Kelly Mooney's blog about the online shopping experience from the customer's point of view -- MooneyThinks.com

Converse Goes Back to School with Laughter and Style

Time certainly is precious and I tend to make mine as productive as I can, but I have to give a shout of thanks--and laughter--to Converse for stealing 14 minutes of my time today.

It all started with a spelling bee. The Converse Spelling Bee. (Make sure you've got your speakers turned up.) Then Chucks In Soda for a Week, Kissing with Ross and many, many more. I was laughing out loud. I can only imagine the entertainment value to the teen boy who is probably closer to their target than I am...especially as he faces the end of summer and the prospect of clothes-shopping for school this fall.

Overall, Converse does a great job staying true to its brand legacy, and also continuing to push forward into the future. I loved it when the brand started letting consumers design their own Chuck Taylors, giving fans an even more Personal experience. And I love how the Converse Spelling Bee and collected sites create entertainment and inspiration that let those fans engage and deepen their attachment to the brand.

Fourteen minutes I won't get back, but 14 minutes I'll remember with a laugh, especially when I'm doing back-to-school shopping with my son next month. He might even give me a reluctant but knowing nod that I've stumbled onto something that even he thinks is cool.

Personalized Gift Registry Makes for Inspired Shopping

As we move into wedding season, I find myself faced with many of the same efficient-but-sterile wedding registry sites. While I truly appreciate that they're typically smooth shopping experiences, most don't endear me to the brand--or the couple for that matter. That's why I was so delighted to get a more personalized Alternative Gift Registry this week.

Sponsored by the Center for the New American Dream, the mission of the alternative registry is to focus on gifts that emphasize "the bond you share" with the couple versus just spending a lot of money. For example, gifts on the registry I received included:

• your old books or board games
• grocery store gift cards
• fridge magnets
• your favorite music
• no more junk mail (which links to an organization you can pay to stop your junk mail)
• plus a number of traditional gift registry items (not surprisingly they are earth-friendly products)

While this socially conscious angle is definitely intriguing, what I found even more compelling (as a wedding guest), is that the registry has a "Description" column, where the couple can add all kinds of details to help explain either what the gift is or why they want it. This single area adds to the wedding guest experience--especially if you've ever attended nuptials for a friend and don't know the spouse-to-be very well, or, frankly, don't know the couple very well. Moreover, with the age of the bride and groom rising with time (one of my 6 sisters just turned 50 and got married for the first time!), most already have glasses from Crate and Barrel or mixing bowls from Williams-Sonoma. Besides, given the state of the economy and world affairs, many couples are asking themselves, "Do we really need more stuff?"

If nothing else, I have a lot more unique ideas, not to mention,  conversation starters for people I meet at their wedding.

VS PINK Winning Facebook Popularity Contest

In what he described as a quick audit of Facebook Pages, blogger radical trust cited our client, Victoria's Secret PINK, as the most popular brand on Facebook, with 384,177 fans. (At the time of his audit, PINK was number 3 in terms of all Facebook Pages, behind Barack Obama and Chris Moyles.)

Through its Facebook Page, PINK excels at all four quadrants of our O.P.E.N. framework, creating an experience that makes it easy for PINK fans to get closer to the brand they love (On-demand), gives them a sense of belonging (Personal), entertains them with digital goodies (Engaging) and, of course, connects them with other fans (Networked).

While the experience has cool perks, like a Flash feature to get fans' attention at the top, and a mobile opt-in they can do right from the Facebook Page, PINK is popular because it's impressively relevant to young women in the collegiate set. PINK has radical appeal because it's focused on getting its merchandising right--and creating a center of gravity online and  off.

Wal-Mart Responds Well to Honest Feedback

The truth can hurt. Or, as in the case with Wal-Mart, maybe it can help too. In response to a deeply disappointed consumer's one-star review of 1/2 carat diamond stud earrings, Wal-Mart responded. Literally Wal-Mart responded to the review apologizing "if you felt the description of the product was inaccurate," and also responded by updating the images of the earrings to "clearly show the color of the diamonds".

So I may not buy diamond earrings from Wal-Mart (or anyone else actually--I'm not really a diamond girl), but I will buy that Wal-Mart has good intentions with the latest launch of this new site feature.

