Our Favorite Shopping Sites:

by Jen Drexler
Published December 15, 2008 in Retail, Tech

Since the urban legend is that all women like to shop we thought we would play along and tell you what online stores are making us happy right now. 

Jen: My favorite site right now is www.myluckyrewards.com. This is a discount portal offered to subscribers of Lucky magazine (fittingly a magazine about shopping).  When I feel like shopping I go to this site and can get cash back when I shop at some of my favorite stores.  All I do is click on a link and it takes me to my store’s site and just by shopping I get a percentage of my purchase back in cash and often free shipping as a bonus.  The cash comes quarterly in the form of a cash card and I have collected more than $500 back since I joined a few years ago.   My everyday shopping really adds up and I get deals like 7% back at drugstore.com, 5% at Target and Barnes & Noble and even higher paybacks from smaller, specialty retailers.  I’ve also found that retailers that don’t normally offer coupons like William Sonoma Home or Land of Nod participate in these programs which motivates me to buy from them.  Other magazines have similar programs and I also use Parenting Magazine’s site www.parentingprivileges.com   and Allure’s www.myallurerewards.com.   

Mary Lou: Ruelala.com is like having a friend who’s a fashion insider who takes you to secret pop up sample sale boutiques without leaving your desk and if you don’t buy, no one’s offended. As much we are curtailing our shopping this season (and forever, if this economic nightmare keeps up—or down), I’m lured in to their revolving, virtual ‘boutiques’ from James Perse to Lululemon, because they are only open for 48 hours. The pressure of a ticking clock and the “just two left” banners get my adrenaline pumping, plus I can tell what’s hot by which items sell first, so I’m clued in to scoop the best deals even in a backup color. And Ruelala.com celebrates your retail ‘victory’ with a big graphic hurrah and they score some great brands at decent discounts, even if a $1000 Judith Lieber bag is an expensive “bargain” for someone just needing a little retail therapy. I feel like a smart insider, even if I’m only a desktop voyeur in the sample sale world.  

Tracy: My favorite site right now is oldnavy.com. While there is a store right down the block from us, I love the fact that online I can get out-of-season clothing any time of year. As my holiday vacation to Hawaii quickly approaches, OldNavy was the perfect, inexpensive place to look for new bathing suits.  And with free shipping and free returns (pays to have a luxe card!) I don’t have to worry about not trying them on before I buy. This has taken the pressure off of buying in season. I love the flexibility… And speaking of flexibility, one of the new features on the website allows you to not only shop at OldNavy but also at The Gap, Banana Republic, and Piperlime – 4 stores, 1 check-out and 1 flat shipping rate (and again, luxe is free!) Because they’ve made it so easy I have definitely found myself wandering onto the other store’s pages.  

Jean: Not since my custom fit Levi’s jeans (which I still wish would comeback) have I had such a made-just-for-me shopping experience until www.shopittome.com . As a weary internet consumer I almost passed up the opportunity to sign up for the glory that is true personalized online shopping-because you create the content. While making my profile I chose which specific designers I wanted to see deals from and any clothing needs I had as well as my size details (pant length, shoe width, bra size, etc.). Every morning I receive an e-mail presenting the best deals organized by shopping site. It takes my favorites such as shopbop.com , nordstrom.com, endless.com  and bluefly.com and does all the leg work for me to find the best deals on pieces I’m guaranteed to like. 

Amy: When buying shoes or boots, I always check out Zappos. For me it comes down to a very large choice of styles and brands in one place that I can’t find at my neighborhood store. And, most importantly, FREE shipping and FREE returns. Plus they are FAST which fulfills my desire for immediate shopping gratification (They recently ended free overnight shipping which is a bummer but you still get the merchandise within just a couple of days). Shopping for shoes can be a real hit or miss proposition but I have my system for success. I usually have them send a size up and a size down as well as few different styles/colors/brands. I get them really fast, keep what works for me and return everything else, no problem, no hassles, no extra costs. And I check their sale selection first as I can often find the brand and style I want with only a minor variation from the full price item– like last season’s color or a small style difference. Also, their peer reviews are excellent. Other shoppers give really honest feedback on the shoes and help steer me in the right direction.

Tags: Online Shopping

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Our Favorite Online Stores This Second

by Jen Drexler
Published December 4, 2008 in Retail

Since the urban legend is that all women like to shop we thought we would play along and tell you what online stores are making us happy right now.

