NOW CLOSED: Try Prezola's shopping website - you could win a £500 JL voucher or a Waitrose Christmas hamper

[NewGirlHelenMumsnet]

We've been asked by a brand new online company called Prezola.com to help them get some feedback on their website which has just launched. They want to know what you think of the site's concept and whether you think you'd use it in the future. Prezola has already been beta tested with the Mumsnet research panel - if you took part in this, please feel free to add comments about the 'live' site to this thread too.

Here's what Prezola says about the website "the business is the idea of Mumsnetter Ali Beaven. Ali found that family and friends always ask what to buy for everyone when birthdays and Christmas come around and often found herself juggling a mental list of who was buying what. Sometimes her children would end up getting the same present from different people, or be given a gift they already had. She knew there must be a better way of managing this "I wanted a modern-day equivalent of cutting up the Argos catalogue and sending your list off to Santa!". Prezola.com allows you to create a wish list of gifts from lots of well known brands and then share it with friends and family. You'll also get the products you choose at the cheapest possible price because Prezola compares prices for each product across their panel of 250 retailers."

Prezola.com has just launched and they want as many MNers as possible to try out the website, create and share a list (and even buy some products if you want to, but there's no obligation to do so!). Here's what you need to do:

1.  Visit <a class="break-all" href="//www.prezola.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.prezola.com</a>, have a look around the site to see what it's all about
   

2.  Sign up (or sign in if you've registered with Facebook Connect or Google Plus)
   

3.  Create a gift list on the site - this could be for  your DCs, your DP/DH, other family and friends, or yourself
   

4.  Share your gift list with friends and/or family members via the website using Facebook, Twitter or email
   

5. Come back to this thread and add your feedback on what you think of the site's concept and the site itself. There are some feedback questions below to start you off but please feel free to add any other comments too.

Your personal details will be secure and will not be passed on to any third parties. If you do decide to buy anything, you won't need to give Prezola your bank details - payment is done via the retailer you purchase from. If you register with Prezola but then decide you want to de-register, you can do so by emailing [email protected].

Everyone who takes part and adds their feedback to this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive a £500 John Lewis voucher and another will get a Waitrose Christmas Hamper (yes - Christmas hampers are here already!).

Thanks very much
MNHQ

Feedback questions

1. What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family?

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not?

3. Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola?

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least?

5. Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents?

6. Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

i was sent this as part of the panel but didn't complete it, and won't do it now, as i felt uncomfortable with part 4, sending the list to family and friends:

firstly, because i don't want anybody else who is a MNer in real life to recognise that i am too, from this.
secondly, because i just genuinely feel uncomfortable about sending "demand" lists to them.

sorry for not being more help!

I sent mine to DH so as not to out myself and not to be asking for gifts. :)

Fillybuster - more than welcome to follow the OP instructions here and add your views again! thanks

1. Concept
   A good idea, and potentially useful.

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future?
   Possibly, but only for, say, milestone birthdays, and only to let immediate family know what the person would like.

3. encourage your child(ren) to use?
   Definitely not!

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least?
   Didn't really pay attention - irrelevant.

5. improvement?
   it needs to work properly on smartphone.

6. recommend?
   If it works better, probably.

I've just done a list for my baby's birthday next month...

1. What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family?
   I like it in principle - my family live far away & we don't see them often, so this gives a good indication of the sort of toys/games my 11mo likes.

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not?
   Possibly - for reasons stated above, lots of my family tend to shop online and have things delivered to our house anyway.

3. Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola?
   My 4yo, possibly - though it might be awkward to explain the concept to him without seeming 'grabby' etc

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least?
   I liked Argos and John Lewis - Hamleys the least as none of the links seemed to work & the prices all displayed '£0.00'.

5. Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents?
   Every time I added something to my list I had to click 'back' twice on my browser to get back to the results page. I may have missed it, but a 'back to results' button would be useful.

6. Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?
   I would actually, as there are lots of young nieces & nephews I don't see very often so this would be a good way of knowing what to buy that would be loved/appreciated!

1. What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family?

I like it, my friends always ask what I would like for Xmas and birthdays (not that I'm known to be fussy you understand!) so a site like this is great.

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not?

If the relevant products were there I would create a list for all of the household. People always ask for Xmas and birthday ideas.

I would use the site again, but I would somehow need to get into the habit of using it.

3. Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola?

They aren't old enough.

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least?