Boden Appreciation Wears Well

A colleague shared this email from Boden. It's incredibly low-fi when you think about all the glamorous, techy, stuff going on around us, but it underscores the ongoing  yet basic need for strong communications.

The email is a follow-up to an order my colleague placed. Boden wants her to review her recent purchases so it can post them on its site. But unlike most of the post-purchase emails I've ever received, you know, the kind that are as personal as a cash register receipt, this one was compelling enough to get and keep my attention.

The subject line is nice and direct: Review your Boden order and enter our prize draw.

Inside the email there's a note from Johnnie Boden himself. Of course he didn't write the customer a personal note, but his "big hearty thank you" has the spirit and gratitude of a human behind it. (I will point out, regretfully, that the From line was, "cservices@bodenusa.com" and not Johnnie or even Boden.)

The note--and it feels more like a note than an email--playfully asks the customer for her feedback, good or bad. Plus it includes images of the two products she's being asked to review.

Surely this email is auto-generated, but it has the warmth it needs to feel personal and engaging and get consumers to act. Simple, human communications. Sometimes that's all it takes.

O.P.E.N. Watch—Retail Edition

As part of our tireless quest to find O.P.E.N. experiences, and as a continuation of our long-standing (11 years!) holiday assessment of the e-retail space, our retail team spent the holiday shopping season online, studying the intersection of social media and e-commerce. I'm excited to share their findings, O.P.E.N. Watch -- Retail Edition, which we just published on our site. (And in the spirit of "open," free for  you to download, share, or email me yours comments!).

For those of you who like your information in smaller bits, check back here because I'll be featuring some of the great examples they found.

One of my favorites was Home Depot's Light Up the Neighborhood contest, where people could upload images of their house all decked out in holiday lights and vote on their favorites. It hits on the P (personal), E (engaging) and N (networked) experiences of the O.P.E.N. framework. Plus I love that Home Depot created an experience that tapped into an existing activity (holiday decorating) and encouraged a positive behavior fueled by an existing mindset--one-upping one's neighbor.

What was your favorite? Find one you like from the study, or share an O.P.E.N. experience you've found on your own.

Yankee Candle Turns Off Its Online Christmas Lights Early

As the "last-chance-to-get-it-under-the-tree" emails hit my in-box, our e-retail analysts are hunkering down, sifting through their holiday shopping experiences and getting ready to write them up in our 11th annual Holiday E-commerce Watch. (If you want to make sure you get a copy, let me know!)

Our team is focusing on e-retail innovations and trends, and e-commerce experiences that are O.P.E.N. The focus is clearly forward, upward, and into the future--not who did what wrong, a tally we had to keep in the early days of e-commerce.

So I was shocked to see this holiday shut-down from Yankee Candle. With a large homepage caution message that brought me back to 2000, Yankee Candle announced December 3 on its web site that "due to the current volume of orders" it couldn't guarantee orders for Christmas delivery.

Unanticipated demand? Poor Planning? But to their credit, Yankee Candle makes it very clear on the homepage that you can't get orders shipped for Christmas, and it uses the rest of the real estate to re-direct consumers to alternatives--online gift cards or the retail stores. Good for them for being transparent and doing what they can to minimize customer disappointment.

Best Buy Rewards Shoppers with Options

Since "door-busting" deals and the accompanying points or "rewards" are de rigueur for holiday shopping, it's nice to see retailers infusing some creativity and consumer control into their programs.

A fellow Resourcian who is a consumer-electronics fan(atic) forwarded on this example from Best Buy. In addition to the dollars-for-points formula common with many retailers, specifically those in the Gap family, Best Buy's Reward Zone members were offered one of five Special Holiday Rewards.

For starters, I like seeing how they're upping the stakes at holiday time.

Three of the holiday rewards involve getting more points or dollars based on when and what you buy. The fourth is a 6-month trial subscription to Geek Squad, which helps shoppers enjoy their Best Buy products. The fifth is the one that really caught my (and my gadget-loving colleague's) attention.

Called "Presents of Mind," this reward option lets you donate the value of your points to Toys for Teens, a program that hopes to "change a mind, a holiday, and an outlook" for teens in need.

