8 Best Websites for Virtual ‘Window Shopping’

Each year more and more consumers do their shopping online, but at least one aspect of the bricks-and-mortar experience seems to carry over: Shoppers still window-shop, but they just do it through an Internet browser window instead of a storefront. Research on the phenomenon of virtual window shopping is limited, but chances are good that most of us have done it at one or point or another, whether you’ve thought of it in these terms or not. One 2006 survey from ShopLocal found that 85% of shoppers used the Internet to research and review items online without necessarily purchasing them, while a 2009 report from McAfee found that the average shopper will look at a product online and wait two days before actually going through with the purchase. The sites we are really interested in here, though, are the ones where the joy is in browsing without necessarily ever making a purchase. We might call these the online versions of stores like The Sharper Image for techies or Bergdorf Goodman for aspiring fashionistas, places where the products are always worth envying and the visit is always an experience, although the merchandise is often not practical or priced well enough to buy. MainStreet picked out a few of our favorite websites that cause us to stare in awe at items we probably won’t buy (though we sometimes do cave in). Most of these not only carry great products, but are also designed beautifully and make the browsing experience as enjoyable as walking through a high-end store. If we missed any of your favorites, let us know in the comments section! Photo Credit: zoetnet