Miss Terry Shopper
Witchery vs Sportsgirl – A Miss Terry Shopper Review
- 16th June
- Miss Terry Shopper 22
Who is Miss Terry Shopper? The voice of the online shopper… fearless… sleepless… penniless… and loving it! The good news? She tells it like it is. The bad news? You could be next. Is your retail site ready for an honest shopper appraisal?
Welcome to my first piece for Power Retail. You don’t know who I am, you won’t know who I am, but you can bet I will be using my love and knowledge of online retail therapy to inspire Australian online retailers into creating the best possible virtual retail experience they possibly can.
It’s time to push our online retail industry and keep it on its toes. Who knows? It could be your site I click onto next…
Who: Two Australian multichannel retailers – Witchery and Sportsgirl
Selling: Women’s fashion
Witchery
Upon accessing the Witchery website, with no visible contact number or address on display, my heart sinks a little. Then I spy the Contact tab in the bottom right hand corner. Clicking this, a range of contact avenues appear, including a physical address, email addresses with explanations of how to direct your enquiry, as well as two contact numbers; one for online orders and deliveries, the other for PR. Phew!
Though there is no contact number available for general enquiries, the contact page is easy to navigate, clearly set out and easy to find with minimal clicks, much to my relief.
Going back to the front page, there is also a Delivery tab (outlining delivery details, costs and issues) as well as Twitter and Facebook icons. I instantly click to follow and become a fan and discover that Witchery use their social media pages for some customer service too –– Facebook more so, where customers are encouraged to post feedback on their wall, with a promise to respond as soon as possible.
I’d be happy to purchase from the Witchery site. I know that after I order online, I have a direct link to sort out any issues with my order or delivery…which is why I’m expecting a black trench coat on my doorstep in 5 to 7 days.
Sportsgirl Hmm –– no visible contact details on the front page. I have that sinking feeling again. Clicking the Contact Us tab doesn’t do much for me when it leads to a web enquiry form. After more searching (and mouse clicking), a Help/Customer Service tab is found which opens up a 4-tiered FAQ section. The prominent Contact Us tab that has appeared here only goes back to the same web form. ARGH!
Reading through the FAQs, I finally find a question, dubiously filed under the heading About Us. It reads “Can I contact you by phone or email?” The short answer? No. Go back to the Contact Us tab and fill out the web form, although site users are assured they will respond “quickly and efficiently”. It seems condescending, considering I think the quick and efficient option is a phone call.
Below this is a lesson on Facebook and how to find them on it, which reveals it not to be a customer service avenue, leaving me more frustrated. While there are also options to follow Sportsgirl on Twitter throughout, there is no indication that is a customer support mechanism either.
Basically, I felt annoyed the second the web form reared its ugly head. When my search for contact details kept referring me back to this, my irritation grew. I couldn’t help but feel the retailer thinks they are above direct customer contact, trivialising any query before it’s heard. The web form instils no confidence that my query will be received, let alone actioned. Sadly, my purse didn’t open, my credit card stayed put.
Related Articles
6 Comments
Leave a Reply
#Witchery v #Sportsgirl. Online retailers listen up-customer service can make or break your customers: http://bit.ly/cF9UHB #powerretail
RT @msterryshopper: #Witchery v #Sportsgirl. Online retailers listen up-customer service can make or break customers: http://bit.ly/cF9UHB
RT @powerretail: RT @msterryshopper: #Witchery v #Sportsgirl. Online retailers listen up-customer service can make or break customers: http://bit.ly/cF9UHB
#Witchery v #Sportsgirl. Online retailers listen up-customer service can make or break your customers: http://bit.ly/cF9UHB
RT @powerretail: RT @msterryshopper: #Witchery v #Sportsgirl. Online retailers listen up-customer service can make or break customers: http://bit.ly/cF9UHB
During my presentation at the online internet conference last week I made reference to the poor job Australian retailers in general are managing customer service. Everyone seems to agree that great product + great customer service = a happy, engaged and returning customer but yet so many fall into the “send me an email” service catalogue. If Australian companies are going to compete internationally they need to be better than their counterparts.