Web Service Wins

Imagine: You need the most basic wardrobe staple pronto. You’ve seen it a million times when you weren’t looking for it, and now that you literally “have to have it,” it’s impossible to find.

Now, I’m all for browsing the racks, but sometimes the clock just isn’t in your favor. I’m also not one for online shopping--aesthetics rule, and ordering clothes I can’t see or try on usually results in a full box of returns. But desperate times call for desperate measures.

Last week, when the clock was ticking (I had to mail my sister’s birthday present the next day… oops!), I found a fantastic system for people like me (impatient procrastinators) on American Eagle Outfitter's Web site.

Even if I had wanted to go store to store in search of her “must have” gift, the malls were closing soon. Out came my laptop, and my discovery of actual helpful online shopping. I thought I’d have to find the skew number of my item online and either run to the closest location and cross my fingers or call all the stores in the area until one had it in stock. Not so.

I found what I was looking for on the site, and there it was--just a simple button, really, that read: “Locate in store.” I clicked it. Up sprung a page to choose the item, color and size you want, and a list of all the stores closest to you with the exact piece in stock.

This concept facilitates great convenience in Internet shopping--no more never-ending searches, no more wasting time, no more traffic jams from place to place. And especially now, no more unnecessary waste of gas. Love it!

Know of other retailers implementing this shopper-friendly system online? Let us know!

--Kelly Shaul

Comments

[Katie]

Target.com offers the same web service as American Eagle. It's called 'Find it in a Target Store' and you can see what stores closest to you have the item you are looking for in stock.