Without leaving your PC, you can use the Internet to shop dozens of malls, visit hundreds of stores, and browse thousands of brand-name and designer products. The bonuses to shopping online are many: no parking woes, you don't have to wait for sales, and the stores are open 24/7, 365 days a year.

The Web shopping experience is safer than ever, with all the websites below offering secure-online ordering, money back guarantees, free shipping in some cases, and award-winning customer service. Whether you are just "browsing," or if you're a shopper on a mission, there's something for everyone.

When you're ready to shop 'til you drop, The Internet Mall is the crème de la crème. Open for business since 1994, The Internet Mall boasts an overwhelming 25,000 stores, billing itself "the world's largest shopping site."

This shopper's paradise has won over 30 industry awards for its design, comprehensive listings and irresistible deals. The home page highlights the day's top products, along with a listing of Top Ten most-ordered products in several categories, like sports and CDS.

Visit the "Shop Now Super stores" for books, music, sports, auto or travel, or window-shop by directory. Every category's main page features two products, and links to store websites.

Backed by Big Blue itself, 1World Center is the "ultimate internet shopping location." 1World's design is visually appealing and less cluttered than other shopping sites. Rather than recommending products, it lets you do the window shopping through colorful, photo-filled departments bursting with brand names like Cuisinart and Aiwa.

And if you know exactly what you're looking for, you can search via General, A to Z, Brand Name, or its Quickfind feature. 1World offers a $25 certificate just for visiting the site.

Despite its homey name, Blueberry Mall is all business. This site is a gateway to two shopping experiences: Specialty Shops, like Books and Music, through its link to Spree, or you can shop the Main Mall. Here you'll find 30,000 name brand products like Nike, Sony, Hanes and Motorola.

Sometimes only the chicest, hippest names will do, and that's where Designers Direct comes in. Only the biggest names in fashion can be found here—Gucci, DKNY, Versace, Guess, Calvin Klein—to name just a few. An outlet and a mall all in one, this site features sales and closeouts, free shipping, and if you want to go the traditional route, 24 hour fax and phone orders.

Cool Shopping is the young, hip, irreverent site that just may be the future of online shopping. You can completely personalize the shopping experience by setting up a "Personal Start Page" (you have to fill out a form with your preferences, which is then stored for future visits) and it even has its own shopping soap opera, "Coolblue Heat." The current episode featured a trip to the mall with the kids—would the parents survive?

Say you're hungry after all that shopping at the mall… then head on over to Great Food . For those willing to spend more for specialty and gourmet foods, look no further than this classy arena for smoked salmon, hams, turkeys, chocolates and other desserts.

Three drop down menus—"Fancy Foods", "Tasty Gifts" and "Features and Info"—lead you into the succulent world of top-drawer goodies. At my last visit, I sampled the Belgian cremes, cheese spreads and the lobsters, all in living color.

But what about your everyday grocery shopping? The Net Grocer ships via FedEx at 20 percent off supermarket prices. It gets high marks for aggressive prices, extraordinary value, and excellent customer satisfaction.

Color pictures guide you to all your family's favorite foods, whether they be gourmet, kosher, or organic. This site doesn't stop at food, though. You can also shop for housewares, books, video, and a photo department. You won't miss the shopping cart with the wonky wheel after stopping here.

If even after all this browsing, you still haven't found what you're looking for, there's always the tried-and-true catalog. Catalog Finder caters to the catalog junkie. This nice-looking site is searchable by category or keyword, with a listing of 15,000 catalogs. You can view a company's website and order a copy of your favorite catalogs online.

Finally, there's an "industry watchdog," so to speak, for online shopping. Biz Rate Inc. has earned the nickname "the Consumer Reports of Online Shopping" for its work in checking and rating shopping sites.

It's an essential resource, giving sites a score out of possible perfect ten, based on selection, security, order tracking, information privacy, live customer support, even gift wrapping. Both customers and Biz Rate staffers rate sites, so the shopper can be certain that his or her experience will be worry-free.

There's a whole new world of shopping just waiting for you out there. So what are you waiting for? Get out that plastic, and let's go shopping!