I liked John Lewis as I don't tend to trawl their own site because it is so big. I also liked Heal's and Cath Kidston, although a lot of the Kidston pictures were out of focus.

5. Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents?

I think more retailers would be good.

6. Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes I would recommend it. And I guess sending it to friends/family to browse for choosing gifts is as good as a recommendation in itself.

1. What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family?
   Just what I need, not just for sharing, but also to keep a year round list of ideas so it is not a last minute rush to identify and purchase items.

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not?
   I will use it and have already started. To beginwith I have created a general male list and I will repeat for female family members. Easier to manage than a list for each individual.

3. Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola?
   This would need to be managed carefully. They could use it for recording ideas they already have, but I would not wish them to search the site, as if it were a shopping list!

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least?
   It would be interesting to have a few smaller companies with some more unusual gifts. I could not see how to search by retailer e.g is there somewhere like Huttons?

5. Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents?
   If you access boys gifts, stationary and gifts then the icon for girl's gifts come up - might put some boys off! This needs adjusting? I like it because it is simple and clear.

6. Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?
   To other busy mums - yes. Great way of organising ideas and requests for gifts - a one-stop shop - beats amazon because it comes up with suitable suggestions.

1) What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family?

I feel a bit uncomfortable with the idea really but i can see how it could be very practical.

2) Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not?

Probably not to be honest. If i do it would be for my own use, to store ideas rather than to share with other people.

3) Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola?

Too young at the moment but possibly as a teenager.

4) Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least?

John Lewis things looked good. Not sure i have a least favourite.

5) Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents?

Searching clothes by age group, make it clear what age baby and girl/boy are for, a wider range of retailers with more sites that i wouldn't think to search usually and more unusual products rather than just high street stuff.

6) Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

If someone was looking for a site like this then yes but i'm not sure it's the sort of thing my friends and family would use.

I really like the idea, but I would like to know if they will be adding other retailers? I appreciate that they might be doing price comparisons, but for music for instance, I was given a choice of just 2 retailers HMV and Amazon. I checked out the Jazz section and for some reason, there were no albums showing. The concept is very good, the site looks nice and fresh and I am sure that if they can tell enough people about it, it will be a success.

Like others I also completed the same process and questions when they were sent out as an email previously....however ......

1. What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family? OK if you all do it and have a laugh about it!

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not? Me, all the time to give hubby ideas!

3. Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola? no, they would get carried away! I could do one for them to send to grandparents though!

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least? no real preferences.

5. Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents? Get the items reviewed by parents!

6. Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not? Sister, she might like to give her hubby ideas for presents too.

) What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family?

It's quite a neat idea if your family prefer you to have a wishlist (And a little tacky if you haven't been asked for one). I've never really made that much use of the feature on Amazon, mind, so I'm less likely to make any serious use of it here.

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not?

Most likely not.

3. Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola?

I'd rather they wrote down what they wanted and then I filled in the details or sourced things from wherever's cheapest.

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least?

Didn't look at enough to form an opinion either way.

6. Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

I doubt it. We don't give a lot of gifts within extended family, since not all members can afford to live up to the "obligation" and presents i give to friends tend to be more of an ad hoc "I saw this and thought of you" nature.

Feedback questions

1. What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family? It's a good idea and I use Amazon for wish lists already.

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not? I don't think I would use it, as I find Amazon easier to use. I want to be able to shop by product or brand, not shop or price range. Some categories don't have this function.

3. Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola? No, they are just babies :) I can see how it would be useful for older kids, though.

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least? I wanted to shop by product rather than retailer. Not sure I see the point of doing it by retailer? If I want Coco Chanel perfume, why can't I just search for that?

5. Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents? It doesn't look particularly child-friendly, more for adults.

6. Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not? No as it is not very easy to use and I think there are better ways of making lists.

Also in the original test but got so frustrated with the site I forgot to go back and leave feedback, sorry...

1) What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family?

In theory it sounds like a good idea a little greedy perhaps, but my family are not online or dont purchase off the internet. I create very general gift lists for the dc at christmas such as tops, books etc. but nothing specific due to budgets differing so much, my family will generally let me know what they are thinking of getting anyway.

2) Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not?

No, I tried to create a list for my sons 2nd birthday and christmas but gave it up as most of the pictures wouldn't load and there arent enough filters you cant tell what sizes are available until you visit the retailes website which is just a pain to go back and forth.

3) Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola?

No, not old enough but its far to time consuming.

4) Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least?

Can't really say it matters massively to me so long as the price is right.

5) Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents?

Parents are busy people it needs to save time and needs more filters, size, colour, brand. Baby boy and girl should have its own seperate page/tab. you needs an order/sort by feature. Browsing through the site hamleys have no prices another I came accross didnt either. Include size and colour options on your pages to save a lot of time. The jump to page has something writtern behnd it and a second drop down tab that doest work which maybe needs to be got rid of. Most of the pictures dont load and some of the titles under them aren't descriptive enough for me to guess what it might be. I didnt send it as it pulled up outlook express to email it and i have no idea how to alter my settings on my laptop. It really needs for you to write the link so it can be copied and shared as the user needs.

6) Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

No, my family aren't into online shopping or middle men/women.

nice idea but not for me

Feedback questions

1. What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family?
   I think it's a good idea if friends/family are asking for suggestions of what to get me/husband/son, but wouldn't send them one unsolicited!

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not?
   Possibly - I'd use it either to send my sister suggestions for my Christmas presents (she always asks what she should get me and it would be a nice way of giving a few suggestions but still having some element of surprise on the day) or to make reminder lists for things that occur to me during the year to buy for other people. I make lists like that in my email drafts already but often forget where they are so having them in one place is a nice idea. Although I would probably only actually buy from the listed sites if they were the best value retailers.

3. Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola?
   Maybe if they were teenagers, but definitely not while they're young! I think it would be too likely to create an air of expectation!

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least?
   Argos, Miss Selfridge and Urban Outfitters, Feelunique would be some of the top pics. Not bothered about any of the jewellery retailers though.

5. Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents?
   The categorisation is something that always bugs me a bit on sites, especially if I'm looking for a specific item - for example, if I wanted to buy the Beep & String Threading toy I'd have no way of knowing whether to look under 'Activity and Learning' or 'Imaginative Play'. Also all the Hamleys toys seem to be showing up with a value of £0.00 (apols if this has already been pointed out by others).

6. Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?
   I'd definitely mention it as a worthwhile site to check out for friends/family if they were talking about how hard it is to get decent presents for or from their families.

1. What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family?

I think this is a good idea. Especially for children's presents as I am often asked by family what the children would like for birthdays and xmas and it would be easy to share this list.

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not?

I don't think I would ever consider making a gift list for myself as I wouldn't feel comfortable making a list for people to chose from when buying presents but I think it is a good idea for children's presents. I could see people using it for wedding lists as it is an easy way to write a list using many different stores (although this would not be applicable for me).

3. Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola?

NO! I do not want to ever encourage my children to write long lists and would not want them to use the site as I think it may open a can of worms as far as materialism is concerned.

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least?

I like the big stores including Boots and Boden etc but not so much the electrical stores but this is more personal preference.

5. Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents?

I think making the categories easier to search in would make the site easier and quicker to use.

6. Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

I think I would recommend the site to people who have children and for anyone looking to create a wedding list but I don't think I would generally recommend the site to adults.

However slick the site looks, IMHO it's never going to work - there's far too much time required to actually create the list. Who is going to be bothered to do it when you can simply email people (should you even think that creating lists isn't a bit crass)

1. What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family? I quite like it. I'm not a huge fan of handing out gift lists, but I like the idea of effectively 'bookmarking' stuff I might like so that I have a list when people do ask - otherwise people ask me what I want for Christmas/my birthday, I can't think of anything and so mumble about nothing and remember days later about the brilliant book I wanted.

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not? I'll create a gift list for me (mostly for DH to be honest!) Also for my children - I frequently get asked what they might like and would love to have a list of suggestions somewhere.

3. Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola? Maybe when they're older, mine are only 1 and 3 at the moment so a bit young for it. I'm a bit dubious about encouraging small children to do this kind of thing anyway as I don't want them to think they will get everything they ask for.

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least? For me it was nice to see Hamleys, lots of toys for the children! Didn't notice any particularly bad retailer although there are a few I wouldn't be interested in.

5. Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents?
   I quite like it as it is. A greater range of retailers might be nice, but I guess that comes with time. Are there any parental controls? I suppose you may want to stop older children just adding any rubbish to it. It would be nice if you could add items from a retailer that you're browsing - so if I was on the Hamleys website, I could just click on an 'add to Prezola list' button (maybe an app or Chrome extension?)

6. Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?
   I would probably recommend it, we all tend to have lots of conversations every year about what we all want, would be much easier to have a list!

