We all love online shopping, if not for the problems that we have to face. For starters, we don’t know of enough shopping sites, apart from the few big shots. Plus, even if we can shop at a particular site, it may not ship to our country, and even if it does, the shipping fee is absolutely merciless!

But if you must shop, we’ve gone ahead and done the legwork for you. Here are 60 famous online shopping websites that people of 30 countries frequent for their online shopping needs. Who knows, you might be able to save on your shopping fee and have more to gift others. Do check out our holiday shopping guide for ideas.

Read Also: Ultimate Holiday Shopping Guide

USA

Amazon. Crowned as the region’s largest online retailer, you could be overwhelmed by their endless line of products.

eBay. Ranked 20th in Alexa’s world ranking, eBay is the largest auction site in the world, where you can buy or sell any stuff via auctions.

Walmart. Aside from being home to many "interesting" shoppers Walmart is also home to everything you can find under the sun.

Target. ‘Express More. Pay Less’ is the slogan for Target, and it’s apparently true with the ‘Save’ word displayed everywhere in the website.

Best Buy. Weekly deals, hottest deals, trade-in, reward zones, Best Buy makes sure you get the best out of every purchase.

France

PriceMinister. BD, CD, DVD, Blu-ray, consoles and tablets – you are right, PriceMinister is for anyone looking for digital and electronic fun.

Vente-privee. Vente-Privee is best known for its sales events that deliver quality American and European brands, with up to 70% off retail.

Fnac. This is certainly the right place for you to seek electronic products including most brands of hardware and software. And don’t forget Flash sales!

La Redoute. La Redoute is the clothing brands solution for all ages. The site also owns a high-tech hardware department.

Canada

Future Shop. Always wanted to stand on the front line of technology? Future Shop covers all latest tech products and if you need furniture and musical instruments, well, they have those too.

Canadian Tire. Tires, treadmills, hunting accessories, find wild stuff in Canadian Tire.

Sears. Most of your indoor and outdoor needs can be satisfied by Sears, otherwise it won’t declare itself as an American multinational mid-range department store chain.

China

Taobao. Ranked 13th in Alexa’s world ranking, Taobao is so famous that even Overseas Chinese have adopted it as their main online shopping platform. Its commercial success could be credited to its 760 million product listings (wow!).

tmall. Originally named Taobao Mall, tmall is now the independent retail market with lots of crazy promotion going on.

JD. In case you couldn’t get your wished item in Taobao, JD.com has over 300,000 more goodies waiting for you. Find more shopping sites in China here (they’re all pretty big).

Japan

Rakuten. What you see below is Japanese’ no.1 online shopping destination, also the final destination for wallets.

ZOZOTOWN. And where do Japanese seek fashion brands? Probably the ZOZOTOWN with 700 popular brands.

Uniqlo. As a rising Japanese casual wear designer, manufacturer and retailer, Uniqlo aims to triumph in global markets.

New Zealand

Trade Me. Living in New Zealand and want to trade stuff in the biggest community? Trade Me is the website for you.

The Warehouse. Hot Deal, On Sale, and Bundle Offer are words you often see in this website, so go ahead and give it a visit.

Lazada. Order your products and pay at your doorstep, with a 14-day free return policy!

Russia

OZON. When it comes to the site description, OZON is fearless to declare it is Russia’s largest online store with product ranged from hardware to cosmetics.

Ulmart. All you can see on Ulmart’s front page are special offers, superb prices and bestsellers. They do a good job to keep prudent consumers interested.

AliExpress. Different from Alibaba, AliExpress is the B2C (Business to Consumer) platform for consumers and small business owners, and needless to say, they got tons of items for endless browsing.

Singapore

Qoo10. Branded as an ‘incredible shopping paradise’, Qoo10 has an amazing collection of products from all over the world. Discounts are everywhere in the site, and group purchases cut you a better deal.

ZALORA. Lift your fashion sense with ZALORA, the online store that caters to all fashion needs for all occasions. Diversity is guaranteed.

Reebonz. Though Reebonz is a member-only shopping website, it offers truly luxurious yet affordable clothing goods, so expect the best from it.

United Kingdom

Tesco. Practically everything you want to buy (yes, groceries too) in supermarket, is here in the Tesco website.

Argos. By paying a visit to Argos, you have over 45,000 choices spread over all kinds of products such as TVs, laptops, toys, etc. Local store pick-up is available.

ASOS. As one of the UK’s largest online-only fashion stores, ASOS helps you to discover over 40,000 styles in both men and women’s clothing and accessory section.

