The holiday shopping season is quickly coming to a crescendo. Online shopping has changed the way we serve up holiday gift giving. Long gone are the days of rushing from store to store to chase the illusive size or color variation. The entire world of shopping is at our fingertips.
As a matter of fact, last week, we ordered an item from the Italian luxury site, Luisaviaroma. We couldn’t believe that the order shipped the same day made it from Florence Italy to our NYC apartment in just over 24-hours. In addition, the items we purchased came wrapped in delicate tissue paper and tied in a pretty bow. The presentation and experience made a small purchase feel like a luxury experience.
Yoox, on the other hand, was a shipping disaster. We placed an order on Black Friday and it took over two weeks to arrive from Secaucus, NJ. During the extended shipping time, prices were reduced and the retailer refused to extend a price adjustment. Furthermore, the expensive items arrived crushed into a nondescript brown box.
Farfetch is another site that executes the online luxury shopping experience beautifully. Our orders came promptly and were presented with care. We were even more delighted with the 30€ gift card that accompanied our purchase.
You can always count on Net-A-Porter to offer solid customer service. The site is a dependable destination for the season’s hottest items. We also love that they carry enough inventory that the site doesn’t sell out too quickly.
For the kids, we placed lots of orders with AlexaandAlex. Shipping took longer than we expected but their customer service was wonderful. Unfortunately, our gifts were packed in a sealed bag instead of a box. That means you will need to transfer your purchases, organize and execute boxing and wrapping yourself.
Meljoe is another wonderful online destination for kid’s gifts. Like, Luisaviaroma we received our items incredibly fast and our gifts came wrapped beautifully. The down side is that shipping was $12 and there aren’t free returns. That means that exchanging a wrong size could mean almost $30 in shipping, which often isn’t worth while.
We would love to hear about your online shopping experiences. Feel free to share stories about retailers doing it right those who are stumbling. Speaking of online shipping and shipping, below is your guide to getting your gift there on time and costs from various online retailers:
Net-A-Porter
Shipping: Free three day shipping
Returns: Free
Rush: Next day shipping $20
Super Rush: Same day delivery (New York) $25
Gift Wrap: Free, sale items come wrapped in tissue paper but full priced merchandise is eligible for their iconic matte black boxes
Discount: Up to 70%
Yoox
Christmas deadline: Dec 18 with Express shipping $20
Returns: Free
Gift wrap: $4
Discounts: Extra 30% to 35% off select sale items
AlexaandAlex
Christmas deadline: December 19
Cost: Free standard and express deliver with orders over $99
Returns: Free
Gift wrap: Option not available
Discount: 50% off, Extra 10% with the code WINTER10
MeliJoe
Shipping: 24-hour shipping $12
Return fees: $10
Gift wrap: Items delivered wrapped in tissue paper
Discount: Up to 60% off
Luisaviaroma
Shipping: Free express shipping
Returns: Free
Gift wrap: Items delivered wrapped in tissue paper and ribbon
Discount: 30% off on most items