Jen: My favorite site right now is www.myluckyrewards.com.  This is a discount portal offered to subscribers of Lucky magazine (fittingly a magazine about shopping).  When I feel like shopping I go to this site and can get cash back when I shop at some of my favorite stores.  All I do is click on a link and it takes me to my store’s site and just by shopping I get a percentage of my purchase back in cash and often free shipping as a bonus.  The cash comes quarterly in the form of a cash card and I have collected more than $500 back since I joined a few years ago.   My everyday shopping really adds up and I get deals like 7% back at drugstore.com, 5% at Target and Barnes & Noble and even higher paybacks from smaller, specialty retailers.  I’ve also found that retailers that don’t normally offer coupons like William Sonoma Home or Land of Nod participate in these programs which motivates me to buy from them.  Other magazines have similar programs and I also use Parenting Magazine’s site www.parentingprivileges.com   and Allure’s www.myallurerewards.com. 

Mary Lou: http://www.ruelala.com is like having a friend who’s a fashion insider who takes you to secret pop up sample sale boutiques without leaving your desk and if you don’t buy, no one’s offended. As much we are curtailing our shopping this season (and forever, if this economic nightmare keeps up—or down), I’m lured in to their revolving, virtual ‘boutiques’ from James Perse to Lululemon, because they are only open for 48 hours. The pressure of a ticking clock and the “just two left” banners get my adrenalin pumping, plus I can tell what’s hot by which items sell first, so I’m clued in to scoop the best deals even in a backup color. And Ruelala.com celebrates your retail ‘victory’ with a big graphic hurrah and they score some great brands at decent discounts, even if a $1000 Judith Leiber bag is an expensive “bargain” for someone just needing a little retail therapy. I feel like a smart insider, even if I’m only a desktop voyeur in the sample sale world.

Tracy: My favorite site right now is www.oldnavy.com. While there is a store right down the block from us, I love the fact that online I can get out of season clothing any time of year. As my holiday vacation to Hawaii quickly approaches, OldNavy was the perfect and inexpensive place to look for new bathing suits.  And with free shipping and free returns (pays to have a luxe card!) I don’t have to worry about not trying them on before I buy. This has taken the pressure off of buying in season. I love the flexibility… And speaking of flexibility, one of the new features on the website allows you to not only shop at OldNavy but also at The Gap, Banana Republic, and Piperline – 4 stores, 1 check-out and 1 flat shipping rate (and again, luxe is free!) Because they’ve made it so easy I have definitely found myself wandering onto the other store’s pages.  

Jean: Not since my custom fit Levi’s jeans (which I still wish would comeback) have I had such a made-just-for-me shopping experience until www.shopittome.com . As a weary internet consumer I almost passed up the opportunity to sign up for the glory that is true personalized online shopping-because you create the content. While making my profile I chose which specific designers I wanted to see deals from and any clothing needs I had as well as my size details (pant length, shoe width, bra size, etc.). Every morning I receive an e-mail presenting the best deals organized by shopping site. It takes my favorites such as www.shopbop.com ,www.nordstrom.com, www.endless.com  and www.bluefly.com/ and does all the leg work for me to find the best deals on pieces I’m guaranteed to like.    

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Together Again?

by Mary Lou Quinlan
Published December 1, 2008 in Retail

This weekend’s shocking news of the Wal-Mart Black Friday gone terribly, sadly wrong has led to a lot of handwringing about how this economy has driven shoppers to cutthroat behavior. 

But, after from the horror of that customer stampede, this holiday season, I’m wondering if we may see a shift from the Vigilante Shopper behavior we’ve observed for years, where women war with stores that are hotbeds of bad customer service. 

Over this past week, I started my holiday shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue and Publix supermarket in Ft. Myers, Florida, as well as at two small shops in Frenchtown, New Jersey– The Studio and Pardon My French– and Schneiderwind’s farm stand on the Delaware River in PA. And here’s what I’ve noticed. This year, we’re in this together. 

At Saks, a walking-around department manager let me know how good the sales were and pointed out the best deals. Multiple reductions later, I was glowing. Publix, famous for its customer service, was even friendlier, sharing everything from cooking advice to the location of the Jack Be Little pumpkins. When the bag packer took my cart out to my car and I asked if I might tip him, he smiled, “I’d rather you didn’t.”  