Brazil

MercadoLivre. MercadoLivre has been dedicating its services to e-commerce and online auction, and is now Latin America’s no.1 e-commerce website.

Submarino. With its cheerful web design, Submarino offers products you will enjoy, and that includes books, games, phones, tablets, and even clothing.

Germany

DaWanda. Not only can you buy creative and gorgeous handmade products, you could also sell one in DaWanda!

Media Markt. Put your confidence into Media Markt, which claims to be the second largest retailer of consumer electronics after America’s Best Buy.

India

Flipkart. Proclaimed as the company that pioneers the online shopping trend in India, Flipkart proves its reputation with plethora of products suited to both your living and entertainment need.

Snapdeal. 2013 is the year that Snapdeal saved over 4,000,000,000 rupees for its consumers. Now it’s your turn to save like never before.

Indonesia

Tokobagus. In Tokobagus you can connect to the buyer through phone or email to discuss price.

Bhinneka. If you look into Bhinneka, you will be impressed with the categories of products it hold. But fear not, Bhinneka has clean layout for your browsing convenience.

Malaysia

Lelong. Meet Lelong, the #1 website where Malaysian trade their products, with a dedicated Q&A section publicly displayed on most product’s page.

IPmart. IPmart is your ideal place to search for electronic and digital goods in Malaysia, but for sure it also accepts international order.

Pakistan

Shophive. Since its foundation, Shophive has been providing online shopping experience to Pakistan people with fast and free delivery as promise.

Daraz. Just like most countries, Pakistan people love shopping and discount, and Daraz is one of their top choices.

Spain

El Corte Inglés. Besides really stylish web design, El Corte Inglés has its favorable selection of fashion products that lives up the meaning of elegance.

ZARA. Discover the fashion spirit in you with ZARA’s selection of clothes and accessories.

South Korea

Gmarket. Craving for Korean fashion products? Give Gmarket a chance and it will not disappoint you.

YESSTYLE. Expect and enjoy fashion products from Asian countries like Korea, Japan, China, etc. With your membership sign-up and recurring purchase, you will also be offered further discount.

Taiwan

Ruten. Looking at all sorts of products that choked entire website layout, it’s doubtful to say you could not find what you want on Ruten.

SHOP.COM. The best thing about Shop.com is its English counterpart for overseas consumers.

Vietnam

Vatgia. Online shopping in Vietnam just got easier with Vatgia, the superstore that provides hundreds of thousands of products from thousands of suppliers.

Argentina

Garbarino. Want to shop for electronic goods while saving money at the same time? Garbarino is the answer for that, and it will even inform you how much you saved with the purchase.

Australia

Deals Direct. The site description, ‘Australia’s #1 Online Department Store’ says it all.

Italy

Zalando. Never get yourself bugged with limited choices, as Zalando has over 1000 fashion brands for you to compare.

Netherlands

bol. If you ever think you missed out an online superstore, bol is the one with over 7 million items.

Philippines

Hallo Hallo Mall. You won’t get bored with Hallo Hallo Mall, as it is simply an embodiment of 5000 shops with 200,000 products.

Saudi Arabia

Namshi. Namshi has been praised with its fast and efficient delivery, but its true strength comes from its selection of best brands among the world.

Sweden

Tradera. Shop with 2.5 million members and around 1 million listings in Tradera. You won’t waste your time on this.

Switzerland

Ricardo. Diversity and promotion are two factors that make Ricardo one of the most visited online stores in Switzerland.

Thailand

WeLoveShopping. Everyone loves shopping! Besides the good name, WeLoveShopping has enough quality products to satisfy your shopping soul.

Turkey

GittiGidiyor. GittiGidiyor is the busiest online shopping center in Turkey with hardware and accessories products listed, and clothing in case you wonder!

United Arab Emirates

Souq. Look for no alternative as Souq is the biggest e-commerce site in the Arab world, and authorized payment platform is absolutely a plus.

If you know of more shopping sites in your area please tell us in the commens below. Happy shopping everyone!

Editor’s note: This is a contributed post by Catherine Khor, avid traveller, smartphone addict (and proud of it), food and dog lover. She found herself in Bangkok one day, fell in love with the city and never looked back. You can find her still smitten at Bayu Bangkok.

Time to get those legs moving. No, not to the gym, but to visit beaches, watch sunsets, rejuvenate, eat food from a menu you cannot read, shake off the work-related worries and heal stressed out relationships with your loved ones. There is only so much you can do at work. But there is a lot you can do with travel apps particularly if you are of the social media generation.

