Could do better (La Redoute)

Member Name: olly374

Product:	La Redoute
Date:	14/12/05 (837 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap and sometimes unique clothes can be found

Disadvantages: Website is terrible and delivery can be annoying

I started using La Redoute about 6 years ago as a friend I shared a house with use to order stuff from there. About 3 years ago I finally bothered to get an account in my own name.

La Redoute is a fashion catalogue that sells clothing, shoes and some soft furnishings that have been designed in France. You can order from the catalogue on-line via the website, by telephone or by mail. I normally order by browsing the catalogue and placing an order on-line as then I know stock availability.

Clothes and Shoes
The clothing and shoe quality from the catalogue varies a lot because the clothes are actually made in many different countries. Some of the clothing is good quality and uniquely designed for the price you pay whilst other clothing is cheap or expensive rubbish.

I personally find the sizing a bit odd to work out. This may be because I am a size 12 to 14. I generally work out what size I need by looking at the age of the models wearing the clothes so if they younger I go for a size 14 and if they are older I go for a size 12. This doesn't always work and I have found myself ordering bigger or smaller.

Due to the guesswork around the clothes quality and the sizing I found myself sending a lot back. Sometimes I may reorder in a different size but most of the time I cannot be bothered.

Website
The website only works in Internet Explorer and if you are like me who doesn't like using Internet Explorer for a variety of reasons this is annoying.

When you open up laredoute.co.uk you are presented with a page which advertises the latest catalogue or sale in the middle, tabs at the tops and some hyperlinks on the left hand side.

The tabs at the top represent different sections of the catalogue such as femme, children and mens. You click on one of these tabs and get taken to the appropriate section.

You then click on the hyperlinks in the section to take you to the list of items you want.

For example if you want women's jumpers you click on the femme tab and then on the jumpers hyperlink to view as selection of those items with their pictures.

If you want to view an item properly or order it you have to click on the item's picture to get a page containing a large view of the item up. You can then select your size and add the item to your shopping basket.

Unfortunately one problem with la redoute's website is the inability to navigate back to a list of items, so if you have selected say a jumper from a list of jumpers you cannot navigate back to the selection of jumpers and have to start your selection again if you are buying another jumper.

The search facility on the La Redoute web offered does not work. It either returns no results or every item.

The only real use of the website is:
1. Finding Sale items
2. Checking Stock Availability

Ordering
The best way to order is to browse the catalogue then click on the "order from catalogue" link on the website, and create a shopping basket there. Once you have filled your shopping basket and have selected a payment method you will recieve an automated email stating your order and informing you that your items are being processed. You should check this email carefully to ensure that you have selected the right items. (I ordered some t-shirts and had to send them back because they were the wrong style and then too big.)

You can order by telephone which I have never done or by post which I use to do. The downsides of ordering by post is that you do not know if an item will be in stock, so if you order a top and are going on holiday in 5 weeks there is no point ordering the top if it's only available in 6 weeks.

Delivery
When your item is in stock and about to be sent to the courier you will get an email notification informing you of this. Unless you are in all day it is best to get the item delivered to a work address this is because the couriers used are all independent operators and seem to have their own unique way of working. Some of the couriers cannot ring doorbells and therefore run over to your neighbours house and leave stuff there.

Stock Availablity
This seems to be a real problem at the moment. Christmas time is when most shops make the majority of their money yet La Redoute have seemed to really mucked up on their stock ordering this year. This may be because a lot of the garments are made in China and there is a problem with tarrifts. This means I have recieved emails stating that my item will take 13 weeks to arrive. I have noticed that this was not true the actual item arrived in 3 but this may of been because someone else cancelled their order once they recieved this email.

Also when an item is not going to be in stock over 7 weeks sometimes it is never restocked.

Freebies and discounts
If you can get a friend to introduce you to La Redoute so you both get a discount otherwise you have to wait until you have placed one order before you start being offered discounts. You will be sent discount vouchers or offers of free bags, cardigans or mysterious gifts up to twice a month once you have placed one order.

The discount vouchers normally mean you can get 20% off an item and free postage which means an item that was more expensive in a high street shop is now cheaper. The free bags are normally bags that you would give to a 7 year old and the mysterious gifts vary from disgusting clothes (pink shorts) which you should immediately send back to them to electric products such as hairdryers.

Returns
I have had to return a lot of products due to the size or the quality of clothes. You are suppose to ring the courier to come and collect your item however if you are like me and get your items sent to your house but work in a different area you cannot do this. Therefore the best bet is to seal the packaging and take it to the post office. This is free at the moment. Whe you return goods you do not have to return any of the free gifts unless they are disgusting back with the item.

Price
On first looks the La Redoute items look more expensive than the high street but with the discounts you get sent once you have made one order and their frequent sales you can get items cheaper or at the same price.

Payment
The best way to pay is by debit or credit card. This is because if you have "Personal Account" you end up paying for items which you then return and are credited back to your card randomly the next month.


Pros
1. Some unique products that are cheaper than the high street
2. Shopping at home
3. Lots of free gifts


Cons:
1. Stock availability poor
2. Some couriers have strange habits
3. Returns if you are not sure of your size
4. Website design is horrible
5. Varying quality products

Summary: Some unique items but stock availability, delivery and quality a downside