As ShopStyle.co.uk surpasses one million unique users – we thought it was time to speak to MD Shannon Edwards about what is so special about the shopping website.

Cited as the 16th most influential person in online fashion my The Independent Online Fashion 100, Shannon is an experienced internet professional and has worked with successful web brands for more than 10 years – so she knows her fair share about online fashion.

ShopStyle.co.uk brings together more than 2,000 of the UK’s favourite fashion brands in one place including Topshop, TheOutnet, French Connection, Whistles, Reiss and more. ShopStyle’s technology also means that users can not only search for fashion, style and beauty products but can also post, blog and share their opinions, wish lists and most importantly create their own personal collection or “StyleBook”.

What was the idea behind the site in the first place?
When British, US-based founder Andy Moss noticed that shoes were the strongest search term on another successful shopping site he founded, he knew the time was right for a fashion search site. ShopStyle was started in the US in 2007 and the UK in 2008 and quickly helped to reshape the fashion ecommerce landscape. Today we also have sites in France, Germany, Japan and Australia.

Why do you think it has been so popular?
There are so many fantastic fashion websites available to the UK – and the global – shopper. ShopStyle is a fantastic way to easily navigate that content. Perhaps you know your favourite brand and you just want to see what’s new or you know you need a little black dress and don’t know where to start. It’s a fantastic way to discover what’s new from the brands you love and fall in love brands new to you.

How did you feel when you heard you were the 16th most influential person in online fashion?
I was honoured. I live for online shopping and can be rather allergic to shopping in store! So to know I’m doing what I love and feel rewarded for it was great.

What do you think it is that is so appealing about online fashion?
It allows you to take the time to think about what you are buying. You can scan the web for content that inspires you. You can go away and think about what you want to buy. You can sit comfortably, quietly and surf. Most importantly, most of us don’t have the luxury of much time to shop and online fashion allows you to dress well while not compromising on other aspects of your life.

Do you think online fashion will grow a lot more in years to come and how do you think it might develop?
Online fashion will continue to evolve. You’ll see more integration with other ways we spend time online – via social media, on mobile, within content.

Visit ShopStyle.co.uk to see what all the fuss is about!

Which is your favourite place to buy online – other than ShopStyle?
I love sites that make my life easier, such as Ocado, Kiddicare and Amazon; sites that ‘curate’ their fashion offering like Monica & Joe, Coggles, My Wardrobe; and finally sites that are just pretty to shop such as Belle & Boo.

What made you switch from journalism to what you do now?
To succeed as a journalist you need to be naturally inquisitive. I think that’s been a theme of my career as I’ve enthusiastically explored a lot of different areas. But the biggest turning point for me was in 1999 as I heard rumblings of exciting goings-on in San Francisco. I needed to get there! And I did within a couple of months of reading a few articles about the tech market. Even at that time I was a passionate devotee of online shopping having worked with my ecommerce sites in the early days from Drugstore.com and Beauty.com to Yahoo! Shopping and a few interesting shopping sites that never made it past 2000!

Are there any plans for the future of the site?
We have exciting plans to further open up a global market place and give shoppers the ability to explore all of the stores globally. We are also always looking for ways to enhance and improve the experience of shopping on our site.

If you had to say what the three best things about ShopStyle are what would they be?
Tools that make your life easier and shopping more pleasurable
The ability to shop the world from home
A community of enthusiastic users that help to inspire