Wanelo, the newest shopping app on the block

Wanelo – a portmanteau of WAnt, NEed, LOve – is a clever new concept that blends the basics of Pinterest with the most popular thing on the web. Shopping! I hope you weren’t thinking of anything else….

Get inspired by other people’s finds

Wanelo Shopping lets you view cool stuff that other users have decided you – and they – might want to buy. The items are laid out very visually, which is why it’s a bit like Pinterest. You can filter results by Woman, Man, Kids and Home, and give a price guide by choosing $ or $$.

Wanelo Shopping also has a social function, where you can follow people who post stuff you like, or you can find your friends on Facebook or Twitter. You can send these friends messages, and fill in your profile so you look a little more interesting.

More filters, please!

Using Wanelo Shopping is very easy. It’s not a complicated app – set a filter, search for stuff and then buy or save things you like. If you’re actually buying, Wanelo Shopping will take you to the seller’s website. That said, there’s so much stuff for sale out there that some extra filters would be great – Man, Woman, Kids and Home is fine, but you lose them as soon as you search for a particular item, and some more parameters, like color, type, etc. would be very welcome.

Slick app, variable content

The Wanelo Shopping app makers have kept their app simple, which is great as it means they have maximized the quality. It works, it looks good, and using it is a smooth experience. The content though – the stuff people want to buy – is hit and miss. We get the feeling that most of the app’s users are teenage girls. If you’re a teenage girl, great! If you’re not, well, there are only so many sparkly tube tops you need, you know?

Lots of potential, but a long road to go

Wanelo Shopping has the potential to be a knockout app – in terms of usability and potential damage to your wallet! It looks good and handles well, but as things stand, it doesn’t have universal appeal. Items are added by users, so I guess it’s only by attracting a more varied group that the content will have a broader appeal. Once that happens, Wanelo will want to step up filtering and search. Then, maybe, Wanelo Shopping and I can talk.