“Wish you were here!” won’t work anymore. Now, you can share your journeys and trips with pictures, social updates, blogs and videos. Make new travel memories with your friends and family and revisit them in your travel blogs. Find hidden gems recommended by other travelers or recommend that awesome travel spot that travel guides forget to mention.

Recommended Reading: Road Trip: 60 Mobile Apps For Travelers

Share your passion for travel. And this list of 15 best travel apps to log your adventures will help you do just that.

Travelog

Record your travel moments with photos, pin your adventures on the map and discover other hidden gems straight from the mouths of other travelers. Get up-to-date and new stories from travelers around the world.

[Platform: iOS]

TripMayor

Another way of recording your trips and journal in a simple way, Trip Mayor is more towards a photo journal. If you love Instagram you will definitely love TripMayor.

[Platform: iOS | Android]

MapQuest Travel Blog

Blog your detailed journey day-by-day from your favourite restaurant, accommodation, activities and transportation. What’s best about this app is, it works online and offline.

[Platform: iOS]

Tripvi

Tripvi is a Korean app that showcases your travelog as a movie! It also organizes your photos according to city and date, and based on your travel route.

[Download: iOS | Android]

Livemapp

Snap your favorite photos and pin them on the map. Zoom in on the map and discover where you’ve been or where fellow Livemapp users are.

[Platform: iOS]

Everplaces

Share places of interest such as restaurants you’ve come across, your accommodation, the malls and museums you visited with Everplaces. Shared photos will come with a full address on a map. Travelers can then add in their recommendations on their photos.

[Platform: iOS]

Trevi

If you log your jounreys and travels with photos, using Trevi will ensure that your photos take center stage. The photos will be organized according to the visited country, and the miles you have traveled will be calculated from the map.

[Platform: iOS]

TripHere

A Korean app, TripHere lets you switch to “On Trip” mode when you are traveling. Change back to “In Daily Life” mode when you are not traveling. "In Daily Life" mode allows you to share your day trip or daily life journey. Share questions and recommendations amongst fellow travelers in real-time.

[Platform: iOS]

TravelPod

This app is built for travel. It works seamlessly online and offline and you can use it to upload your adventures and journeys via videos and photos.

[Platform: iOS]

Off Exploring

Update your journey while offline and sync it when you have the Internet connection. You get your own free website address. And you can book your accommodation with Off Exploring too.

[Platform: iOS]

Jauntlet

Update your Facebook posts, Foursquare check-ins, tweets and Instagram photos like normal, and Jauntlet will collect them and map out your travels for you. You can also add to it by updating your travel blog.

[Platform: iOS | Android]

Geospike

Log on and snap a photo which comes with the location of where you are (this makes it great as a real-time journey log). Plus, you don’t have to duplicate your updates onto other social networks like Facebook or Twitter – just syndicate it.

[Platform: iOS | Android]

Places I’ve Traveled

This app comes with a photo enhancer and map-pinned places, showcasing where you have visited. You can track the distance you have traveled and there is even a leaderboard of miles traveled in the app.

[Platform: iOS]

Get Jealous Travel Blog

You can use this app to browse traveler’s blogs or find more at their site GetJealous.com. The app can be used to update your own blog with photos and diary entries, and even map stops.

[Platform: iOS]

TripColor

TripColor works fine even without Internet connection and you can get references from other traveler guides on an interactive map. It’s the web travel portfolio you will love.

[Platform: iOS]

Bonus: 4 More Apps to Log Your Travels

The free travel-logging apps not doing it for you? Here are 4 more paid apps that may be able to give you more. They’re all only for iOS though. If you are already using them, let us know if you like them better than what we have above.

Travel Stories

Besides using this app to track your destinations, this app is good for meticulous travelers. Travelers can track their cost, destination, itinerary and transfers and currencies. [$0.99]

[Platform: iOS]

My Vacation

This is a travel journal that allows you to upload photos, videos, locations, audio recordings and written notes. And it also has links which can be directed to third-party websites such as local weather and exchange rate sites.

[Platform: iPhone & iPod Touch - $3.99 | iPad - $5.99 ]

Dcovery

Get your photos organized accordingly. The navigation on the map will show the destination’s address in local languages to avoid communication barriers while traveling. It comes with an offline information travel guide, weather forecast and local times. [$3.99]

[Platform: iOS]

Momento

Momento connects to your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Flickr, Foursquare, Youtube and Vimeo, and is like an archive of your life. It lets you create your journal not just on a day by day basis but down to the hours and minutes, with pictures and journals. [$2.99]

[Platform: iOS]

Have you ever witnessed the night sky illuminated with northern lights? The beautiful emissions of light scattered all over the sky, painting the scene of a perfect magical night. While some of us may not have the opportunity to experience this wonderful natural phenomenon in person, you can, at the very least, enjoy having such a beautiful scenery as your desktop wallpaper.

