ZamZuu Review:

The ZamZuu website starts out with a video composed of vibrating tempo based music and signs. It explains that this is an online shopping site which provides "the ultimate shopping experience".  They claim the Internet is not going away but is growing stronger as more people turn to it for their shopping instead of getting in their cars and going to the mall. I, 2009, only 3% of retails was online, but the "shift", as the company calls it, is growing. In their view, E-commerce is the future of economic success. ZamZuu is what is known as a product distribution system.

Many sales gurus agree that marketing is best achieved through word of mouth instead of advertising to the masses. This is where ZamZuu comes into the picture. When polled, people said they shopped online to save time, gas and hassles. ZamZuu provides that opportunity by linking from the retail websites. They claim to have access to 700 stores, online nutraceuticals and other products. The video shows big names such as Wal-Mart or Best Buy, Hertz, etc.  Then the video ends and says to contact a ZamZuu rep today.  However, unless you create a log in, you can't, which opens you up to all sorts of internet spam.

To find out more without logging in, go http://shopytb.com. You  can view the stores alphabetically by name, or by category such as clothing, automotive, health and beauty, etc.  Beside each store's name is the cash-back percentage you can "earn up to". The site also offers coupons and incentives as well as cash-back for purchasing.  Cash-back checks are processed the last week of each month. The concept behind this is it is more profitable to offer online products than to pay for store fronts, utilities and employees. Yet many of the stores they offer as available through ZamZuu are stores that have branches worldwide and their own online sites.  It is unclear, then as to why going through a ZamZuu link would be so beneficial to these companies that they would offer cash back incentives for doing so.

ZamZuu claims there is no fee for signing up for an account. You get notices such as birthday and anniversary dates coming up to help you know when to shop. You can develop a list of your favorite stores ( presumably the ones that offer the higher cash back percentages)as a tab. The website states there is no commission for referring people to set up a ZamZuu account since to do so is free. Thus, how a ZamZuu rep. makes money other than shopping online is unclear.

YTB
1901 E. Edwardsville Road
Wood River, Illinois 62095

It seems to be a somewhat common trend in the MLM business world to see companies struggle, either from economic changes, lack of competent management, and sometimes even as the result of illegal activities. In YTB'S case (YourTravelBiz.com), they faced the challenge of bargaining with the California and Illinois Attorney Generals, in addition to dealing with the threat of a class-action lawsuit by their former representatives. Eventually, the negative publicity caused their stocks to dwindle, and the end result was the liquidation of several of their assets. While YTB is still active and fairly strong, the damage done is permanent, and the company felt that its potential was bottle-necked enough start ShopYTB, which eventually became ZamZuu.

The company offers an online shopping portal designed to save the shopper money by utilizing rebates which vary between 2.5 and 3.0%. The products cover everything you might find at a typical K-Mart, from common household items, general tools, pillows and DVDs.

Becoming a distributor means spending a whopping $250 on top of a monthly fee of $50, which isn't a very attractive offer for most people, let alone those without any networking experience. After purchasing the web site, you then need to generate as much traffic as you can in order to get a percentage of all purchases made. In addition, you would also use the web site to recruit other distributors, whose sales will also garner you a percentage. Its an attractive offer if an entrepreneur has the social resources, time, initial investment of $300 and dedication.

Its easy to see how business like this make a profit even when new recruits fail, because every single individual inducted into the program has invested three hundred dollars, and will more than likely spend more than a couple of months trying to get their business up and running. Its also hard to imagine how much competition there must be with so many ZamZuu sites, all competing with each other.

On the plus side, there is no shortage of people that would prefer doing their shopping online, not only in home goods and electronics, but even food shopping with companies such as Peapod, or Southeastern.

YTB's latest offering under the ZamZuu name appears to be legit, and although I can see the many challenges involved, I can also see the potential since it will be functioning within such a consumer dominated society. With the right networking skills, time, and effort, this could be a worthwhile business, however there are other portals that have been around longer ready to take on the competition, and with YTB's troubled start, ZamZuu seems to stand in the middle of the road as far as life expectancy.