Zappos!

I have never really been a fan of online shopping. Don’t get me wrong, I love browsing and can spend literally hours on end looking at website after website of clothes, shoes, electronics and whatever else it is that is available to purchase online, but I’ve rarely actually purchased something off the Internet. I always wonder about the quality of the product or – especially if it’s clothing or shoes – what it looks like on or how it will fit. Then of course there’s the issue of giving credit card information and all that good stuff, but for some (irrational) reason that bothers me less than the thought that I could receive clothing that doesn’t fit right or isn’t how it looked in the pictures online.

Very few websites give me any incentive to purchase anything off of them and usually I’ll just look up what I want online and then go to the actual store to try it on and then buy it. That is, until I found zappos.com. Zappos.com sells hundreds of brands of clothes and shoes. The website shows a detailed, clear picture of each product as well as product details. For example for shoes it will show the shoe in every color it comes in, along with how tall they are, what they are made of and how much they weigh. The best part of it is that Zappos offers free overnight shipping. It’s absolutely amazing. And if the product is not what you expected, you can ship it back for free too. I think the fact that the consumer can get what she wants right away for no extra charge is what made me fall in love with Zappos. The company really made me trust it just because I knew that I could get what I wanted right away and I if didn’t like it, I could return it just as quickly. I felt like it was safe to shop online with them. The experience was great. I just ordered a pair of shoes, my first purchase from the website, and they came in today. The fact that the shoes came on time, looked exactly like the picture and fit perfectly just cemented my good opinion of Zappos.

Not only does Zappos do a great job with customer experience, but it also knows how target their market segment. The website has bright colors to draw the consumer’s attention to new products or popular items. The navigation buttons on the top are big and easy to see, the search box is right next to them and everything on site is written in big, easy to read font. For women who like to shop online and may not be good with computers, this site is great and very easy to use. Just in case a consumer does get confused, Zappos offers a 24/7 customer service number for anyone who might need help with the site or has questions about a product. It also has a “price protection” policy where Zappos will give a 110% refund to any consumer who bought a product off of Zappos but found the same item at a different store for a cheaper price. It doesn’t get much better than that. The website knows exactly what women want when it comes to online shopping: easy browsing, convenience, fast shipping and a sense of confidence in the company. I really believe anyone who has purchased a product from Zappos will not hesitate in returning to the website in the future and buying from it again. The experience at Zappos was, for me at least, different from any previous online shopping incident I’ve ever experienced. Not only have I told my friends about this wonderful website (I was also referred to this website by a friend) but I will have no problems buying from it again.