IBood.com offers free online shopping to draw customers

Consumer electronics website iBood.com will offer free shopping through its site next week in a bid to boost its brand awareness.

The offer, claimed to be the first of its kind, will launch on October 2. The offer will run three times a day, with the free periods announced half an hour in advance.

The promotion is designed to create a buzz around the site and draw in customers. Shoppers have to enter three e-mail addresses, which will then be sent marketing messages. Once registered there will be no limits on the number of times users can take advantage of the offer and iBood.com is promising to give away thousands of products through the scheme.

IBood.com, which was launched last year, sells a range of consumer electronics, gadgets and domestic appliances but only offers one product at a time. A new deal goes live at midnight each day.

The company is owned by Dutch company Silver Ocean and is currently available in 19 countries around Europe.

Silver Ocean says it wants to turn iBood.com into a top- five shopping site for Europe with a turnover of 12m (8m), within two years.