Comparison shopping gets WAPed

Justin Pearse ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 16 Mar 2000 14:49 GMT

Thursday sees the launch of the latest UK WAP service that will allow users to instantly compare pricing between bricks-and-mortar and online bookshops.

BookBrain.co.uk allows a direct comparison between 11 online bookshops, including Amazon.com and WH Smith. As each online store develops a WAP version of its own site, customers will be able to instantly order any book direct from their mobile phones. BookBrain.com provides details of book availability, prices and shipping charges.

The success of sites such as ShopSmart.com illustrates the benefit to consumers of comparison shopping services. Translating these services into "mobile shopping companions", as BookBrain.com describes them, is likely to be as popular with consumers as the expected WAP killer apps of email and locational services.

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