Nordstrom Makes Online Shopping Easier

Online shopping made all of our lives easier. You needed something, but didn't want to spend the time driving (especially with gas prices as they are!) or waste precious moments of your life wandering through a store to hunt it down, then stand in line and turn around and drive all the way back.

With online shopping, we surfed, found what we wanted and placed our order. A few days later it arrived on our doorstep. Only then, we began to find fault with the ease of online shopping. Those pesky shipping charges became rather annoying.

And soon consumers began demanding that retailers find a way around the extra charges. Seattle-based Nordstrom Inc. has done exactly that with its new "buy online, pick up in-store" program that hit stores a couple of weeks ago. Right now, it's available for women's and men's apparel, women's shoes and cosmetics. However, the retailer promises the program will expand to all categories by September 2008.

Now, online shopping just got a whole lot easier. While you'll still have to drive to pick up your ordered item, you don't have to pay shipping charges or spend hours in the store searching for what you want.

With consumers becoming pickier about what they buy and when, services such as this will start to give particular retailers an edge. Lean times mean going back to basics, where customer service rules. In today's market, it's no longer acceptable to treat customers as if they're a dime a dozen (and really, it never was). Taking good care of them can make all the difference in the world.

Know of any other retailers catering to customers in such a high-tech/high-touch way? If so, leave your comments here. OR have you tried Nordstrom's new system? Tell us all about it!

--Heather Strang

Comments

[reizit]

e-commerce is getting more and more popular. this creates the need of having good tools to help shoppers make right decisions while buying online. reizit.com is a place where shoppers can recommend or bury a product, share experience and discuss shopping deals.

[Annicka]

I love online shopping and Nordstrom is my favorite online store.

[BP]

Talbots has had this same program for a few years as well.

[SB]

Best Buy and Borders have been doing this for years. (Several.)

I am always amazed at how much press Nordstrom gets for its customer service.