The Online Haunts: Where To Shop Now

Remember the days when a shopping trip meant having a car with ample trunk space, biceps worthy of an Iron Man nomination and the mental focus of a NASA researcher? Gone are those days ladies, and gone are those criteria. Online shopping has become the new high end mall, but how do you choose which site to use? I've broken it down for the beginners based on the site's product range, price range and accessibility.

Moda Operandi: The Groundbreaking Site

Founders:
Aslaug Magnusdottir & Lauren Santo Domingo

Price Range:
about $200 and up, dependent on trunkshow designer.

Product Range:
Off the runway collections. No really, within days of the Spring 2013 shows, Moda had the full collections, fresh off the runway, ready to be ordered.

The Lure:
It's a scientific fact that women love sales, and Moda capitalises on that by limiting their trunkshows to a few days. If you knew that you only had a week to get the Josh Goot leather jacket you saw on the runway, chances are that you'd spend your guap with light-speed.

In the past, women had to wait months for runway collections to hit the stores, and many a fashionista was broken with the disappointment of her favourite piece being unavailable due to the taste of the buyer. Moda makes buyers slightly obselete and eliminates them from the process- and in a terribly Democratic manner- giving the power to the people.

ASOS: To The Street!



Founder:

Nick Roberstson

Price Range:

around $25 and up

Product Range:

the ASOS brand's various ranges, with sales erupting on the site every now and again.

The Lure:

Moda and Net-a-Porter cater for the more sophisticated fashionista, the accomplished, WEALTHY, terribly tasteful shopper who has more than enough time to sift, and even more money to burn. ASOS is made for a much wider market, namely, the young guns who don't have the money to buy overpriced designer goods, but don't want to be caught dead in something substandard.

Also, while it would be perfectly possible for the shopper to find edgy pieces on either Moda or Net-a-Porter, the chances are still a lot slimmer in comparison to the ASOS range. What Nick and his team have managed to do is provide a range so wide, so that the up and coming fashionista finds no problem in purchasing basics, but also, deisgning their ranges with trends in mind, thus making statement pieces accessible, and more importantly, affordable.

Net-a-Porter: The Megastore

 

Founder:

Natalie Massenet

Price Range:

around $200 and up.

Product Range:

High End only, but with selected pieces as chosen by the buyers. Net-a-Porter is a designer department store (oxymoron if there was ever one) but also, with a limited time on ranges per season (albeit a less riot-evoking one).

The Lure:

Being able to browse the ranges, filtered either by designer or style, Net-a-Porter's lure is the polar opposite of Moda's. By making their site a combination of designers on one page instead of single trunkshows like Moda, Net-a-Porter has found a niche somewhere between the overdone department online store, and the exclusive designer online alley of wonder.

These online shopping sites have made productivity even more unattainable, with women all over the world drooling over their screens and hitting the "checkout" button over and over. but hey, let these sites be the debt of us. Free delivery doesn't hurt either...