'Tis the season for giving of all types, of course, but it is nice to see Best Buy has found more ways to reward shopper loyalty and more options so shoppers may choose the one most relevant to them. For me however, it is still a struggle to figure out what electronics best fit our needs and our lifestyle..advice I can't seem to get from the site or from the blue shirts.. My go-to gadget guru happens to work at our company and he is so motivated by the Best Buy points, that he actually bought the TV (among other items) that he recommended to me and my husband (based on knowing our space, our tastes, our viewing preferences, the electronics we already own, etc). This way he accumulated the points he coveted and I simply paid him back. That's the best service I could hope for.

Room and Board Scores on the Delivery

On a recent mother-daughter bonding trip to Chicago, I squeezed in a visit to Room and Board. Since my daughter is still young enough to enjoy the thrill of escalators, not to mention an array of snacks scattered throughout the store (brilliant!), I was able to shop uninterrupted for a blissful 20 minutes (parents, you know how unusual this can be). With my web print-outs in hand, I quickly settled on a dresser (long overdue to toss the just-married set from Ikea), a floor lamp that I had been lusting after for years. I even walked over to the lamp with the sales rep, Bill, to say "this one."

Lo and behold, my delivery arrives -- wrong lamp (seriously) and the dresser was damaged (argh!). Admittedly, I was unnerved, but customer service was empathetic, responsive, and arranged for a new delivery just a little over a week later. Best of all, they gave me the cell phone of the driver, Chad, so that I could coordinate a convenient delivery time. This way, my Saturday wasn't ruined with the waiting game and I could still get my kids to their practices, pick up my basket of veggies from the organic co-op and go to my yoga class.

Chad not only showed up on time, but he began by apologizing for my inconvenience. Then, he and his partner carefully carried the dresser up a flight of stairs, navigating one another in order not to damage the walls, stairs, or the dresser itself. Because of the weight of the dresser, they had to stop numerous times to discuss options and coordinate their plan for maneuvering up and through a tight stairwell. It's as if they'd been trained in Crucial Conversations. Impressive. They wrapped the old dresser and carried it out but on the way down the stairs, they made a small mark on the wall. No big deal. Nothing that couldn't be fixed with a quick paint touch up. But, Chad didn't ignore or slip into his truck as quickly as possible, he alerted me of the mark and apologized profusely. This company gets it.

Toys 'R' Us Kicks of the Holiday Shopping Season with a Safety Message

If your holiday shopping list is bound to include toys this year, you've probably got safety issues on your mind, with all the problems and recalls of the last few months.

My own kids are past the take-that-toy-out-of-your-mouth stage, but still buy for friends and relatives that have young tots. So I was pleased to see this email (which took the form of an official message) from the chairman and CEO of Toys 'R' Us. Titled, "Our Commitment to Safety:A Holiday Message from Toys 'R' Us". I can see how they kind of had to send the message, but it's still nice that they did.

It's lengthy, but the gist is that he wants us to feel at ease about shopping at his stores because in recent months the company has enhanced its "already high safety standards".

Most important is the "No quibble" policy. Not only will the stores take back a recalled toy even without a receipt, they'll take a recalled toy back even if you didn't buy it from them. Good move.

Another point he made is the company's relationship with a respected third-party testing company that will re-test toys "right off our shelves." While on one hand that feels like a strong, gutsy statement, in my mind those toys should never get to the shelves if they haven't cleared the highest of safety standards.

Eddie Bauer Inspiration Comes from the Top

Inspiration is a big part of retail, and often inspiration comes from the products stories. Williams-Sonoma has this down pat, and Lands' End often gets it right in email.

Inspiration also comes from customers. From professionally crafted customer showcases, to the genuine voices of icitizens echoing across blogs, opinion sites, shopping aggregators and branded e-retailers, inspiration from consumers is all around.

But it seems more rare these days for the CEO of a leading retailer to be the source of inspiration, not just to associates, but customers, as was the case last week with Eddie Bauer's new CEO (and with full disclosure, a former Resource client at the helm of Bath & Body Works up until early this summer).

The subject line of the email read, "Eddie Bauer's CEO tackles Mt. Rainier." Click through and you can read his story and see the clothes and equipment he used. How refreshing -- and inspiring -- to see the CEO living the brand, sharing his experience and, of course, selling his products.

