ASOS is an international online retailer shop settled in the UK that sells a great range of men and female fashion, beauty and jewellery products at great prices. Young people, from 16 to 34 y.o.a. are their preferred target. They cater for all sizes, from petite to oversized. In a way, ASOS is a "very fashionable right now" sort of shop, although they also sell items from well-known designers like Calvin Klein, Stella McCartney, Dita Von Teese, Ralph Lauren, and Armani Exchange among others. They even have a marketplace area to buy/sell pre-owned, second hand and vintage clothing.
Although usually ASOS is
not my cup of tea, this is a great place to shop from, and I especially like their lingerie and hosiery areas. I bought a
couple of fancy tights, which are ridiculously expensive in Australia, for a very good price.
ASOS offers free shipping to Australia on all standard orders, no matter how much (or how little) you spend. This is great, always, especially if you just fancy little cheap things, which you would not buy if you had to add a shipping fee.
ASOS' website is very
easy to browse, very simple and clean to the eye, still very well organised and extremely informative. They even have a corner
devoted to fashion trends. The photos are
zoomable, their refining search system fantastic, and Australian sizing
and prices are shown all the time as the ASOS Australia online site is
where you are automatically directed if you live in Australia.
Major credit/debit cards and
PayPal are accepted for payment, but you will need to register before checking out. ASOS stands out, to me, for the great service and diligence with which they fulfil your orders. I placed my order on a Sunday, and the parcel was posted that very day! This is the first time that an online shop does that, and I buy online a lot. Confirmation order and tracking link were provided a immediately, and the tracking link was updated and emailed to me once the parcel was handed over to Australia Post. My parcel (normal standard shipping) took less than a week to reach my place in Western Australia from the UK. That is... how to put it?... wow! That is what usually takes parcels from the Eastern States to reach WA.
Trenery is an Australian brand and online shop managed and operated by the same firm that created Country Road, of which is a sort of spin-off. Trenery, like its sister, offers simple, almost minimal, women and men fashion clothing and accessories. They do have a limited selection of items and styles for sale, smart casual mostly, something that you can wear for more than a season, but nothing really wow or daring, still that sort of chic staple you want to have in your wardrobe for seasons to come and match with the trends in vogue. The quality of what they sell is good and the pricing medium.
Trenery's website is clean and no-fuss, easy to navigate, well organised with a good viewing system. You have to register to order, and they offer free shipping to Australia and order tracking. Your purchase is sent by courier, but will be taken to your nearest Post Office if you are not at home. I love this, as it saves you the nuissance of having to reschedule the delivery with the courier.
Their Phone Customer Service is very friendly and helpful, and it is managed and operated from Australia and by Australians.
Returns are allowed within 14 days from receipt, and you can return the item by Post or via any Trenery shop in your city, if there is any.
I purchased the Juniper Satchel in Caramel and I am very satisfied with Trenery's service and the bag itself. The quality of the leather is good but not heavy, and it is very versatile as it can be worn and used as a small tote, as a cross-body or as an oversized foldable clutch. They have it in the very trendy royal blue and red. The downside is the mediocrity of the lining. The bag comes with a dust bag.
Trenery is not daring or avant-garde, but it is perfect for timeless trendy pieces that you will be wearing for more than a year. They have a simple practical website, fast free shipping within Australia, and a friendly customer service. They also deliver internationally.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT They need to improve the photographic views of the bags, showing at least one photo of the interior of the bag, and one on a person or mannequin (Nordstrom's style) to show how the bag falls on your body, and how big it is.
Nordstrom is a upscale chain store that specialises in clothing, accessories and beauty products for men and women. They offer a huge selection of products that include medium-range designers and upper-range ones, plus their own brand products.
The online store is one of my favourites on the Internet because of the range of products and styles they have, from very cheap to very expensive, from classic to fashionista, their extraordinary customer service, their clear details about the products and shipment, and their formality.
Their website is very well structured, easily navigable, clean, and with an instant zoom system that really brings the products to life. Their photos of the products are extremely accurate and you get a very close idea of how the product looks like, and almost how it feels like. They rarely beautify the product. Their individual pages have, beyond the zoom and multiple angle views, a great written description of the product with accurate measurements of the same. The customers can leave their review of the item, and they usually do, so you get a good idea of some of the issues or virtues of the product you are interested in. There is also a section called discussion in the same page, where you can ask other customers for advice or details about the product. As good as it gets.
The accessories section (bags, watches, wallets, jewels, etc.) is fantastic, classy and a real must to fashion aficionados on a budget. If you don't have budget restrictions you still can go to the designers section and pay a fortune for your favourite designers and products. Each section is updated weekly, sometimes daily, and the sales section is constantly updated, too, with discounts that usually go from the 30-50%. A reason to keep an eye on Nordstrom.
Their online chat and customer service is outstanding. Their operators are friendly, honest and so very helpful. The best customer service ever. The HR team really does a good job at selecting the operators, as you feel like a royal when dealing with them. So well they treat you!!!
Moreover, they have a free international return policy that allows you to return your purchase if you don't like it or are not completely satisfied with it. This means that you can return an item that is not defective or faulty any time. Besides, you won't be paying any return fees. How cool is that?!
They have regular customer surveys asking for your opinion on the website, your level of satisfaction on different matters, and asking for improvement suggestions. They do really care about the customer.
The first down of the company is that the shipping and payment is done via a third company, called Fiftyone, a fact that slows down the shipping, as the payment has to be verified before the shipment order is accepted and transmitted to the shipment place. It can take up to two or three days and you could find that the product you have ordered is no longer available. Furthermore, each item you order is processed and packed independently, as if they were sold to two different people, so the shipment fees sky-rocket. That is so, because Nordstrom is not doing the shipment directly. Therefore, you will be subject to the practices, polices and restrictions of the brands you are shopping from. As a result, you think twice before ordering anything, as some of the shipping fees can be very high. Other companies selling of the net wave the shipping fees if the purchase is over 100 or 200 dollars, which really incentives the sales. This should be the aim of Nordstrom, too.
The second down, derived of the brands restrictions, is that those brands decide if they want to ship internationally or not, and some don't. Therefore, some brands for which you pay double in Australia cannot be purchased online, while others with limited sale places in the country can neither be ordered from. This is a great inconvenience, and a short-sighted policy that harms the sales of both Nordstrom and the brand company that is not selling internationally.
If Nordstrom took charge of shipping their products itself, and had a direct control on that, their shipping fees, shipping and delivery would improve, and the restrictions for the shopper would minimal. Both Nordstrom and the international customer would benefit.
Still this is a model online shop, and a model company that treats with care its customers and offers an awesome service and a great range of products.
