ShopOnMain™ Planning Zone

We have big plans for the Main Street shopping experience! Check out the features that are coming soon below:

Your Neighborhood

Isn't it about time online shopping got social?

In the very near future, you'll be able to add your favorite Shops to your Neighborhood. You'll be able to choose how much of your Neighborhood is public, and what you want to keep for your eyes only. You can add Neighbors who can see Shops and items you share with them, and vice versa.

The Shops in your Neighborhood will have a news feed, so you can see when they add new items or put items on sale. Just like you would if they were in your physical neighborhood.

Window Shopping Other Neighborhoods

Ever been to Portland? If not, maybe you'd like to see what it's like to shop there.

"Neighborhood Browsing" will be a special kind of search you can do from the search bar at the top of every page. You'll be able to enter a city name or a zip code and voila! All the Shops in that area will show up. And with our unique "Storefront Windows" you'll have the closest experience you can get to window shopping that area - any time of the day or night! And to help get a real feel for that area, you'll get local pictures mixed in with your results, cool facts about the town or its history. It will be (almost) like an actual visit.

Hanging Out, Meeting New People and Socializing

One of the things that gives every neighborhood character are the restaurants, bars and coffee shops you can hang out in. And of course the people you can meet there.

Every Neighborhood will have a selection of chat rooms (if you're old enough, you may remember these from the old days of AOL) where you can hang out and meet new people, or gather by invite with just your own friends.

Some of these public chat areas can be sponsored by local artists or musicians so that you can hear their music while you chat, or see a selection of their works.

Again, making your online experience as close as possible to exploring real world Main Streets all over!

Cool Points

Sometimes a good review isn't enough to express your feelings for an outstanding business. Maybe they've done something fantastic, or maybe they're a service business that has an amazing portfolio but aren't in your area. How can you give them a pat on the back whether or not you're able to purchase from them right now?

This is where Cool Points come in. Every member of ShopOnMain™ will have a limited number of Cool Points in their account. You'll earn more for things like purchases, leaving reviews, inviting friends - any type of "civic participation" in our virtual neighborhood. The fact that they're limited makes them more valuable - you don't bestow them willy-nilly like you would "likes."

So people who participate more will have more Cool Points to spend. And you can spread the coolness any way you want - give points to friends, strangers, shops - anyone you like!

How will Cool Points benefit the Shops that have them? The more Cool Points a Shop has the higher they'll appear in search results. So if, for example, you're browsing stores on the other side of the country and see a bakery that makes the most incredible wedding cakes you've ever seen, your Cool Points will help potential customers in their area find them. Everyone wins!

What Do You Think?

What do you think of our planned features, or of the site itself? Do you have ideas for features you'd like to see? Please let us know!