Sears' Wish Book Returns to Mailboxes and Sends Consumers Online

While I've already deposited a few stacks of holiday catalogs in the recycling bin this season, there's one still on its way that I bet will have some staying power. Sears' Wish Book, an old favorite, is back. And not just the same old hefty tome, but a sleeker (since it went away in 1993, the catalog decreased from 700 pages down to 188), restructured, and, I'll say it, hipper version. I haven't received the hard copy yet, but the online version looks promising.

Just the fact that Sears brought Wish Book back shows that Sears recognizes that shoppers don't live all online or off, that we migrate between channels. They also demonstrate this with combined CTAs to go online, call or visit a store. Sears might be a little late coming to this realization, but at least they're there.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how hard Wish Book is working to send consumers online. Featured catalog images include reviews from online customers (good ones, of course). I think that's great, especially how prominent the reviews are. It is a bit odd that the customers aren't named or even described by where they're from or what they buy to help me understand why I should care what they think, or make them believable, but they're engaging and they do remind me of more decision support help online. The intention is a good one. And to book does mention on many pages to checkout online reviews.

Wish Book also lets consumers know (in contextually relevant ways) that they can go online to find more options, fast ordering, and tools like wishlists. In fact, the first page even says, "Before you buy, go to sears.com to check for the lowest new prices and special promotions."

Congrats, Sears fans. Enjoy your Wish Book, your site and the ability to shop them together.

Bigger (or Newer) Isn't Always Better at BN.com

Like an over-grown hairdo, the Barnes & Noble web site was over-due for a refresh. Ends were split, roots were showing, it was starting to look out-of-date, particularly as Amazon.com has continued to innovate on numerous fronts. So they re-launched. And here's how I think it may have unfolded:

User testing, market research, maybe even some persona work. They probably found that their audience is taxed by the cluttered experience with Amazon and has reading-glasses eyes to boot. Over-forty eyes. I-can't-see-that-small-type eyes. (Hey, wait, that's me!) So perhaps their usability folks went to their creative team and said, bigger buttons, bigger fonts, bigger everything. (If you're in the demographic, you're nodding. Right?)

This advice, in and of itself, is not bad. In fact, it was probably quite good given that boomers are doling out big money on books and entertainment. Many squint and complain about small type and subtle contrasts on web sites, making it unnecessarily difficult to click with confidence.

However, it's the execution on the advice that's lacking.

While some of the larger font and buttons were refreshing, time spent going deeper into the site was fraught with an overabundance of bold text, exclamation points and drop-shadows. Overall, it's clunky. Seem to lack the sophistication I've grown to love about Barnes & Noble over the years. But hey, legibility, deep content, interactivity and high design require skillful talent to pull off.

A few other nits:

• The big feature that knocks you over on the homepage is their picks, not mine, not people like me or people of my choosing. Not very Web 2.0. If something catches your eye and then passes by, you have to wait a while for it to cycle back. Who has time for that? Visibility -- Great idea with the tag cloud, but it's just not located anywhere I might happen across it. BN Media -- There may actually be some good content in there, but it feels buried under the design

I could go on, but you should experience it for yourself. .

Online Retailers Shoppers Like Most

I often share my favorite and not-so-favorite experiences about top retail sites. But, you might want to know what other people think too. Take this list of the top 50 consumer favorites from this month's Stores magazine. Not surprisingly Amazon.com ranks at the top, followed by eBay.com and Wal-Mart.com. Personally, I'm surprised that Gap.com is only 26 and that FashionBug.com even made the list. ; ) Check it out for your favs.

Timing is, Unfortunately, Everything

A fellow Resourcian's shopping ire got forwarded my way this morning. Not so much a bad shopping experience--the e-commerce transaction went smoothly--but it was the post-purchase communications that sent her to that place where e-retailers really shouldn't send their customers, the realm of resentment and mistrust.

As the story goes, after a month of carrying around the most recent catalog and promotional postcards from J.Jill, and narrowing down to a handful of items for fall, she went online to buy them. (Typing in item names from the catalog was surprisingly unhelpful, but she eventually found what she wanted and made the purchase.) As she reports, she felt good about the experience, up through checkout.

