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Department Stores |
Wal-Mart is the leading department store, but not many people
know it is also one of the largest online retailers.
The same low prices that are available in stores are
available on the website. The selection may be
slightly different, with the website offering some
products not available in stores, and
vice-versa. In some cases, usually with
consumer items such as electronics, the selection is
much better on the website. For example,  45 Garmin
GPS products are available online compared to usually
only a few models available in most stores. Same
with digital cameras with 122 items available online
and only a fraction of this available in stores.
Shipping is generally fast, with USPS service offered
for smaller items and many regional fulfillment
centers, although their website states that items can
take 1 to 2 business days to leave the
warehouse. An excellent feature is the link next
to each product detail which allows one to see the
estimated arrival date depending on which shipping
service is chosen - Express, Priority, or Standard
shipping. The return policy allows items to be
returned or exchanged at Wal-Mart stores or by mail,
so is convenient. |
Macy's is an upscale department store known primarily for
their clothing, shoes, and accessories. They
also carry a very good selection of housewares,
cosmetics, and jewelry, and some furniture and
electronics. They are a popular merchant for
bridal registries. Pricing is at or near  list
for most items but they have frequent sales,
especially around holidays. Most people shop at
Macy's for the excellent selection of fashionable
clothes for men, women, and children. Website
design is very good and easy to navigate considering
the large number of products. Shipping costs are
based on the total cost of the order and range from $5
to $20, with 2 day shipping available for $8
more. The return policy is generous and most
product can be returned to their common brick and
mortar stores, typically found in malls. |
Overstock.com is the well-advertised merchant of closeout and, yes,
overstock merchandise, although they often do carry
recently released products, too. They offer in
the categories typical of a department store - home
and garden, jewelry, sporting goods, electronics,
apparel, gifts, furniture, games, and music.
Selection in any one category is usually low and
changes often, but it is worthwhile to stop by their
website often to see what's available. Prices
are usually good to very good, sometimes
 excellent. Annoying features of the website are
a "sales assistant" autoscroll popup
invitation to live chat, although perhaps helpful if
one really did want to live chat about a product, and
an invitation to join their "Club O", which
provides further discounts on goods which may be
valuable if one shops the site often or spends a lot
on it. Shipping costs are very inexpensive
with all orders having a flat shipping rate of around
$3, sometimes lower during promotions.
Overstock.com accepts PayPal as well as most major
credit cards. A unique feature of Overstock is
they offer a "request to sell inventory"
from other merchants or individuals - fill out a form
telling them what product you have to offer along with
pricing, quantity, and other particulars and they may
market it for you. |
Fingerhut is an online store with a selection comparable to that
of a large discount department store. They have very
good pricing and usually  have a good selection of
items advertised to be 75% off. A fun feature is
their "As seen on TV" section.
Fingerhut's main claim to fame is that they advertise
monthly payments on almost every item they
offer. Note that financing consumer goods is not
typically recommended by consumer advocates. |
Shop.com is an online department store that advertises itself as "Thousands of Brands, Hundreds of Stores, The Convenience of OneCart." One Cart is their proprietary shopping cart that allows the use of one shopping cart with all the different vendors they represent. Shop.com is a giant affiliate marketing service with an interface to all the merchants that puts the Shop.com "webshell" around displays of a usually abbreviated list of the store's merchandise. Shop.com does offer a consistent interface for all the merchants with a product category  display in the left sidebar menu with a convenient selection of "See All Sale Items." They also have a few featured items on the home display for each merchant. One might think that the convenience of shopping with OneCart would also mean the savings of OneShippingCost, but it does not. Each vendor from whom a product is purchased assesses their own normal shipping cost, so this provides no additional value and can lead to a surprisingly high shipping cost, but under the Stores category in the gray top menu bar is a selection titled "See All Stores With Free Shipping" (usually with a minimum cost order from that store). Shop.com also provides ratings for the various vendors. |
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Links
Clark Howard provides a great deal of information on the purchase of consumer products and services, online and off, on his website.
Epinions.com is an online ratings service of products, services, and businesses which provides a review forum for consumers. Note that people are much more motivated to find a place to vent their feelings when they are dissatisfied than when they are pleased, so the ratings can certainly be skewed towards the unfavorable, especially for the items or vendors that have the largest number of reviews, but it still provides a useful measure for comparison.
Bizrate.com is another online ratings service of products and vendors.
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