Where do I shop

I am a huge fan of online shopping.  Living on a farm in Ryley and working in another city means I cannot just run to the mall.  I have become reliant on online shopping for purchasing clothing, household items, children's clothing and even teas and food.

Banana Republic

Products available

Business and business casual clothing
Jewellery
Lounge wear

Easy/ Difficult to search

Categories are easy to search and the website gives great recommendations on how to pair and choose pieces. Items are easily added to the cart and stored till the cache is cleared.

Advantages

- Sign up for their email list and you get 30-40% off one regular priced item weekly.
- Fast shipping.  I have chosen the free shipping and had my order faster than guaranteed.
- Great outfits and professional website
- Banana Republic is part of Gap Canada and Old Navy.  I can shop all three and they are put int he same shopping bag.
- Never confused between a Canadian Website and a American Website.

Disadvantages

- I rarely ever order pants from the website.  The sizing is and fit varies.

Lush Cosmetics

Products Offered

Soaps

Shower Gel

Makeup

Gift Baskets

Easy/Difficult to Search

The website is easy relatively easy to search and find your preferred products. I find that there are times I have purchased products and the next time I want to buy again the product has been moved.  The best example of this is Freeze.  It was in the Retro category but is now moved to Fond Farewell. 

Advantages of the website

-products arrive freshly made with a date of manufacture on them

- products are great smelling

- I find the products to be very good quality and used for purposes other than intended.

Disadvantages 

- Products are inconsistent in availability

- Gift baskets do not always have the best explanation when it comes to it's contents

Victoria Secret

Products offered

-Lingerie

-clothing

-makeup and perfume

-shoes

Easy/Difficult to search

Easy to search.  Clothing types are listed in a order that is easy to understand and find.  What can be difficult is the categories can be so huge that narrowing down your choices can be overwhelming. 

Advantages

-HUGE selection

- Unique products

Disadvantages

-American website that offers no Canadian version 

-Shipping, duty and dollar exchange can add up in a hurry

-Shipping can be slow

-We do not qualify for lots of the email list and "free" gift offers.

I still value it's quality but find myself using this website and opting to wait it out till I get to the store. 

David's Tea

Products

- Tea 

-Tea Accessories

Easy/ Difficult to search

I find this website a little difficult to search.  You search by tea types and I am not in the "know" of what type each tea is so I find myself searching for my favourite varieties which takes some time.

Advantages

-Tea and any type of tea your heart desires delivered to your door.  

- Tea arrives fresh and quickly

Disadvantages

-Not the easiest to find what your looking for have to surf through the websites.  I bet they do this on purpose I always buy to much.

Children's Place

I have a love hate relationship with this website.  I have a son and he grows quick and I find their clothes to be good quality.

Easy/ Difficult to Search

The heading on this website are clearly stated.  Although I found over the last year there is no clear distinction between some of the age groups.  For my son I find myself trying to decide between Baby Boy and Boy.  The biggest difficulty I have noticed is that this store seems to work one season ahead.  

Advantages

- On trend clothing

- Good selection of dress clothing for those special events

- Good sizing selection during on season

- Good quality.  These clothes last.

Disadvantages

-If I go to the website looking for shorts in the summer then I have to search the clearance because the back to school clothing is out in July and swim shorts are already in clearance section with limited sizing.

- Shipping can be slow.

- Sometimes parcels will be delivered to PO boxes other times they are delivered to pick-up point.

I would say about 75% of my shopping is done from my computer at home on the couch.  The biggest advantage I find is ease of use.  I need a website shopping experience to be easy and effortless.  I do not appreciate all the emails I tend to get from companies even if I have only shopped there once.  I often wonder where did I check the "Offer and Email" box.