I did find that the 'share list via email' button didn't work - it just took me to a blank page where nothing happened.

1. What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family? Great idea. Saves me sending out long emails.

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not? Children's for their birthdays and christmasses.

3. Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola? Yes, when old enough.

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least? I like the old favourites, like Marks and Spencer / John Lewis most, as the lists I would make would mostly be going out to Grandparents for my children and they are the sites they would be most likely to use.

5. Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents? It seems a bit slow to load at the moment, don't know if this is a teething problem though. Also, I would like to be able to email the list with one click through Hotmail, as I don't have Outlook at home. When filtering children's clothing and shoes would be great to be able to filter by sizes available on left toolbar

6. Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?
   I would recommend it, yes, if it starts loading a bit quicker, and especially once more shops are on board

1. good idea. close family always ask what to buy my dc and this would be great to give them ideas.

2. yes, for my dc, for birthdays and Christmas. Might even do a list of stuff I like and email it to my DH!

3. no, they would abuse it! I'd find ridiculously long lists with stuff costing massive amounts. But perhaps for teens it would work but not for my 3 and 6 year olds.

4. argues and John Lewis. Didn't dislike any.

5. site is really slow, became frustrating to use and I closed it down lots of times before making myself go back. Needs to be a lot faster.

6. yes, it's a great way to store lists and easy to put something for every budget and just let people choose which they want to buy.

1. What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family?

Like it very much - makes it easy to show them exactly what it is you'd like and easy for them to buy it

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not?

Not sure - maybe if range of brands expanded

3. Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola?

N/A

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least?

Whittard teas. Great Plains. Adnams!

5. Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents?

Filter items in more different ways (e.g. under Women's clothing you have to choose an item, I would rather choose a brand first)

6. Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

Not yet but maybe if it's more developed

Pleased that toys/games are not divided by gender, btw.

Oh, and I don't like that the share by email function tries to open Outlook - why not have a form email?

1. What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family?

My family would hate this and find it really greedy. We don't do Christmas or wedding lists though and so are in the minority.

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not?

No.

3. Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola?

Not at all, I hate the idea.

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least?

Most - John Lewis

5. Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents?

I just don't like the concept for me.

6. Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

No, see above. Just not the done thing in my family, you get what you're given and are thankful. If I suggested something like this, they'd laugh in my face and think I was incredibly rude. I can see it would work for other people in different situations & families though.

Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate
First message ever, so please forgive if anything wrong;
Hello, any mums out there who'd recommend their primary/secondary school/
I'm planning to move, probably to Margate. I'd love to get some recommendartions of schools. Obviously there's the Ofsted site, but would love to hear of any that are liked/loved, Many thanks

Have a look in the mumsnet local section.
:)

1. What do you think of the concept of creating a gift wish list to share with your friends and/or family?

I don't really like the idea of sharing a specific list (with prices and where i expect it to be bought from) as it seems to take away the spirit of gift giving.

2. Do you think you'll use Prezola in future? If so, who do you think you'd consider creating a gift wish list for? And for which occasion(s)? If not, why not?

I might use it to browse and keep a list of ideas for me and others, though I do this already, primarily on notonthehighstreet.com and amazon. If it had a bit of price comparison, that might be useful, but I do a lot of that myself to ensure am getting best deal.

3. Do you think you'd encourage your child(ren) to create their own gift wish lists on Prezola?

Unlikely, they are young.

4. Which retailers on Prezola did you like the most? And the least?

It did bring up a new retailer in homewards, Amara, for me, stocking a brand I like (pip designs), but I also know of at least two other physical stores I can get that in, so not giving me something new, just an alternative shopping space.

5. Do you think the idea behind the site could be improved in any way? If you were in charge of Prezola, what (if anything) would you do to make it more appealing to parents?

Not so worried about it being more appealing to parents, just more appealing. The stock pictures on the section tabs on the homepage look too commercial, it needs a softer touch, to be a bit classier. I was looking at bedding, and there was no option to filter by bed size, or whether I needed sheets, pillow cases or duvets. The duvet I liked was only in a single, so I felt I had to go elsewhere to see if they made it in other sizes as it wasn't clear.

6. Do you think you would recommend Prezola to any of your friends and/or family? If so, why? If not, why not?

If there was a financial incentive to shop there, discounts, vouchers, free delivery, likely. with a number of shopping sites, price comparison sites, and voucher sites (quidco), it Won't be my first port of call, but i'll bookmark it to come back to.