Next time round, it won’t be Next…
I’m not really a Next shopper. Their use of gorgeous models is however very canny. Everything looks lovely on the olive skinned beauty who seems to have dominated their print ad campaigns in recent years. Their current campaign in most of the women’s mags is no exception. A cute crochet dress and jeans with gorgeous blue striped Missoni-style halter neck are the leading images.
The blue top caught my eye so badly that over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend I decided I needed it there and then. And with Next’s speedy new online delivery, I thought I would act on that impulse.
Oh dear, easier said than done. The halter neck was easy to find on the home page – exactly the same image as seen in my copy of Grazia. I clicked on the image – in an area called ‘Denim Shop’ – only to find jeans, and nothing else. I then tried searching amongst the 300 odd tops to find said item. Nothing, not a sniff, rien, niente! I sent an email to Next. They needed a bit more info. I photographed the ad campaign and sent them this image and a screen grab from their homepage.
Their response is printed verbatim here:
Dear Jo
Thank you for your e-mail.
I am sorry that you are not able to locate to Top advertised on our website.
Unfortunately I have not been able to locate to Top online or in the Directory for you.
Can you please advise what size you would require and I will then be able to process an enquiry to try and locate stock of the Top for you.
Please attach the information below when your reply.
I am sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Kind regards
Kerri-Ellen Sharpe
Internet Correspondence Department
This beggars belief. I didn’t know this sort of cock-up still happened. It’s the sort of basic mistake I thought belonged to the early days of e-commerce. Someone should lose their job. In the meantime, I’ll try to make it down to my local Next to see if I can spot the item on the rails. But that’s so not the point. I wanted to act on my impulse – isn’t that partly what ecommerce is all about? – only to find my efforts well and truly stymied. Someone, somewhere with a hand in all of this has simply no idea how women shop! Or perhaps I’m making the mistake of crediting them with having thought about this at all.
May 4, 2011 @ 11:26 am
How funny – I just had an almost identical experience with George at Asda. Not my normal shop of choice, I must say, but leafing through a magazine with a friend the other day, we spotted a perfect demure 1950s style red lace dress – a real steal at £20. So i went online, desperate to bag my bargain. And where is the dress? Nowhere, that’s where. This dress was pushed as a signature piece for the summer in glossy mags left, right and centre. But can I buy it? Who knows??!
May 6, 2011 @ 3:44 pm
Hi Jo,
We’re really sorry we couldn’t help you find the top on the website and that customer services were unable to help you either. I’m sure you’ve probably found it by now, but just in case – here is the link: http://bit.ly/kLO3pR
We’d also like to apologise that we weren’t able to provide our usual high level of customer service. Providing a great service to our customers is something we pride ourselves in and we’ll always strive to improve, so thank you for bringing it to our attention.
To say we’re sorry for the problems you’ve experienced – we’d like to offer you a £25 gift card. Just give us a call and we’ll get that sorted for you asap!
Next
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