How Jeggings Taught a Lesson in Customer Service

Bet you never thought leggings would make a comeback two years ago, but quickly women of all ages were sporting them again. Last year witnessed the comeback of the skinny jean, and this season retailers are debuting the jegging. What is a jegging? Don’t be confuzzled. A jegging is a mix between a legging and a jean, or a super-skinny jean.

American Eagle Outfitters (AE.com) is offering a buy one, get one 50% promotion on their jeans, jeggings, and graphic tees until 8/31. But right now, they have free returns on all jeggings, so if you don’t like them or cringe when you say the word “jeggings,” then you’ll only lose the cost of shipping. I emailed AE.com last night, and they responded within an hour to tell me that the free returns offer is a limited-time promotion, so act fast!

However, shouldn’t apparel companies always offer free return shipping as part of their overall customer service proposition? At least AE.com is offering free return shipping on this quickly-growing fad; it is only proper netiquette to do so. But what about men’s jeans? Well, there are plenty of other retailers who offer returns or exchanges as part of their standard policy, because you shouldn’t have to pay for shipping multiple times just because the item doesn’t fit right!

A few select apparel retailers with free returns or free exchanges: (Asterisks indicate sites that currently sell jeggings!)

*AE.com (Free Returns on Jeggings): STELLA Rating 77

ArmaniExchange.com (Free Returns): STELLA Rating 91 (Elite)

*BlueFly.com (Free Exchanges): STELLA Rating 87 (Excellent)

Bonobos.com (Free Returns and Exchanges): STELLA Rating 84 (Excellent)

BrooksBrothers.com (Free Exchanges): STELLA Rating 88 (Excellent)

*Gap.com (Free Exchanges): STELLA Rating 88 (Excellent)

HotTopic.com (Free Returns): STELLA Rating 79

LLBean.com (Free Exchanges): STELLA Rating 97 (Elite)

*NeimanMarcus.com (Free Returns): STELLA Rating 83 (Excellent)

*ShopBop.com (Free Returns and Exchanges): STELLA Rating 88 (Excellent)

*UrbanOutfitters.com (Free Returns and Exchanges): STELLA Rating 85 (Excellent)

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Good luck sporting your new jeggings, it may make all of your frenemies jealous!

To learn more about the STELLA Ratings, or to view ratings of your favorite online retailer, visit the STELLAService website.

The Fall Online Shoe Shopping Guide

The average person spends about 1/3 of their life sleeping. The other 2/3′s is spent in shoes, with the exception of beach time and foot massages, of course. That’s a lot of time on your feet! And that’s why it’s so important to find the perfect pair of shoes.

It’s also officially back-to-school shopping season and students everywhere are looking for their brand new kicks. To account for the limitless shapes and sizes of feet, there are hundreds of sites that offer various brands, sizes, styles and colors of thousands of shoes. But with so many options, it’s not easy to get that Cinderella-like fit. Do you really want to pay for return shipping if they don’t fit? In this day and age, shoe shopping should be painless, and your kicks should be delivered with excellent customer service. There’s no reason to buy from a site that can’t deliver on that promise.

To help you find the perfect online shoe shop this fall, STELLAService has evaluated 19 different sites that hopefully carry some of your favorite shoes, and as usual, we have specifically highlighted the shops that deliver a truly top-rate customer experience.

Overall STELLAService Scores

Competition is fierce within the shoe customer category. In fact, there are now more companies in this category that achieved Elite and Excellent STELLAService Ratings than any other apparel category we have evaluated.

Shipping

Do you need your Oxfords in a hurry for that weekend wedding? Just a few select sites offer shipping on Saturday. Not in a hurry? Check to see how long it took our footwear to be delivered. We all get a little anxious to receive our new shoes!

Returns

The ease and convenience of the returns process for online shoe companies is essential to the overall service proposition. Just think about how many pairs you had to try on the last time you were in a store…I’m always at least 2 or 3.  If you answered anything except “0″ or “1″, then you understand why shoe sites must make it exceptionally easy for customers to return products. See how your favorite e-retailers stack up when it comes to the returns process.

Featured Sites

Zappos.com is a breeze to navigate online. Panning the mouse over the product changes the angle view of the shoe, revealing the front back, side, bottom, and top. Check out the STELLAService Elite seal they proudly display!

RoadRunnerSports.com has a very knowledgeable customer support staff that will help you find the perfect sneakers. Customer service is available via phone, email, or live chat!

Need more info? OnlineShoes.com offers hundreds of videos that provide customers with a detailed look at popular products.

Customize your own shoes with NikeiD. Many other shoe types are available.

Thanks for reading! If you liked this, you may also be interested in the STELLAService College Shopping Guide. If you’d like to receive this blog via email, sign up in in the top right of this page. You can also follow STELLAshopper on Twitter (@stellashopper)!

Rewarding Shoe Shopping With DSW.com

DSW does a great job of rewarding its loyal customers, and being a former mathematics major, I like my customer loyalty validated by earning points for it:) DSW.com sends its DSW Rewards members a $5 certificate on their birthday, exclusive email offers, and Rewards certificates for reaching points levels. The best part, besides being free to join? Members accrue and redeem points at brick and mortar stores or online. Now through July 6th, 2010, get free shipping (and always free exchanges) on purchases $35 or more with the promotion code SHIPR during checkout.