Thursday, August 21, 2008
9:37 PM
Shopping Website Review (Shuli)
ASOS
UK's largest online fashion store
Cosmopolitan Retailer of the Year 2008
In Style Best Online Shop 2008
1. Accessibility/Ease of Navigation
- Site address is short and easy to remember
- Clothes are neatly categorized and links are clearly stated on the left
When viewing a particular category of clothes (e.g. night dresses), there are many sub-categories which you can view the clothes in.You can further view the night dresses according to colour, brand, celebrity style and colour.
The celebrity style category is helpful when I want to purchase clothes that are like my favourite celebrity's style. For example, one of my favourite celebrity is Nicole Richie. And when I click on the Nicole Richie category under day dresses, all the dresses are narrowed down to the few that are Nicole Richie's style or maybe even be something similar that she has worn before.
Giving people a chance to look like their favourite celebrity!The option of viewing the clothes that fall under the different price ranges are suitable for the budget conscious. It will save them the trouble from surfing through pages and pages of clothes which are not within their budget. There is also a clearance section where clothes are sold for half the price.
Get clothes at a fraction of the original price! However, when viewing clothes from a certain category (e.g. day dresses), I cannot immediately click to view another category (e.g. jeans). I have to take an extra step of going back to the home page before I can see all the categories again.
***2. Variety of Items Sold
- Large variety of fashionable items sold to cater to different shopper needs.
Clear pictures provided
From clothes to accessories...
- And not forgetting a selection of clothes for the petite...
Which is useful for Asians as American sizing clothes can be on the larger side.
- And also, not forgetting the Mens!
For men, it is great that there is also a large selection of clothes as my male friends do complain that online fashion websites place a larger focus on women's clothing.
***3. Clothes Information
Fabric content of clothes are provided.
Instructions for caring of clothes are provided which allows consumers to care for the garment in the best possible way so that it will last.
Moreover, they have explanations of the various care labels which are helpful for consumers who do not know how to read the care labels.
Explanation of Care Labels Sizing of the clothes including tops, skirts, dresses,pants, footwear and belts are provided neatly in tables.
When shopping online, I always have trouble when it comes to the sizing as websites always do not provide adequate information. From providing these detailed sizing charts, shopping at ASOS minimises the amount of frustration experienced when it comes to choosing the right size. But most of the time even with sizing charts, I'm unsure where to begin measuring from.
Fortunately, this problem is solved as they provide a picture of a labelled human figure to show where we should measure to get accurate sizings according the sizing charts.
Allows me to view the t-shirt at different anglesWhen viewing a particular item, ASOS will suggest other pieces that I can consider buying to complete the look. Also, by giving these suggestions, it helps me to decide how I will want to match this shirt with other clothes.
There is even a video provided where the model does a catwalk in the particular garment that you are viewing.
This function is really helpful as you will be able to see how the clothes drape over the model and get a more realistic idea of the clothes rather than just from still pictures. Moreover, it is rather rare that a website selling clothes will have this video catwalk function.
***4. Payment
Payment is usually done through Credit cards and ASOS provides a rather wide range of cards to pay with. Thus, I feel that this website is targeted more at young and mature adults who are old enough to hold one. Teenagers who have debit cards can pay through Mastercard. ASOS can consider providing the option of paying through Paypal as it is widely used online internationally
Payment is made secure by VeriSign...
VeriSign is a reliable provider of the Internet infrastructure all over the word. Even the US federal government uses VeriSign. Therefore, payment made at ASOS should be rather secure.
Lack of Paypal
***
5. Delivery
8-14days.
Any customs or import duties are levied once the package reaches its destination country.
Additional charges for customs clearance must be borne by the recipient.
Delivery conditions set by ASOS are reasonable as it is common conditions and are similar to those of other major online shopping sites.
***6.RedressQuoted from ASOSIf you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, simply return the item or items to us in their original condition* within 14 days of receipt. We will issue a full refund (excluding original delivery charge) on receipt, or exchange the item for a different size / colour if preferred. Some products are non-returnable; these are clearly marked with a '+' next to the product name.It is rather troublesome if I want to return the item as I got to ship it back to ASOS, London. Moreover, it may not reach within 14days and I got to bear those extra shipping charges. This is one downside of purchasing from an online non-local website.
Troublesome Redress for Singaporeans
***
7. ASOS Account
In order to purchase things from ASOS, one has to create an account with them. This function is rather helpful as it allows you to track your history of items that you have purchased from their site. And it allows you to track your order and its stage of processing.
***
8. Personal Feedback
Personally, I have participated in sprees where items were purchased from ASOS. Sprees conducted with ASOS usually go through without any hiccups and purchased items will be successfully received. Thus, my personal experience has been good with this website and is definitely a reliable online fashion store.
Things that can be improved
- Provide payment using Paypal
- Navigation within different categories
- Offer longer days of allowance for overseas redress issues
Labels: clothingtextile
