Consumer Online celebrates with 10,000 members!
Consumer Online celebrates its 2nd birthday this week, having reached the major milestone of 10,000 paid subscribers.
Consumer Online, the web face of Consumers' Institute of New Zealand, was launched as a subscription service in August
2001. It provides instant access to Consumer's independent test results and ratings for thousands of products and
services, with over three years of archived reports.
Consumer Online members can use a variety of interactive product comparison tools and calculators, and receive email
updates and alerts. Members pay $65.50 per year or $20 per quarter to access the service.
The most popular parts of the site are the test reports for home appliances, electronics and computing gear, the car
buying guide, and personal finance reports.
Free features complement the member-only content, including consumer law guides, a product recall database, a
scam-protection resource and Consumer PowerSwitch, which allows users to find the best deal on electricity.
"We are delighted with the strong membership growth and the great feedback we get about Consumer Online," said David
Russell, Consumers' Institute chief executive.
"It's a clear sign that people will pay for information online, provided that it's reliable and saves them time and
money. The high subscription renewal rate indicates how useful the service is to our members."
"With New Zealanders increasingly turning to the Internet for advice and research, trusted and unbiased data is becoming
a precious commodity. We see Consumer Online as a vital service to the New Zealand online community, and the internet
will continue to be a growing channel for us."
Consumer Online uses an XML based content management system, provided by Infinity Solutions, to maintain the site, and
currently receives over 50,000 visits per month.