Forever21, Zara and H&M are no longer only mall stores
With online shopping on the rise, it may be helpful to know which stores are the most reliable and which stores may break your bank. Back in 2016, The Pew Research Center found that roughly eight of every 10 consumers within the US (79 percent of the US) shop online. Recent studies have shown that it is only increasing causing many retailers to close. So, shouldn’t we know what the best online shops are and what makes them better than others? What determines which online shops are reliable and authentic?
People determine what makes an online shop the best based off many attributes. Some variables to put into consideration include price and quality, amount of sizing information and model information. Those features will help in determining what to purchase and sites that do not provide this information are not as trustworthy. Buying something online with a poor return policy and an inaccurate sizing chart is horrible. To receive a clothing item, you were so excited for just to have it not fit properly is frustrating as it is. When returns are not complementary, it only gets worse. Contact information, shipping time and return policy are kind of the technical attributes to make sure are available when making an online purchase. If this information is not available, the purchase is deemed riskier. The last thing to consider when picking an online store to shop is the variety of styles it offers. This means it’s possible to buy workout clothing, formal, casual, professional and lounge clothing all at one online shop like Lord & Taylor or ASOS.
Lulus, Fashion Nova, Amazon and Revolve are some online shops that offer free returns if the clothing item doesn’t fit what you were looking for. These are also shops where a variety of clothing can be found. Fashion Nova and Amazon are on the cheaper side compared to Lulus and Revolve, but they sometimes don’t hold true to their description, sizing or recommendations. Fashion Nova has become a popular place to shop and just settled into a new distribution center that is much larger and more equipped than before in response to demand. They have increased their popularity and reliability, but still some people every now and then experience odd orders, strings hanging, awkward sizing and clothing malfunctions.
Forever21, H&M and Zara are three other great online shops. They offer a great variety of trendy clothing and it’s easy to know how the product is going to arrive. Since these stores, as well as Lord & Taylor, have many locations across the US that online shoppers have most likely been. Shoppers can imagine what the product will be like when it arrives. For example, the quality, the sizing and color accuracy in the online picture can be imagined. Forever21 is the cheapest of these three stores that sell quality clothing. It is a very trendy store, but be aware of the odd sizing compared to other clothing stores. Going to the store is definitely probably the better option, but if you are a hardcore online shopper, it is still more reliable than most other online shops.
One last tip when it comes to online shopping is to watch out for social media ads. Many different ads for all types of online stores are advertised on social media platforms, and once in a while, people click on them. Not all of these sites may seem completely reliable; they may not have contact information or the model images may seem unprofessional. These are most likely smaller businesses that may still be reliable, but just are not name brand or well-known stores. There are others that provide poor quality clothing that sometimes looks nothing like the picture though, so you have to choose wisely when deciding on where is safe to shop.
Online shopping is amazing and addicting and the promo codes that are constantly offered are amazing. UNiDAYS is an awesome shopping app to sign up for when in college, the site provides promo codes to many popular and safe online stores. Retail Me Not is another promo code website that is amazing for online shopping. Have fun with online shopping, don’t go too crazy and be safe online.
By Brianna McKnight, Staff Writer
mcknigbl15@bonaventure.edu
