Interview: Swimsuit Shopping with Helen Malani at Shopzilla

Shopzilla, for those not yet familiar with it, is a high-powered comparison shopping search website that offers shoppers a way to find the best deals on the items they're looking for. While some sites only update once a day, Shopzilla updates twelve times a day, so you'll always have the most recent info and inventory available right at your fingertips.

Helen herself is known as the "Smart Shopper", authoring a weekly syndicated column offering advice on shopping tips and trends. She has also been featured in The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.

We asked Helen to take us through the experience of shopping for swimsuits at Shopzilla, and received the following tips and advice.

The Interview

Helen, are there really any advantages to shopping for swimwear online?

Yes, there are several advantages to shopping for swimwear online.

• One of the biggest advantages is being able to shop out of season. Brick and mortar stores aren't physically able to house clothing for all seasons at one time. You may be looking for a vacation swimsuit in November, but you'll have little luck finding it at a local mall.
• Selection is also important. Finding all the brands in one place is nearly impossible, but Shopzilla carries a wide range of swimwear brands for women, men and children.
• Fitting is also far less intimidating. Are you uncomfortable with the fluorescent lighting that plagues dressing rooms across the country, as so many people are? You'll find that a lot of merchants on Shopzilla such as Adidas, H&M and Speedo are using a feature called, My Virtual Model that allows you to see how a particular style swimsuit would look on your individual body type. Simply select the features that best represent your figure and let your model try your suit on for you!
• For those who don't have a lot of time to shop, we've also created the SmartChoice option. This service will show you the lowest price available from a BizRate Certified store that has the swimwear you seek in stock. We do the legwork for you so you can save time.

What kind of name brand swimsuit selection does the site have to offer?

There's a wide range of brand name swimwear available through the site. We think our selection shows the array of designers, styles, and freedom of choice the consumer can expect when shopping with Shopzilla. Prices can range as low as $1.99 for a support bra bikini top, up to $500 for a Chanel pink bikini top. It all depends on what you're looking for, and how much you are willing to spend.

Our merchants carry swimwear from such famous names as:

• Adidas
• Anne Cole
• Anne Klein
• Aubade
• BarelyThere
• BCBG Max Azria
• Belly Basics
• Betsey Johnson
• Billabong
• Bisou Bisou
• Bondi Bathers
• Calvin Klein
• Catherines
• Chloé
• Christian Dior
• Cole Haan
• Columbia Sports Wear
• Cosabella
• Cross
• Donna Karan
• Eddie Bauer
• Elie Tahari
• Emilio Pucci
• Esprit
• Fossil
• Freya
• Giorgio Armani
• Gottex
• Guess
• Huit
• Isabella Fiore
• J. Crew
• Jennifer Lopez
• Jockey
• Juicy Couture
• Kashmere
• Kate Spade
• Kenneth Cole
• L.E.I
• L.L. Bean
• La Blanca
• La Perla
• Lacoste
• Lands' End
• Lane Bryant
• Le Mystère
• Lilly Pulitzer
• Lisa Curran Swim
• Liz Claiborne
• Lucky Brand
• Malia Mills
• Marc Jacobs
• Michael Kors
• Missoni
• Moschino
• Nautica
• Newport News
• Nike
• Orvis
• Paul Frank
• Polk Audio
• Ralph Lauren
• Rampage
• Reebok
• Roaman's
• Roxy
• Shoshanna
• Sigerson Morrison
• Speedo
• St. John
• Sunbeam
• Theory
• Tocca
• Tommy Bahama
• Warner Bros.
• Xoxo

So, shoppers can find swimwear for the entire family on Shopzilla?

Yes, Shopzilla's merchants carry swimwear for virtually everyone. You'll find plenty of suits for men, women, and children, including sizes for juniors, misses, plus sizes, and petites in a variety of styles and prices. You can even purchase hard to find maternity swimwear from our merchants.

What other types of beach and swim accessories does the site offer?

Shopzilla offers everything from beach balls to beach towels, coolers, flip flops, sun block, sunglasses, beach umbrellas, you name it!

Since this is online shopping, let's discuss payment methods and shipping.

The types of payment methods accepted largely depend on the individual merchant you are purchasing from, but most forms of popular payments are accepted, including major credit cards, and in some cases PayPal.

You can also find some great deals on shipping costs with our merchants. Some merchants are now offering free shipping to make online shopping more appealing to potential customers. At Shopzilla, we've simplified figuring out the shipping costs for our certified merchants. Just enter your ZIP code and the shipping and taxes will immediately be calculated for you.

Is there anything else you'd like our readers to know about Shopzilla?

Shopzilla is the most powerful, easiest to use shopping search site on the Web, with an index of more than 30 million products from more than 70,000 stores. We can help shoppers instantly find virtually anything on sale at the best price from anyone, anywhere on the Web.

Shopzilla also features powerful comparison tools and BizRate consumer reviews of stores and products, the Web's largest and most trusted consumer feedback network.

Whether you're searching for swimsuits, or any other items, Shopzilla gets fast, accurate results that you can refine and sort any way you like.

Helen, thank you for sharing your time with our readers. We're sure that more people will feel encouraged to give online swimsuit shopping a try.

You're quite welcome!

External Links

• Shopzilla.com