Online fashion giant ASOS announced last week they are teaming up with Primark to offer the bargain chain’s clothes online.
With online sales rising by 11% in May, more and more of us are buying from the comfort of our own homes. Is the online shopping experience all its cracked up to be? High Street fan Ali Kirker tested five of the most popular fashion sites. Was it wonder web or virtual disaster?
Debenhams ***
What they say Life made fabulous.
Delivery Collect free from Debenhams stores. There’s an offer on at the moment, free standard delivery and returns (usually £3.99). Despite extensive searching, we couldn’t find an option for next-day delivery. Not good enough for one of our top brands what if you need something quickly?
Returns Return by post, courier or in store, all free.
Customer service You can email customer services for help, though responses take up to 72 hours. Far better to phone although it’s not immediately obvious who to call, there are numbers on the website.
Bargain buys Snap up Red Herring khaki skinny cropped trousers, half price at £14 and a Kaliko daisy embroidered top, down from £55 to £25.
Choice It’s the place to head for designer spin-offs, with everyone from Ben de Lisi to Matthew Williamson to Julien Macdonald having in-store ranges. It’s a chance to own an outfit designed by one of the top names in fashion, without the top prices.
Quirks The Debenhams beauty blog is a great time waster, full of fun facts. Debenhams TV sounds like a good idea, but nothing we try to watch works.
OUR TEST We ordered a dress to be picked up from a store. We’re kept well-informed by email at what stage our order is at.
Verdict Good service, easy to navigate website, but why no next-day delivery?
Zara ****
What they say Nothing. Just a simple Zara logo.
Delivery Delivery to a Zara store within three to five working days is free, standard is £3.99 (free for orders over £50) and express delivery is a whopping £9.95. There’s an option to give a “company” address but, as it involves giving your passport number, it’s not really convenient.
Returns Return to any Zara store or arrange courier pick up, which is free.
CUSTOMER SERVICE There’s a Freephone 0800 number which is easy to find. It claims it will “speedily and kindly” deal with queries. Indeed they do I’m through to a helpful assistant in less than 30 seconds. Top marks!
Bargain buys The “special prices” section is limited, but you can snap up high-heeled black and nude shoes for £19.99 and zipped blouses for £9.99.
CHOICE It’s a Zara superstore no other brands but with fabulous Zara fashion at down-to-earth prices, it’s fantastic.
Quirks Nearly every item of clothing is modelled by a tall, skinny model. Even its “people! section is full of glamazons. Avoid on fat days!
Our test What a service. The bag we ordered was wrapped in layers of bubble wrap and tissue paper. It makes the whole experience seem so luxurious, we can’t wait to re-order.
Verdict We’re fans. Other than £9.95 for express delivery, faultless service.
ASOS ****
What they say Discover fashion online.
Delivery Five delivery options, including free worldwide, £5.95 for next-day delivery and Collect Plus, meaning you can arrange delivery to your local supermarket or corner shop, providing they offer the Collect Plus service.
Returns Free, by post, Collect Plus or collection service. You can also use ByBox in certain areas, where you drop your parcel off.
Customer service In common with many online fashion websites, finding a phone number to talk to an actual person is nearly impossible. You can email, and if you’re on Twitter, follow ASOS Here to Help and the customer care team should sort your problem. Judging by tweets, service is good “Awesome customer service reminds me why I love ASOS” is a typical example.
Bargain buys All items in the Clearance section have been reduced by a whopping 50% or 70%. Gladiator sandals for £1 and ankle boots from Faith for £4.50 though often only one or two sizes left.
Choice More than 850 brands, from cheap as chips to designer. ASOS’s own label is really popular.
Quirks There’s a fun “Name Your Price” section, where you can contact independent sellers directly and make them an offer for their items. It’s also the only place you can buy Primark online but so far only 20 items.
Our test At 6 pm, we ordered a Mango T-shirt using next-day delivery. Arriving home from work, it was there waiting. Fantastic service and, having used Collect Plus returns service many a time, it’s free and convenient to send things back.
VERDICT A great, no-frills service. But, sometimes, there’s no substitute for a friendly voice on the end of a phone line to help.
Next ***
What they say Order by 10pm for next-day delivery to home.
Delivery There’s a huge choice of options, including evening for an extra £3 and same day to a store. Next-day delivery is £3.99. Or you can order in to a store of your choice for a fee of just 50p for next-day delivery. You can add five addresses to your account, but, annoyingly, you can’t get items delivered to your workplace. Come on Next, sort it out!
Returns Free returns to any Next store, or uplift by courier for £3.99.
CUSTOMER SERVICE I’m not registered with Next, so this means for my first order I have to pay upfront. You can call them, or request they call you to sort out queries. We were put through with no problem.
Bargain buys Yellow is a big summer trend and we found a cowl dress in sunshine down from £35 to £16.
Choice Mainly Next’s own range, along with more upmarket brands Lipsy, LK Bennett and Nike.
Quirks Great for girly gifts. There’s a fantastic fresh flowers service and a photo and art section, too.
Our test We ordered a dress to be delivered in store to a branch of Next. But when we tried to re-arrange delivery to a different shop on another day just two minutes later, it was impossible. Other than that, the ordering process is quick and easy.
Verdict Why no workplace delivery?
M&S *****
What they say Simply “Your M&S” enough said.
Delivery Standard delivery, £3.50. “Nominated day” delivery, which includes next-day is £4.95. A great option is to get your order delivered to a store it’s free.
Returns You can take most items (not furniture) back to stores or return by post using the pre-paid returns label in your parcel. Returns under 5kg are free. Beware large items you can’t return by yourself and which need uplifted cost £50.
CUSTOMER SERVICE Gold standard. You can email, contact by good old-fashioned letter or talk to someone over the phone. Our customer care assistant was really helpful, even when we became stroppy.
Bargain buys Going on holiday? Snap up a tummy control swimsuit, down from £25 to just a tenner.
Choice All of M&S’s much loved ranges you’d find in-store, plus more. What’s not to love?
Quirks marksandspencer.com now has an extensive beauty range, selling their own range plus some classy brands you won’t find on many high streets, including REN and Sampa. You can also upload a photo of yourself for a “virtual makeover” to try different looks, which provides often hilarious results.
Our test We ordered an Autograph dress in the sale and arranged delivery to work. A perfect lunchtime treat recommended.
VERDICT All the quality you’d expect from M&S.
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