And if you ever buy online, you know that once you click the "submit" button, at least one automatic email drops immediately into your in-box--the typical Thanks for your order, we received it, we're processing it, and so on. Which she got. Still, feeling good. It was the second automatic email that caused the stir.

It was a nice html piece that started with "Thank you for your recent purchase" but was immediately followed with "discover more just-reduced styles." They posed the email as not just a thank you, but a gift from the retailer to the customer. In reality it was a redirect to the sale section on the site.

I can see from the retailer's standpoint they wanted to leverage an existing customer's interest in the brand--it's much easier than converting a new customer, but they also have to be careful not to bruise customers with the power and speed of email. Sending the wrong message at the wrong time is a turn-off. And twisting a buy-more-stuff message into a thank-you-for-your-business message is just unfashionable.

POLO Makes Great Sport of Interactive with Rugby.com

When Ralph Lauren sets its mind on digital marketing it does so with the energy of a team that plays to win.

A recent email from Polo introduced me to its new concept and web site, Rugby.com. Wow. What a compelling, engaging and personal way to sell an entirely new concept! Note that I had visited the NYC store last summer and discovered that 2 of the preppy yet chic sales associates were from my hometown and remarked, "Oh my god! You're the same age as my mom!" Uh....exit stage left. Wrong store for me. ; )

I digress.

Anyway, I like the section called Around the Corner. It's a monthly video featuring a customer and his or her city. I sat there for minutes watching a customer named Sherwin talk about his favorite restaurants, bars and music store in New York City. He wasn't just selling Rugby clothes, he was selling me the lifestyle, or  the "whole package," which made the clothes a necessary part of an experience a consumer might be yearning to have.

The site is chock-full of great content and beautiful interaction design. Some of my other favorite parts:

• A page of Rugby store associates modeling their favorite Rugby clothes and telling why they loved them.
• A playful blog on "what's hot and what's not"
• The Rugby collection, which is a dimensional delight to navigate through, oh, and informative
• A style guide with quick little videos that really do guide you
• The history of the rugby shirt, which tells a great story and tells you how to make your own at one of their stores

Interesting, that they're bold enough to request a mobile phone number on the home page. Now, I have to test that experience. More later.

With such a strong online experience out of the gate, Rugby.com is sure to win a crowd of fans.

Shoeboxed.com Aims to Satisfy Need for Convenience

I'm up for just about anything that makes my life easier. If it's going to shave off minutes, reduce stress or increase efficiency, I'll give it a try. So when I heard about Shoeboxed.com, a start-up created by Duke grads, I thought I'd give it a look -- most of all, because I am a big fan of fresh thinking and the bold ambitions of students.

The site bills itself as an antidote for spam and identity theft, specifically, by giving members an email address to use for all online shopping (and supposedly reducing spam in the inbox). The other big sell is organization. They keep all your receipts (even the hard copy ones if you scan them in) in one place. I considered it worth a tour since my receipts are bulging out of my wallet, scattered throughout my handbags, piled on my desk and typically deleted from my email.

I've poked around a bit, but I have to say I'm not yet sold. Maybe I'm just so used to having one email identity from which I do all that I want. Or maybe I'm not terribly burdened after all by the emails I already get because I sign up for them, deem them "junk" or just keep mindlessly deleting them.

But then there's the receipt storage service. Truth is, I'm not going take time at work or at home to scan those receipts. Just isn't going to happen. It's not on the top 10 list (or 20 or 30 for that matter) of ways to improve my life. However, I do want retailers to track my purchases, save my warranties, and make recommendations based on my history. Even more, I want a universal username and password that works at every online retailer so I don't forget all the goofy combinations that I've had to contrive over the years. Thank goodness for Google Checkout. Now that's a convenience worth my time. Maybe Shoeboxed and Google should talk.

Borders Offers Inspiration, But Still a Beta Experience

Recently, I had a chance to dig around the beta version of Borders Stores' new site and I was pretty intrigued. A huge improvement over the current site with lots of  relevant, engaging content  loaded with goodies like Borders Media, Borders Book Club, playlists, and Rewards and Perks. The design is clean and fresh. And, many of the experiential aspects of the site were well done, but a few of core interactions need some fine-tuning.

