Macys.com

Full review
Until last Christmas, if I were to use free-association with the word, “Macy’s”, the first two thoughts that would have automatically come to mind were “Thanksgiving” and “Parade.” I have since learned that the annual parade is not the only association one can make upon hearing the name Macy’s. This venerable and established department store has evolved into an online shopping destination for all things trendy and stylish. As such, it has created its own association with such powerhouse brands as Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Tommy Hilfiger, to name just a few.

I’m not exactly what you would call a trend-setter, so I never imagined that I would ever have any reason to shop at Macys.com. However, this past Christmas season, my wife was on a crazed hunt for a specific holiday gift that was apparently in short supply. This review is the result of my wife’s overall impressions and experience at Macys.com.

We needed an affordable gift for the stylish twenty-something year old on our list. In light of the fact that our daughter is an M•A•C Cosmetics aficionado, my wife wanted to purchase a $30 holiday gift set that she’d seen on the M•A•C website. That seemed easy enough since the M•A•C brand is available at over 350 locations throughout the world, including a few Internet suppliers such as Macys.com. However, as often happens in life, some things are easier said than done.

It became obvious early on that the M•A•C Holiday 2003 Neutral Gloss Palette was selling out fast. This extremely popular item (containing the hip colors: Fresh Brew, Bronze Shimmer, Honey Flower, Verve, Fetish, Baby Beige and Sundae Best) had already sold out on the M•A•C website as well as other major Internet department stores like MarshallFields.com and Nordstrom.com. On eBay, a few opportunistic entrepreneurs were pushing the makeup kits as “Very Hard to Find” items (which they indeed were!) and selling them at a premium price of $49.99 and up. My wife was not about to give up and pay twice the price at eBay for seven tiny slabs of lip gloss. With a little online sleuthing, she eventually discovered that Macys.com carried the M•A•C line, so she visited the site for the very first time.

The home page of Macys.com features an array of sophisticated merchandise housed in a generically forgettable website. There is nothing particularly exciting or stylish about the website itself. However, you’ll find it easy to navigate Macys.com because it is arranged in standard department store categories: Bed & Bath, Dining, Housewares, Women, Men, GenXY, Kids, Jewelry, Beauty, and Sale. It’s not the website, but the designer names and prices, that let you know you’re not in Kansas anymore.

Clicking on the “Beauty” aisle displayed an impressive list of name brand cosmetic giants such as Clinique, Estée Lauder, Clarins, Fashion Fair, Dior, and Prescriptives. For some unknown reason, the brand listing is not alphabetized. Therefore, you’ll need to take a couple of moments to review the entire list to find the brand you’re looking for. Sandwiched improbably between “Lancome” and “Benefit” was the link to the “M•A•C” line. The M•A•C link then takes you to an interface that appears to be an identical product page from the main maccosmetics.com website. The only difference this time was that the elusive “M•A•C-7 Lips: Neutral Holiday Gloss Palette” was STILL IN STOCK! Well, sort of.

Ecstatic at her discovery, my wife immediately added the $30 product to her shopping cart. It was during the checkout process that a notice displayed on the screen that the inventory was low and that the requested product may not be available. The final email confirmation would let her know whether or not she would receive the product. So, she waited patiently.

The product was purchased on the 17th and the confirmation email was received that same day. Happily, the email confirmed that this very hard to find lipstick set was indeed available and was shipping on the 19th. The shipping charge of $6.95 for regular USPS Priority mail is a bit high, but since my wife was so gratified to find the product in stock, she had no regrets about the charge. The package was received only two days after it shipped, and the contents were well protected and intact upon arrival. A free makeup pouch and some sample perfumes were also included in the shipment.

All in all, shopping at Macys.com was a positive experience with no glitches or major difficulties. Our daughter absolutely loved the lipsticks, and it was undoubtedly a favorite gift in her stocking. For me, because of the pricey shipping and designer offerings for which I have little use, it’s not really a place where I’ll spend a lot of time shopping in the future. But I would definitely recommend that you give it a try if you’re in the market for the next “limited edition” must-have gift of the year.