At The Studio, I bought a pretty pendant lamp, brightened by their 15% off “Let It Glow” promotion. At Pardon My French, I picked up oversized jingle bells, reduced because, as store owner, Lynn Sweeney put it, “Hey, with the way things are, everybody’s looking for deals, so let’s do it.”  And Craig Schneiderwind offered to drive to my house with the leftover branches I’d forgotten after he’d trimmed them from my Frasier Fir. 

Fancy stores to farm stands, could this be a retail season when we are finally partners, not adversaries? Maybe the tide is shifting due to desperation or maybe it’s just a crisis-induced truce. Or maybe I’m just lucky to shop at happy places. But think about it. Every salesperson and proprietor you meet is in the same boat you are. They really want our business. We want to buy stuff, but need a break. Could this difficult economy, with its deathgrip on all our wallets, actually lead us to put down the gloves and (almost) enjoy shopping again?

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Starbucks Assault

by Tracy Chapman
Published October 1, 2008 in Fashion, Retail

For the past two mornings I have stopped into a local Starbucks on my way to an appointment. A treat for me rather than a daily occurrence, I think of this place as a time out from the daily grind.

But while looking at the display case to decide what type of muffin I was in the mood for I felt pressured to quickly place my order as the man behind the counter kept forcefully saying “ma’am, ma’am, next, next.” Mind you it was 7:15 in the morning (by my clock I shouldn’t even be out of bed yet) and there was barely anyone else in the place. Even after I said “hold on” he continued to pressure me to make a decision. What’s the rush I wondered?

This experience makes me think of other rushed moments I have had in food service lately. Take Chipotle and Rickshaw, two restaurants in our neighborhood. Every time I go in there I can feel my stress level rise. The cashiers’ insistence on taking your order as soon as you walk in the door can take away my appetite.

This rush in customer service got me thinking about the economy. As we pay closer attention to where we are spending our money each day will consumers begin to expect even more? Many of us are already feeling vulnerable and unprotected during this economic climate – companies need to make us feel more at ease rather than assaulted on the check out line.

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The Anti-Vigilante

by Mary Lou Quinlan
Published September 25, 2008 in New Ideas, Retail

While it’s easy to rail against bad customer service, I wondered how hard it would be to fix it instead?  I’ve had my share of rude clerks and late deliveries, but I realize that there are some retailers that I’ve actually become “friends” with.  Could there be a magic formula that would personalize all my transaction interactions? So as an experiment I decided to become the anti-vigilante. As simple as it sounds, I began to ask people their names. Not the way we typically ask, as in “What’s your name so I can rat you out to your supervisor?” but “What’s your name, so we can know each other?” 

Most mornings, I get coffee from a nice guy who has a cart a couple of blocks down from my apartment. But it wasn’t until yesterday, that I asked, “What’s your name?” “Nazir,” he smiled (and secretly slipped a donut into my bag.) Now, this friendship comes with calories but what a transformation! It’s isn’t coffee anymore; it’s a chance to chat with Nazir.

It worked at the vegetable stand, with a building security guard, with a florist. Eureka! Everyone is so much nicer. I’m lucky that I have a pretty amazing memory, so I can recall my mental Rolodex on a dime. Could we actually recreate service with a smile in a Vigilante Consumer service world? Could a cold digital relationship warm up with a little old-fashioned courtesy?

The new campaign for Dentyne Ice jumps on this intimacy bandwagon with a new campaign called “Make Face Time” reminding consumers that the original instant message was a kiss. How about a hug to replace Reply All? OK, I’m not going that far with the coffee guy, but there’s something to this.

Tags: Customer Service, Retail

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Gold Medal Service

by Mary Lou Quinlan
Published August 19, 2008 in Retail

On behalf of women, I like to rail against customer service snafus, but in this Olympic Week, I thought I’d salute some winners who can teach us what good service is all about. Lately, I’ve had good experiences with smaller, newer businesses who either get it because they have to or because they don’t have big, bad habits.

Here are a few examples of understanding the simplest but most effective basics.

Ishta Yoga, which opened recently in my neighborhood, has vaporized all the bad karma I’ve ever felt from NY yoga studios, namely, Intimidation with a capital “I”. I always feared doing downward dogs next to an angry, acrobatic Madonna or trying to fit in to the crunchy cliques of serious devotees. At Ishta, I felt immediately at home. Why? Tracy at the front desk quickly learned (and has since remembered) my name, enthusiastically shared the credentials and class choices and never oversold too long, pre-paid packages. And with their $40 all-you-can-ohm two week trial to be sure I fit in, I’m hooked. They delivered what they promised. Namaste. 

