GamblingGates.com's discovery: shopping is a kind of gambling. At least for women. And there's nothing like female winning in both...
Women's online shopping as pure online gambling
Female winning in gambling is Something Special. And if we consider shopping as a kind of online gambling? $2,000 will be awarded in a shopping-gambling spree in the next version of Shops.com's “back by popular demand” virtual shopping game, Cart Me Away. During the month of July, players who select the daily winning combination of products (actually this is online betting or wagering, isn't it?) will receive an instant shopping coupon plus an entry into the $2,000 Winner’s Circle Shopping Spree sweepstakes drawing. All players – regardless of winning or losing – will be entered into the game’s monthly $1,000 shopping spree sweepstakes drawing. There is no purchase necessary to enter or win Cart Me Away, a story-driven shopping game.
The game can also be found on the Hot Mom’s Club site at www.hotmomsclub.com, a social networking website and organization dedicated to bringing together mothers who refuse to fall into the stereotypical American "mom" category – be they stay-at-home moms, undaunted professionals, unapologetically sexy or simply dynamic women who break the mold.
“Women still just want to have fun,” said Mondy Beller, senior vice president of marketing for SHOP.COM. “Our research shows that busy women ultimately want an element of joy when they’re doing online shopping. More often than not, these women are trying to get their shopping done after the kids are in bed and they’ve had time to unwind from work. Our Cart Me Away game lets them escape for a few minutes and dream about fun locations, interesting characters and fabulous merchandise while at the same time, test their shopping savvy and get a chance to win a shopping spree – talk about fun.”
More and more women today are playing online games. According to a Nielsen Entertainment study (October, 2006), 64 percent of online gamers are female. And almost half of the women (44 percent) are over the age of 40. To tap into this growing market, SHOP.COM introduced its Cart Me Away game, a steamy combination of “Sex and the City” meets “The Price is Right.” Each week a new theme is introduced – from a work trip to Bermuda to a best friend’s wedding in Chicago – and each day a new piece of the story and a new spending limit is added. Players can choose from among 20 products to pick that day’s winning combination and if they do, they receive instant shopping offers and a chance to win a shopping spree.
“I am thrilled to have won the $1,000.00 shopping spree from SHOP.COM. I’m busy searching through all the merchandise and dreaming,” said D. Kelly, winner in the first version of SHOP.COM’s Cart Me Away game that launched in May 2007. “I have to tell you that it will be very much appreciated as my husband is ill and has been unable to work for over one year.”
