordering easy – not frustrating – for their customers, no matter which of their international stores we want to purchase from.

Online retailers take note: this holiday season, try hard to think like your customers and make their shopping lives smoother and more pleasant whenever possible. You'll be rewarded with more sales and happier patrons.

À la prochaine,

kp
aka Kathryn Presner