notonthehighstreet.com

Notonthehighstreet.com is an award winning website where you can find highly original gifts for the whole family, pets included, that you would not necessarily find on the high street. Notonthehighstreet acts as an umbrella site for small businesses to sell their quality and highly creative wares.

VIRTUAL MALL

The company, which Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish launched in April 2006, supports over 1500 British small businesses, not only providing them with an attractive platform on which to market their wares but also to allow the wider public the chance to purchase them. It's not an easy task to display such a variety of products but Notonthehighstreet has risen to the challenge. The relaunched site has made it easier to search for gifts, through improved use of imagery as well as saving your eight most recently viewed items.  The company is going from strength to strength not only providing a highly useful services to its customers but also helping small businesses succeed.

HOW TO USE IT

So how does Notonthehighstreet work? Participating small businesses, called partners here, pay a small annual subscription and forego a small percentage on sales to the company. Orders and payments are taken through Notonthehighstreet but delivery is made by the partner, who charges p&p. Once an order has been taken, the shopper receives an email to let them know the goods are on their way. Standard orders over £30 with an individual partner qualify for free postage.

The homepage offers a colourful overview of examples through high quality images drawn from the ten categories on offer, ranging from fashion, cards & wrap, food & drink, baby & child, jewellery, home & garden, health & beauty, gifts and weddings & parties. Clicking on a category brings up a default page which you can change to file the products in ascending price or the most recent additions. The sub categories help you refine your search for the elusive item, whether it's a particular product, style, colour or price range you're after. If you like something in particular, you can see other products by the same company, as well as reading their terms and conditions, delivery charges and returns.

GIFT FINDER

Alternatively use the gift finder but make sure that you don't hit the reset button by mistake at the bottom of the drop down menus. Go to Sort by and then you'll be in business. Usefully, Notonthehighstreet lets their customers run wish lists and wedding lists which can also be viewed by friends.

It's worth taking the time to have a good look at what's on offer here. There are lots of interesting things that make present buying very simple. The company prints a catalogue as well with its trademark high standard photography. It makes you wonder why you would want to shop anywhere else.