Cinderella shall go to the ball....well nightclub actually... (office.co.uk)

Member Name: pink_glitter

Product:	office.co.uk
Date:	14/09/08 (111 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use once past homepage, send tracking number, well packed

Disadvantages: homepage is a mess

I decided recently that I needed some new 'going out shoes' as all the ones I had were either falling apart from over-use, didn't really go with anything, or I had worn them so often I was just bored with them!

After a day trawling the shops, I came away empty handed, having not found any shoes I thought suitable. When I got home I had a message from my friend saying that a few people were going out that Saturday night, and would I like to come? I did want to go, but worried about what I would wear, so had a look through my wardrobe. Having narrowed it down to two dresses, I started panicking about what shoes to wear with them, as I still wasn't happy with any of the ones I had (I'm so fussy!).

I remembered a pair I had seen in Office earlier that day but had dismissed for a reason I cannot now remember, so I decided to go online and have another look at them.

If you're not familiar with Office, they are basically a high-street shoe company, offering a wide range of styles for both sexes and they also have a website where you can shop online. The URL of the site is simply www.office.co.uk. This takes you to a homepage, which to be honest I don't really like. Although Office cater for both men and women, I think the homepage looks quite masculine (as a girl, it doesn't appeal to me at all), as well as being messy.

The page has a grey background with zigzag design, and then lots of messy icons scattered about. There is a row of brand names (such as Nike, Fred Perry and Converse) through the middle, which you can click on to take you to see the shoes of those brands, but again, I feel that this is targeted primarily at men, being sporty brands.

There are links at the top, such as his, hers, sports, sale etc.. which take you to the section you need, as well as a quick search, where you can select specific criteria of what you're looking for.

When selecting one of the categories at the top (in my case I selected 'hers') the site takes you to a much more well ordered page. You are presented with a list of categories down the left hand side of the page, which you can click on to select the type of shoe you want to view - such as ankle boots, high heels, sandals etc.. I much prefer this layout to the mess of the homepage - it is clean and simple, and easy to navigate.

When selecting the type of shoe you wish to purchase (in my case 'high heels') you are then taken to a page showing nine pairs of shoes, and you can scroll through page by page until you find a pair you like. Alternatively, if you know specifically what you are looking for, there are options at the top of the page to narrow down by brand, size, colour etc...

Having known which shoes I wanted, I found them pretty easily. On clicking the picture of the shoes, I was taken to another page where I have an option to see the shoe in 360 degrees and zoom in for a closer look. I decided to buy them after all, and simply clicked 'add to basket' to purchase them.

Doing this, I am taken to a page asking if I want to go to the checkout or continue shopping. Thinking £60 is enough to spend on shoes for one day, I opted to go straight to the checkout. At this point, as I had never used the site, I was requested to register with them. This is simple - really just a case of entering your name and address. Once done, you can enter your payment details (most major cards accepted) and submit your order. You will receive a confirmation email from them soon after.

I ordered my shoes on a Monday, and in my mind that was more than enough time to guarantee they would arrive by Saturday. I must admit, I didn't check the delivery information when I ordered - silly I know, but I don't order online very often, and when I do, I tend to stick to the same sites, most of which deliver within 48 hours. On the Thursday morning when the shoes still hadn't turned up, I was getting a bit worried, so went to the website to check delivery times. When I saw it said 7 working days (the aim being 5-6 days) for UK orders, I was a bit annoyed - but at myself for not having checked this first, rather than the website.

As it was, Friday morning I received an email from Office saying that my parcel had been shipped, along with a UPS tracking number. Sure enough, they arrived on Saturday morning, so just in time for my night out. They were well packed, and so beautiful too. I know this review is about the website rather than the product, but the shoes were of a very good quality, they fit really well too, and were surprisingly comfortable given how high they were!

So, my overall impression of the website is fairly good if we ignore the homepage! There is a huge range of shoes online - everything you will find in store is also on the website, which is great as you often don't get that with big chains. The shoes were packed well and delivered within the 5-6 working days they stipulated, even if I do think that's slightly too long. The main negative for me, is the messy and confusing homepage, but once you have actually chosen the category you wish to view, the site becomes very user friendly and simple, so I will give it four stars.

Summary: Office.co.uk