On the homepage, there is a fun feature zone called Magic Shelf. (I wonder if that was one of those internal, placeholder names that accidentally made it to the site. What do you think?) The Magic Shelf consists of many shelves for things like New Books, New Music, and a personalized area for more timely items, like the "Remembering Pavarotti" shelf. Cool idea.

Unfortunately, the Magic Shelf is unintuitive to navigate (the browsing cues don't show up until you sniff them out with your mouse, and what I realized later was a navigational chart isn't clearly defined or explained). While I appreciate the bookshelf metaphor, it doesn't give you any help reading (like enlarging) the titles, so it's much like standing in front of the bookshelf in the store, except I'm standing 10 feet away.

I also like the Guest Shortlists--lists of book, music or movie recommendations from famous people. Celebs like Stephen King, Anna Quindlen, Barack Obama, Beck, and Art Buchwald explain why they like each title. Apparently this is a feature they've had on the existing Borders Stores' site, and after a few clicks I found myself back on it. I hope this will be fixed, because right now it leads you into a different, not-so-nice place and leaves you there.

For me, once I was inspired, I wanted the immediate gratification of purchase. Not just the ability to reserve in store (which is cool but not my preferred method of shopping for books and music). Yes, this is a beta, I know. In transition from the Amazon platform to a new one. So, my need for instant gratification wasn't met...but sounds like it will be soon!

Tiffany's Lacks Luxe Navigation

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you may recall a post I did last September about the Tiffany web site, as I browsed/searched/struggled to find a gift for my business partner to commemorate the founding of RI. Since then, nothing's changed on the site. Except, they've added more products, which has complicated the experience even further. Just go to Tiffanys.com and try to find, say, a pendant necklace. Good luck. You'll find 94 screens with 5 images per screen. You do the math. No navigation by necklace length, gem type. Better yet, price point. Perhaps Tiffany's  thinks that its customers don't shop that way. Or that, their brand shouldn't communicate that way. But, even the savviest of shoppers want a variety of ways to narrow options--quickly.

I knew what I wanted but it took 28 clicks. I'm serious. 28. Not on-demand or engaging. Feeling as if I deserved a reward after this exhaustive acquisition process, I had dreams of a shipping deal. Free shipping, say, for just sticking with it. Nope. How about charging me $15 for ground shipping -- to mail a box about 2 1/2" square. That was the best offer. And it arrived more than one week later. Even the little turquoise box couldn't make up for this less-than-luxe experience.

Women Get Bra Help From zafu

What's harder to fit than a pair of jeans?

A bra, of course.

Which is why I was thrilled to see denim-matching site zafu.com slip into an additional and equally challenging category. Apparently hundreds of women (who were presumably happy with their great-fitting jeans) asked zafu to help out in the bra department.

Zafu promises women that it will "find your perfect bra in three minutes". Wow. Three minutes.

There's not a whole lot in this world we can do in three minutes, so I'm pretty impressed. I went through the questions, all of which address real issues about finding the right bra, real issues that most retail sales associates don't often ask about.

Like the jeans version, the bra questions are really easy to answer. And here's the clincher--the process of finding the best bra for you is fun. All three minutes of it. Ask any woman from A to D, bra shopping is not fun. I can think of a lot of words (oh, say, occasionally interesting, needs-based, frustrating, embarrassing, tiime-consuming), but generally not fun.

Thanks, zafu. And let me know when your swimsuit edition comes out.

Gap Puts a Twist on its Subject Line

One thing we've learned about email subject lines is that the clever ones that win our hearts (as creative people) just don't convince consumers to open them up--at least not as much as the more straightforward versions.

And while this reality doesn't seem to deter certain brands from clever copy, I'm still trying to figure out what happened at email-happy Gap this week.

The subject line reads: The Top 6 Menswear Looks + Fall Sneak Peek

But check out the actual email (above). I was surprised to see a woman featured, but then noticed her boyish blazer. OK, they're being cute and putting the men's blazer on a woman. Then I read the headline, "Menswear with a twist," and the body copy, which tells me that this fall's trend for women's clothes is about tailored shirtdresses, vests and blazers with feminine details. Then it asks me to check out 6 styles -- for women.

So were they clever? Or just confused with their own promotion?