Devonshire Optical, a small eyeglass shop near my apartment, has been around a long time without losing its personal touch. Jennifer immediately picked up that I wanted “funky frames”, as she called them (a change from salespeople who assume I want something ‘my age’) and wasn’t afraid to take charge of making me cool. She convinced me that I’d look good onstage with fresh, rectangular frames and thanks to the new technology of the special lenses, I’d see like I hadn’t seen before.  A simple tech explanation, honest fashion advice, and fast, no fuss measurement for a speedy exit.  Precise 20/20 service.

Finally, the ultimate personal service. Today, on my way to work, as I was thinking I looked pretty pulled together, a young woman came up behind me to say, “I hope I’m not being impertinent, but the zipper on your blouse is halfway down. May I help you fix it?” (Honest, she actually said “impertinent”! Loved that!) Rather than being mortified, I felt saved by her sympathetic, polite gesture. Identify the need, help the ‘customer’ without criticizing and get the job done. Service gets personal…and wins the gold! 

Tag-a-long blog

Reading Mary Lou’s blog, I thought of a similar gold-star customer experience I recently had at JackRabbit Sports, a fitness apparel and shoe store in Union Square. 

If you are a rookie runner, you often don’t realize the importance of finding a shoe that fits correctly.  Most novices either gravitate to the coolest-looking shoe on display (a mistake I have made) or the most inexpensive (another personal mistake—I live in NY, cut a gal a break). Both are behaviors that can result in serious injury.  At larger sporting goods stores this mistake often goes undetected—the best you can hope for is a half-hearted push on your toe (if you get any service at all), and then you’re hustled to the checkout gripping a box without knowing anything about its contents. 

At Jack Rabbit they take the coach approach to selling to you.  For starters, they refuse to sell you shoes without having you try them out on a treadmill in the back of the store.  They film you while you run and after playing back the tape they are able to “diagnose” your running style and prescribe the perfect shoe–taking into account your stride, the amount you plan on running and the type of terrain you’ll be on.  They’re also friendly—no scary triathletes who drink 4 protein shakes a day and judge people for not having a six pack.

As an extra incentive to come back, once you have purchased a pair of shoes you get 10% off any future purchases!  You leave a more educated runner and satisfied customer.  Love them!

-Lily Wagner

Tags: Customer Service

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The Art of How NOT to Sell to Women

by Mary Lou Quinlan
Published August 13, 2008 in Retail

Where some women may feel nervous approaching their doctor at their annual appointment or feel apprehensive in a car showroom, I start feeling unworthy when I walk into an art gallery. I’m sure Perfect Looking Gallery Gal will give me that negative once-over, without even bothering to look up. Funny, because I love beautiful things and have started to collect local Pennsylvania landscapes.  

I can deal with being overlooked. But I don’t expect to be unsold. Recently, a nearby gallery posted a “Meet the Artist” sign. I was struck with two conflicting thoughts:  I’ll be pressured to seem enthralled by her light/shadow technique. Or, maybe the artist will tell me why she painted something I like and I’ll have a good story to tell. 

My guard up, I shook the artist’s hand and started to wander around. But she growled after me, “What do you do?” so I told her I listened to women to figure out how to sell to them. “What do women tell you?” she demanded. “That they don’t feel listened to,” I answered. Her response? “The problem with women is that they whine. They should be more like men.” Great warm up to get me to shell out a thousand bucks for a painting that I decided I didn’t really like anymore. 

When they shop for most everything, women make personal assessments. Who am I buying from? What am I buying into?  I was no different. I only wish I hadn’t decided, prior to shopping, to change out of my T-shirt that says “It’s not all about you.” As a message to her, it said it all. As a guide to any company selling anything to women, priceless.

Tags: Customer Service, Sales

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Bed, Bath & Beyond Expectations

by Tracy Chapman
Published August 6, 2008 in Retail

Lack of customer service has been plaguing me recently…making me wonder, is it me?   

From UPS shipping back my order after delivering it to the wrong address (even after I called twice!) to the contractors I am trying to desperately hire to work on our patio who won’t call back or worse, just don’t show up to the accounting department of a reputable appliance store who won’t return my phone call about rebates they were supposed to send me for my brand new washer/dryer. What does a girl need to do to get help around here?