For this week’s Wallpaper Wednesday, we’ve got for you a compilation of beautiful and amazing aurora borealis wallpapers. May you enjoy the northern light experience!

Recommended Reading: 26 Gorgeous Aurora And Colour Spectrum Wallpapers

Aurora Borealis Dream. Available in various sizes.

Aurora Borealis Desktop Landscape. Available in 2560×1600.

Winter Northern Sky. Available in 1920×1200.

Colorful Northern Lights. Available in 1920×1080.

Alaska Northern Lights. Available in various sizes.

Mountains Aurora Borealis. Available in 1920×1080.

Natural Wonders of Northern Lights. Available in various sizes.

Aurora Skies. Available in 1920×1080.

Aurora Borealis Night Landscape. Available in various sizes.

Aurora Borealis. Available in various sizes.

Night Star Tents. Available in 1600×1200.

Purple Aurora. Available in various sizes.

Aurora Background Wallpaper. Available in 1920×1080.

Nature’s Green Lights. Available in 1920×1200.

Sometimes, you may have the need to put your website into maintenance mode for upgrades. This would make your website temporarily unavailable to public access. You wouldn’t want errors to pop up when you are running important updates in the background, right?

(Image credit: Aditya)

There are several ways of putting a website into maintenance mode, and the technical details may differ accordingly. If you are on WordPress, here are 3 ways to put your website into maintenance mode.

Recommended Reading: Smarter Way To Prevent Image Hotlinking With .Htaccess

Using .Htaccess

If you are using the Apache server, you can use.htaccess to control access of the directories within the server, and send a response code of the server status.

To put the website into maintenance mode, you can use the 503 status code, which indicates that the server is temporarily unavailable.

Before we specify anything in .htaccess, however, we need to create a new file in.html or .php format, and add a message in the file, e.g.

Sorry we are down for maintenance, but we’ll be back up shortly.

Style your page. Next, open the .htaccess file in your server, and add the following:

 <IfModule mod_rewrite.c> RewriteEngine on RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^123\.456\.789\.000 RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !/maintenance.html$ [NC] RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !\.(jpe?g?|png|gif) [NC] RewriteRule .* /maintenance.html [R=503,L] </IfModule> 

This will set the server status code to 503, while also redirects visitors to the maintenance page. You can set your IP address with the following line RewriteCond %{REMOTE_ADDR} !^123\.456\.789\.000 so that you will still be able to access your website.

WordPress Built-in Maintenance Page

When updating WordPress, plugins, or themes, you can create a file called .maintenance that says

Briefly unavailable for scheduled maintenance. Check back in a minute.

This file will be automatically removed when the process is completed – if the process fails, the file could get stuck in your server, so you have to remove it manually.

The problem is that .maintenance is not customizable, as it is generated dynamically.

So, if your emphasis is on the overall appearance of your website, you can create a file named maintenance.php, which you can customize with CSS, then put inside thewp-content folder. That way, the next time you update WordPress or plugins, WordPress will use the content inside this file.

The function is specfied in wp-includes/load.php, like so.

 if ( file_exists( WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/maintenance.php' ) ) { require_once( WP_CONTENT_DIR . '/maintenance.php' ); die(); } 

Using a Plugin

There are several WordPress plugins available to help put your website into maintenance mode, but my personal favorite is the Maintenance Mode plugin by Michael Wohrer. Although this plugin hasn’t been updated for about 2 years now, it still works perfectly.

Using the Maintenance Mode plugin, you can simply activate or deactivate the maintenance mode with a few clicks. You can also specify how long the website will be in maintenance mode.

In addition, this plugin comes with a default theme template to be displayed when the maintenance mode is activated. You can also use your own theme by creating a 503.php file and uploading it to your theme directory. Just go to the Maintenance Mode Setting page and select the 503.php file you have created.

Here is a sample page where I used this plugin along with a 503.php page template.

Conclusion

We hope you found this tutorial useful in helping you run your WordPress site more efficiently. For further reading on the subject, you can head over to the following sites.

• Redirect to Maintenance Page for Site Update — PerishablePress
• Function Reference: wp maintenance — WordPress Codex