Target Ads Drew Me In and Then Fell Short

A full-page ad in Sunday's New York Times caught my eye for a must-have cheap chic clutch by Devi Kroell at Target. I'm not one to drop loads of cash on such adornments so this was a great little find (okay, it was mass advertising but it felt like I discovered it!). Anyway, off to the site I went, only to find that the featured item wasn't available online for 2-6 weeks. (That's a wide, non-committal span of time, don't you think?). But, no worries. I could search for the item at the store nearest me. Matter of fact, I identified two and off I went. What did I find? Nothing but disappointment. No Devi Kroell clutches....matter of fact, nothing even remotely similar. I tracked down some assistance on the floor, then at the register, and then at the customer service counter. "Devi what? I have no idea what you're talking about."

I'm envisioning a big trailer tractor in the parking lot loaded with this fab merchandise that nobody realizes has been featured for tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in a national ad campaign.

Oh, the joys of cross-channel communications.

Something Amazon Isn't Trying to Sell Me???

I get lots of different emails from Amazon--based on the random assortment of books, movies, toys and other items I've bought for myself, my family, my friends (I've even had my own book recommended to me by Amazon!). So I'm not usually surprised by their content--until this week.

I got the typical intro, "As a book or DVD customer of Amazon.com..." -- but then it got interesting. The email wasn't trying to sell me a book or DVD that was somehow relevant to one of my past purchases. In fact, it wasn't trying to SELL me anything!

It did encourage me to click through to the site to get exclusive interviews with the cast and writers of a new movie about to hit theaters. When I did click through, the landing page looked like a less-crowded version of an Amazon.com product page. The primary call to action was to input my ZIP code so I could find movie times at a theater near me. In a second I had my neighborhood theater, the address and phone number plus show times.

Way on the side I did find a place where I can give them my email address to alert me when the DVD of this movie is available. And, less prominent, but more time-sensitive, was the ability to send an e-card to a friend, inviting them to see the movie with me when it opens.

I didn't buy anything today, but they caused me to think a little differently about what they offer. My guess is that they'd view that as success.

Cooking.com Bakes Up a Double-Batch of Ecommerce for Pillsbury and Betty Crocker

My first reaction to reading news that Cooking.com (a site that is much respected in my eyes for many things including the fact that it is a pure player that pre-dates the burst of the bubble) was building and managing online stores for Betty Crocker and Pillsbury was that of excitement. Not because I have any baking skills worth bragging about but because this e-commerce pioneer is coming to the aid of two mature and incredibly well-known consumer brands. I was intrigued enough to see how they would combine ecommerce, inspiration,content and meal-planning tools. Must be good...right?!

That was my first reaction.

Then I went to the sites. Below see the "Bakeware" landing pages.

While both are somewhat different from Cooking.com's "Bakeware" landing page, the more I scrutinized the sites, the more they felt the same. Ugh. I guess I'm left here wondering, what's the point? If the idea was to provide "relevant kitchen tools and supplies to further enhance the overall value," according to the article, I'm not sure this does it. My guess is there may be some overlap between the folks who might go to Pillsbury's store and Betty Crocker's...why not combine the experience in a relevant way or else give them truly distinct differences--and I'm not talking about different fonts.

Piperlime Email Offers Shopping Shortcut

If there's any sale I'm going to race to, it's a shoe sale, and I think Piperlime knows that I'm not the only woman who feels that way. An early morning email from the shoe e-retailer celebrates this "event of the season" with a straightforward message and a link directly to all the sale shoes IN MY SIZE.

That's the nicest shortcut I've seen in a long time.

And even though the result was some 1,700 shoes in my size, a "sole search" at the top of the page suggests that I narrow the field of options immediately--by brand, width, color or price. I can also easily change my sort filter, alter how many shoes I see on a page, and jump to different pages of my results.

Never before have I anticipated with such excitement a heap of sale shoes 1,700 pairs deep.

JCPenney Connects with Consumers on their Desktops

I have yet to see the actual widget (I found nothing of it on the JCP site), but Adweek reports that JCPenney is launching "an old-school version" of a web widget called JCPToday. (As a side note, I know technology's shelf life is fleeting, but "old-school" seems a little harsh with Newsweek calling 2007 the Year of the Widget.)

Streaming product offers, fashion tips and reminders of personal events gives JCPenney a valid, maybe even valuable reason to reach out to consumers more often and on a more personal level.