So last week when I tried to order a gift from Bed, Bath, and Beyond’s bridal registry, I wasn’t surprised that after submitting my order I got an error message without an explanation and then when I went to re-do it I found that the items on the registry were marked as already being ordered (ahhhh, that was the week I was having).

I immediately called customer service ready for the fight but to my pleasant surprise, the rep I spoke to put me at ease immediately. And when their computer system hadn’t updated yet he even offered to call me back… I thought for certain I would have to call back and explain my situation multiple times before getting it solved. But again, to my surprise, he actually called me back and in record time! 

In this economic climate where women are starting to become even more conscious of what they buy and where they buy it, retailers and customer service representatives will need to be on their game. As anxiety increases, she will be more of a vigilante shopper than ever and she’ll be taking her wallet with her.

Tags: Customer Service, Vigilante Shopper

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Off the Hook

by Mary Lou Quinlan
Published August 4, 2008 in Retail, Tech

Well, now there’s a service that you can pay for to enable an undercover behavior you may have been doing for free. A new technology called Slydial allows you to direct your phone messages directly into someone’s cellphone voicemail so you don’t risk talking to them live. “Why?,” you say? You’ve never called someone after hours with the secret prayer that they wouldn’t pick up, so that you could leave the “I’m late, I’m sorry, I don’t want to” message and avoid a drawn-out conversation or possible recrimination?  

Let’s face it—thanks to a culture of bad customer service, most of us choose to avoid human contact and look at E-ZPass, self-checkout and online shopping as godsends. But in a world where we love the sound of our own voices, posting personal videos or blogging to perfect strangers (like right now), it’s funny that we shy away from hearing opinions in return.  Saying our piece is easy. Listening to someone else is hard. 

It makes me understand how challenging it can be for some marketers to feel comfortable in our research sessions, face to face with consumers. Behind the two way mirror, there’s comfort; the food’s better. But most of all, back there, without the risk of being confronted by female consumers, you can keep the listening under control and check your BlackBerry instead. Sort of like leaving her a voicemail about your brand and hoping she likes it when she picks it up in store. If only it were that easy to get off the hook.

Tags: Customer Service, Retail, Technology

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Stalled in the Ladies Room Line

by Mary Lou Quinlan
Published July 22, 2008 in Retail

Did anyone else Woohoo! at the big news about the new women’s WCs in NYC? Grand Central Station just opened a new ladies room, twice the size of the men’s. There isn’t a woman alive who hasn’t moaned, at least a million times, “Why are there always long lines at every ladies room while men breeze in and out?” And yet, it took till 2008 for someone to FINALLY listen (even though the NY mayor and city council mandated a 2 to 1 ratio for certain public restrooms as early as 2005!). 

According to The New York Times, the new digs aren’t just instant access, they’re gorgeous with “Botticino marble walls, seamless terrazzo flooring, Stony Creek granite partitions and mirrors with scalloped edges.” The article quotes commuter Lisa Kovitz, who vells, “It’s, like, amazing…You could hear angels singing, it was so nice.”  

The restroom gender wars are no joke for the 14 million incontinent women who suffer (and wait) in silence. We’ve researched this for Ortho Pharmaceutical’s drug Ditropan, and when she’s in a hurry to go, she needs answers, not laughs. But the gags won’t quit. 

Once during an onstage speech, a man asked me, “Why do women go together to the bathroom and then stay so long?” I answered, “Because they are complimenting each other!” What woman hasn’t picked up a quick beauty tip while sharing a mirror with a stranger: “Where do you get your hair cut?” “Oh, it’s a mess today, but if you live nearby, try Sharon at ‘Styles Are Us’”.  In that safe, anonymous cave, we commiserate and suck up compliments that family and friends sometimes scrimp on. (I’ve heard that men aren’t nearly so chatty in their space.)   

When I was a judge on ABC’s reality show “American Inventor,” contestant Sharon Clemens presented the Rest Room Door Clip, a simple way to compensate for the repeated nightmare of public stalls with broken locks. The other judges, all men, doubted that being surprised while toilet-bound was that big a deal.   

Women have different needs than men in plenty of categories. Women say what they want. Why aren’t more people listening?

Just Ask a Woman

Tags: The New York Times

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