Great Products - Pathetic Web Set Up
Marshall Field's
We don't have a Marshall Field's around here, but I know the store by reputation. My Granny always swore by them and was glad she lived in a big city where she could go places like MF. Here, I got the store catalog until they went online. Now I can shop from the computer.
The products at MF are high quality, but they are expensive. Even when they have sales, items are pricey. The only time I spring from this site is when they have something interesting and unique that I can't find around here. For instance, my last purchase was a pair of boots that had flatter heels and a rawhide tie around the ankle. It's hard to find anything in boots with a low heel in this area and hard to find cute boots with any detail work that makes them stand out.
While the brick and mortar store may be ahead of the competition, the web site leaves a lot to be desired. They need to look at solid web venders and copy some of the things being done by the ones that are doing well.
The home page and the buying pages are cluttered. There are too many items and links, and it's hard to find what you want or need. It doesn't help that they are tied in with other stores like Target and I Love a Deal. They do have a search, but it brings up mega hits and ones outside MF. Try something like umbrella and see how many hits you get. Scary.
My thoughts are that maybe a left hander designed the site, since everything seems to be reversed from what I see on other sites. I shop a lot online, and my mouse jumps the wrong way every time I want to do something at MF. If you click on BUY, then the continue stuff is on the left instead of the right where most sites put that link.
There are other little problems. If you click to buy boots, then the default is a certain size. Instead of buy and then pick a size, you click and have size 6 boots in the cart. Then, it's confusing to try to delete. I spend ten minutes trying to get rid of size 6 and keep the size 9 boots. Geez. They should have confirmed the size earlier in the process. Thankfully, I did notice the mistake before I pressed the BUY button.
I do buy from MF online, because they do have some really nice things. It's a real shame the site is such a mess. It's one of my least favorite buying sites as far as the set up. I have to really want something to bother. Then, it takes longer than other online stores to come. Maybe they should just stick to the department store, but then I would not have access. I wish they would work harder online, because a lot of people do depend on home buying these days.
