ready set holiday

I got an email in last week asking me if I would be interested in reviewing the latest Sears "holiday" site, nothing like a bit of 'blogoblicity'(publicity via the blogosphere) to add some credibility to that product offering.

I agreed to have a look at their website because I have been punting my 'Christmas list' and because it has linkages with an e-Procurement project space which I will be involved in 2007, yes that space is getting closer to "landing."

When I internet shop I look for the following:

1. The consistent availability of the site, the merchandise and the required support.
2 A virtually competitive price;
3. An intuitive site with the following features - a good search engine; a wishlist facility for parking goods; a few good reviews and specifications that are easily understandable however irrespective of these features I mostly want for it to be simple; quick and discrete.
4. An easy check-out, nothing annoys me more than getting to the check out and it's not an https site or that they don't take credit cards only pay pal etc.
5. Shipping, methods and costs, this will also tell me if the site is thinking local or global.
6. A tracking facility so that I can check up on the status of my order.
7. Personalised customer service and the adherence to my feedback.
8. Finally I want consistency on all of the above - like a five star hotel - I expect that the same high level of service every single time I visit.

The Sears group recently refreshed their shopping portal with the holiday site, http://www.readysetholiday.com , lets see how it stacks up against my list of basics and then lets see how it proposes to differentiate itself from the competition.

The site's look and feel is very different from the main Sears site which is a bit drab, this is a lot slicker but the shopping experience is still very linear, lots of back 'n forward arrowing although you'll get there in the end. Someday I just wish that shopping will be slightly more spatial, like http://www.thebrain.com, which will make it a more satisfying and interesting experience.

The next thing to note about the site is that it is US specific, overseas shoppers are wasting their time, something which the site could make quite clear from the get-go but doesn't. It's relatively easy to navigate, catalogued items are visual and are grouped allowing users to shop by price, category and by interest.

In terms of speed, it was so-so, pages didn't have lotsa macro-media so they should have been quite swift to open but this wasn't the case although I suspect that my connection probably contributed to this browsing sluggishness.

Because I never bought anything, there was nothing to be disgruntled about (yet) or to track, you will have to try that out for yourself although the site does talk about you being able to collect your purchase at the nearest store five minutes after your transaction has been processed - go test that backend efficiency proclamation which I like, particularly as it enables you to do some route and time planning.

Then there are the differentiating special features that are quite nifty: Find a gift; Get Prepared; Mom to Mom; Holiday Help and Kidzone. I spent most of my time in the Get Prepared section which offered a host of recipes and I ended up emailing myself a 'bloody Mary' recipe which will be useful in the months to come. The 'Mom to Mom' section is a forum and Holiday Help, contained Sears' quick fixes and resource guides, some of which made interesting reading.

The "Kidzone" section contained a few games but tis not playstation although, http://games.mvm.com/candycanerace/index.php, captured my attention for a few minutes.

So while these features are nifty they are very much separate and as such they don't really enhance the shopping experience but who knows this may be that loss-leader that cleverly increases site traffic and at a stretch loyalty - the potential rewards of simple interactivity.

Now as 2007 rapidly approaches and the infrastructure begins to take a bit of a pounding, you may not want to contribute to the chaos on the streets and may instead want to consider internet shoppen. Locally, http://www.kalahari.net; http://www.exclusivebooks.com; http://www.take2.co.za; http://www.netflorist.co.za (pricey); http://www.musica.co.za; http://www.digimall.com and http://www.mweb.co.za (shopping) are worth looking at but all of these stores have their limitations and the support is not quite there yet.