US e-commerce firm offers multi-retailer shopping hub

Friday, July 1, 2011 - 10:50 by Graham Miller

A new company based in the US promises to offer safe shopping online to consumers by combining the services of more than 300 e-commerce sites under one roof.

Sudenlee is the start-up that everyone is talking about because it promises to get consumers lower prices, quicker delivery times and added convenience, while still giving them access to the products and stores they love and trust.

It opened its digital doors only last week but the site already has links with many major e-commerce sites, including those for high street chains like Zara and H&M.

Suddenlee uses a single shopping basket and a drag and drop interface, letting you pick and choose multiple items from a diverse selection of stores, but at the same time giving you the opportunity to pay for them in one place and in one transaction, according to The Independent.

Company founder, Eric Kammann, said that while e-commerce sites tend to argue that they are more convenient than high street stores, in reality the disparity between spending your money and getting your goods can put off many potential buyers, resulting in high rates of cart abandonment during safe shopping online.

What Suddenlee offers over its rivals is the ability to get all of your products shipped to you the next day without hiking up the cost of delivery much higher than you might expect to see elsewhere.

There are a couple of catches, with the main one being that you will be charged a small fee for buying products from different retailers. However, this may well be small enough to make it a real favourite of certain consumers in the US.

As Suddenlee expands in the US over the coming year it may well become a copied format that is leveraged by other start-ups in the UK and elsewhere and it certainly presents an intriguing spin on e-commerce.