So much more than email, the article quotes Kate Donaho, group creative director at T3, the shop that helped JCPenney with the its widget, with a realistic set of expectations:

"We don't view it as a mass-marketing vehicle," she said. "We're banking on this being a useful way to reach a highly engaged set of customers. We don't expect millions of downloads of this by any stretch."

No matter how "old-school" a desktop widget might appear (to a techie, that is), its ability to help JCPenney O.P.E.N. up by making it On-Demand (the "O" in O.P.E.N.) and Personal (the "P"), is smart, realistic and, hopefully very lucrative for JCPenney.

Anthropologie Alive with Inspiration

A long-overdue nod to the folks at Anthropologie for making the brand delightfully compelling. It's one of my favs to stop by when I go store shopping. Who can resist the window decor? The creative displays throughout the store, not just at the entrance? The home accessories that nearly jump into your arms? Matter of fact, I recently walked in to buy a necklace and walked out with an upholstered chair. Not to rest on the draw of the store, they've revved up the catalog with each page flirting a laid-back, creative lifestyle with a dash of retro femininity. While I tend to be drawn to a palette of solid colors from other brands, Anthropologie lures me in for flowers and prints of every sort. My only issue is that the window of product availability is quite small -- if you see it, you have to jump on it. (I'm sure that's intentional!) Seems like all my favorite picks are out of stock until late July. Guess I'll have to check the site more often. Too bad the online experience offers inspiration-light, but according to the site's own account of the recent relaunch, the updates are mostly functional. Speed and ease are great attributes, of course, but I hope Anthropologie works hard to keep the inspiration flowing in all channels.

J.Crew, I get it. Really, truly.

J.Crew could argue it's playing to my skeptical side, but I have to say even with my is-it-really-free shipping radar in check, this email (above) still seemed like odd messaging--especially for J.Crew. As if this sort of promise isn't true to begin with.

Of course, after discovering a similar email that arrived in a colleague's in-box at the same time (below), I realize that perhaps J.Crew was compensating for its own flexible interpretation of the language. (And playing into my historical and trackable weakness for free shipping offers, versus my colleague's.)

Nordstrom Never Disappoints

Sometimes a phone call is the best fix. Seriously.

I'm a huge online shopper because I can cross errands off my "to-do" list, leaving more time for family on weekends. So in an attempt to step up my summer wardrobe, I was perusing a variety of shoe sites for a Michael Kors cabana sandal that I eyed earlier in Lucky magazine. Went to Zappos, Saks, Endless, Nordstrom, Piperlime, Shoes.com....and who knows, maybe a few others. But each site simply had the polka dot version, not the solid black. I don't really fancy myself a polka dotted gal, so I did what I rarely do, I called the store. The nearby Nordstrom. Friendly, responsive. And a size 7 in black shipped out less than a moment later. Wow.

J.Crew Video Captures Summer Spirit

While J.Crew didn't forget about Father's Day (the top 10 gifts are packaged in a slightly playful Flash experience), what's more prominent and more absorbing on the site today is a 90-second homepage video full of nostalgic, romantic, rough-cut scenes of summer. No voice over, no copy after the quick intro that promises that "it's so much more than the perfect swimsuit," and no actual participatory element...but it boldy communicates J.Crew's vision for summer.

Looks like it's actually some playful footage taken during the photoshoot for the catalog, something Free People did last winter, but  with the J.Crew video's prominent real estate, creative filming, can't-wait-for-summer tune by Daniel Palmer and duration (yes, I actually sat there and watched the entire thing!), they've got me more excited for the season than anyone else.

Zappos Misses the Point with Email

I've bought a lot of shoes at Zappos. Some for my husband, some for my kids (interestingly, none for myself!). I dig the "free 2-way shipping" although I know it's not exactly free as most of the shoes I've purchased are available for less at other outlets. I guess I've been swept in by the ease and convenience of returns.

Fast forward one year after I purchased a pair of Keens for my husband and I get this text email. Beyond simply being boring, it's reminding me of what I purchased -- a year ago! -- as if it's a logical replacement purchase. As if I'd buy the same shoes again. As if it's a normal thing to be reminded of. Sure, tell me about what's new with Keen but don't fill my email box with this sort of junk disguised as personalization.