Online Mall To Offer Single Shopping Cart

New online mall SingleShop.com will debut the day after Thanksgiving with a feature that allows shoppers to use the same shopping cart to store products from multiple merchants and pay for everything at once.

The site claims to be the first to offer consumers competitive price comparisons and a single shopping cart for use at various merchant sites. With the shopping cart, customers only have to enter their credit card billing and shipping information once, and can track multiple purchases through a single tracking number.

SingleShop.com believes that this new feature will cut down on the number of customers that abandon their online shopping carts without completing their purchases. SingleShop.com blames that problem on “frustration at being shuffled from site to site to collect various pieces of information needed to make a smart purchase.”

Comparison Shopping

While the shopping cart makes shopping at multiple sites easier, the comparison feature searches for and lists the best deals on the items that the customer is looking for.

In addition, the site’s “Shopper’s Corner” will provide news articles about industry trends and tips to find the best bargains, provided by “unbiased outside sources, without influence from SingleShop.com’s merchant partners,” the company says.

Better Customer Service

SingleShop.com says it will act as the “shopper’s advocate” by keeping them informed about their rights and by answering questions live or through e-mail. The customer service division will help customers track orders and find information about the various merchants that sell their products through SingleShop.com.

The company is looking to set a record for rapid response to inquiries, saying it is “committed to providing a return response in four hours to all customers, even during the heaviest traffic times.”

Initially, SingleShop.com will help customers locate products in the four most popular online shopping categories — books, music, movies and computer software. The company also says it will add two new shopping categories, plus additional services and bundled products, each month.

SingleShop.com is a private company funded by the Draper Atlantic Fund and personal investments from Tim Draper, managing partner of investing firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson.