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We are here to help!

 

 

{mosimage}Unfortunately we live in a pressurised world – things have dramatically changed over the past few years to say the least, we are put under strain at work at home and even shopping.  It may sound obvious but why do so many people try and do everything at once. If you try and do everything you will end up doing nothing. Sound familiar? Constant hurrying about is a sign of an un-prioritised life and it doesn’t need to be like this.

 

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The reason your wardrobe is, well, lets face it, a bit sad, is because you haven’t taken yourself out off to the shops and bought anything my dear.  What’s that I hear you say….? You haven’t got the time and hate trawling around shopping centres for hours, trying to avoid pre-menstrual women!! Oh, I see – I’ve never really understood the big attraction either!

 

Don’t get me wrong I do love clothes; however I will avoid those crowds at all costs.  If you are lucky enough to have a quiet place to shop with idyllic surroundings then lucky you!!  For the rest of us, we’ll have to cram onto tubes and buses or wait in 2 hours of traffic before you even arrive at your destination and by that time if your shopping buddy is a ‘male’ his probably kicking himself thinking ‘I knew I should have pretended to do the gardening for the mothering law, I’d rather be there than here and that’s saying something!

 

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So where’s the solution to this shopping nightmare?  Well, it’s in a form of a computer…! Yes…. a computer you know that thing you sit and stare at for 8 hours a day.  You may hate it at work but it can be your friend at home, your ‘best’ friend!!

 

Nearly every household in Britain now has a PC and access to the internet; Current global estimates (2004-5) indicate that there are upwards of 700 million of us online, 840 million according to the GlobalReach research agency. According to research company Nielsen there are upwards of 34 million Britons currently connected. So we are on the net, it may be that some just haven’t caught on to the many advantages e-commerce shopping can bring.

 

Many of us forget that there are quite a few well known brands on-line; however I feel there should be many more of our ‘local’ retailers on-line.  It’s comforting to know the name of a retailer that you trust and know.  There are many other e-tailers on line however many of us are not familiar with them so you would tend to avoid them.  The five ‘BIG’ players who have moved with the times are TOPSHOP, Miss Selfridge, Monsoon, Dorothy Perkins and Next.  Viewlinks >>

 

http://www.topshop.co.uk/promostores/tops/index.html?make_live=yes&promo=

http://www.missselfridge.co.uk/promostores/miss/2004/index.html http://store.monsoon.co.uk/catalog/Welcome

http://www.dorothyperkins.co.uk/promostores/dp/index.html?make_live=yes&promo=

https://order.next.co.uk/dir-mail.asp

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Unfortunately retail chains such as Miss sixty, Oasis, Jane Norman, Karen Millen, New Look , Morgan and Kookai haven’t yet managed to come up with e-commerce sites, which is a real shame.  

 

http://www.misssixty.com/  

http://www.oasis-stores.com/

http://www.janenorman.co.uk/

http://www.karenmillen.com/home.htm

http://www.newlook.co.uk/

http://www.morgandetoi.com/

http://www.kookai.co.uk/launch/

{mosimage}There are basically three levels of e-tailing bottom line you have your online catalogues such as Freemans, Look again, La Redoute, and a whole other host of catalogue companies.  View links >>

 

http://www.freemans.com/WEB/main/index.asp

http://www.lookagain.co.uk/WEB/main/index.asp

http://www.redoute.co.uk/homepage.html

 

{mosimage}Next up we have the e-tailers such as TOPSHOP and Miss Selfrigde, Monsoon, Dorothy Perkins and Next as above – finally sitting pretty at the top we have sites like Net a porter and eLUXURY selling top end garments from internationally renowned designers. View link >

 

http://www.net-a-porter.com/cgi-bin/NETAPORTER.storefront

http://www.eluxury.com/

 

 

Then you have the odd sites that are not known on the high street but are through the internet. ASOS have done exceptionally well they have just used jumped on the band wagon of interpreting designer looks yet selling at amazingly low prices and of course this went down very well.

http://www.asos.com/

 

So as you can see there are six well – known brands and I’m sure in the future the others will come on board! E-commerce is the way forward for retailers. Shopping online eases stress, is fun and all done in the privacy and comfort of your own home – sounds like a good plan to me.

 

{mosimage}People do seem to worry about not being able to touch the fabric or seeing the finer detail or the quality, forgetting that most web-sites now have built zoom in and out features.  People also tend to be put off by returning items, although every e-commerce site must state the refund policy – plenty of sites will allow you to send back your goods.  People’s major concern seems to lie with paying over the internet.  All reputable web-sites will have a pad-lock symbol at the bottom stating that there is a secure transaction ready to take place.  If you double click on the padlock you will view a certificate stating Issued to: Issued by: and valid from: e.g 24/03/2005 to 20/04/2006 always check validity.

  

So if that is not enough for you e-tail virgins I don’t know what is, so come on and put your gremlins in the cupboard and get online!

 

 

 

Vanessa Camelia