Zapos.Com

One of the interesting features of the Zapos.com website is that you can read user reviews of the shoes you are interested in buying. This is one of those little bonuses that makes so much sense, everyone should have thought of it--but didn't. Let's say you are looking at running shoes and asking yourself, "These look nice, but I wonder if they have enough support?"

You can click on the link to reviews by customers like yourself and see what they have to say about support or other aspects of the shoes. One nice thing about the Zapos.com reviews is that they'll mention if a shoe style runs a little small or a little large. They'll even tell you if a shoe is prone to become dirty quickly, and give you other little tips on proper shoe wear and maintenance.

This is one of those ways in which the online shopping at innovative vendors like Zapos.com beats brick and mortar shopping. When you shop at an offline retail outlet, you can, of course, ask the salesperson about the shoes you're interested in. But those people are, after all, salespeople, and chances are, they've never actually worn the shoes.

There is something in human nature that trusts, and prefers, a personal recommendation from another consumer. Most of the reviews are positive, but they are also honest. Other customers will tell you honestly if they had to return a shoe for a larger size (which, it so happens, is incredibly easy to do at Zapos.com), how often they wear the shoe, and if they've noticed any little disadvantages. In short, it's a great feature.