www.blissworld.com
Reviewed Dec. 9, 4:15 p.m., Netscape browser
I usually despise splash pages that announce where you are and delay your entry into a Website, but Bliss’s – an animated cartoon graphic of a turbaned woman clearing fog off a porthole – is kind of a cute introduction to the Website (which is an offshoot of the Bliss spa). And fortunately, you don’t actually have to click on the page to get to the Bliss home page: If you wait long enough (20 or 30 seconds), it automatically takes you into the site.
The Bliss World home page is easy on the eyes, with clear-cut categories and that nice grass-green color used to highlight specific links. But the first thing you notice is an animated plane flying across the corner of the site, promoting Blissmiles (Bliss’s version of a frequent shopper program). I find the graphic an annoying distraction.
Links from the Bliss home page include a registration area, where you can enter to win a $200 shopping spree, Blissertificates, and Bliss Spa Services, which lets you confirm or cancel appointments online – a nice feature. No mention of from whence these spa services emanate, however. In fact, there is no mention of what the Bliss spa is, let alone where it is.
The graphics need major work in a few places. For instance, when I click on the Bliss Spa Services link, there is a nice list of the typical spa offerings, but part of the list appears to be covered by the ubiquitous Bliss mascot (the lady in the turban). And when I click on Skin Care Treatments, I’m taken to a list of the various treatments and costs but, again, given no address of the spa itself.
Disgusted, I head to the Blissout Catalog section. Along the side frame are listed general categories of gift certificates, gift boxes, and corporate gifts, along with nine product categories. I select the Makeup link first (where I’m ticked off to see the Best of Fall subcategory, and nothing highlighting the holidays). I’m also major-league disappointed by what I link to: Clicking on a product brings up a series of product images, but no logical connection between the rotating pictures and the list of cosmetics in the scrollable frame below. As a catalog, this site is failing miserably. How could anyone know what was what and whether she wanted it?
After looking at only two product categories, I am totally confused. Still, I try to order something. I click on Hair-O-Dynamics. Here, I can choose from Shampoo, Conditioner, Treatment, and Styling products. I choose Styling. A collage of styling products is pictured. The bottom frame allows me to scroll through various products such as Philip B Drop Dead Straight ($16) and Phytologie Phyto Volume Actif (which “guarantees” hardcore “hold” for $18). I try ordering this. The order form is pretty standard, allowing for changes in the quantity field if you change your mind. The overall ordering process seems typical, with a nice little offer of a free mini Bliss product with any order over $100.
There is a helpful Bliss News area, with a newsletter and photos, and finally, an identification of the “Marcia” mentioned throughout the site. Marcia is id’d as Marcia Kilgore, founder of the New York-based Bliss spa. Eureka!
I also find a link to “how to find Bliss.” No address, but a great list of directions – from Long Island, from Brooklyn, from Queens. (Wonder what you do if you are from, say, Virginia?) I have one word for this site: amateurish.
www.avon.com
Reviewed Dec. 10, 10:30 a.m. , Netscape browser
Avon’s home page is dated December 1999 – to let you know right away that the company is on the ball. With the tag line “the company for women,” the home page highlights links to a $100 shopping spree, Tips & Ideas, All About Avon, and Shop Online. A two-part holiday-themed message also comes up along the bottom of the home page: “Want to create a glamorous look this holiday season?” Then this fades, and “Click here for our Holiday Glamour Collection, over 20 exciting shades!” appears. (Hey, it gets my attention.)
I move on to the shopping area, where a pop-up screen immediately offers a membership club: “Join Avon’s A-List and save time every time you shop! To learn more about the A-List benefits, click here.” I do, and find that the A-list club includes an e-mail notification service, a custom addressbook for storing names and addresses of gift recipients, and stored billing information. A nice privacy statement follows, reassuring buyers that Avon “does not retain your credit card information.” (I’m not really worried.)
Returning to the shopping area, I find a well-organized page of shopping categories, including a list of product types, Tips & Ideas, FAQs, Win!, All About, and Assistance. There’s also a notice about holiday delivery: “To ensure delivery using Standard Ground delivery, place your order by 6:00 p.m. EST on December 14!” Seems like a long lead time to me.
Avon offers a broad assortment of product, with makeup, skincare, bath, fragrance, jewelry, and gifts. I try the Weekly Specials link first, clicking on Color Bundles. This takes me to a page where I can choose my makeup bundle colors: Neutrals/Browns, Mauves/Plums, Pinks,/Roses, or Tawnies/ Reds. I go to the Neutrals. There’s a picture of the color-coordinated makeup kit, plus a framed explanation of what’s inside it.
Ordering is a snap. And once I place an order in the basket, Avon tries to upsell me with an offer of a coordinating shade of nail polish – a nice marketing ploy.
Along the top of each page, there are links to Customer Service, Avon Top Ten, How to Shop, Free Gift With Purchase, and Search. Greedy, I go to Free Gift, and when I see the photo of the gift, I murmur “oooh.” The gift is called The Holiday Magic Collection and includes four makeup products and a cute red evening bag to tote them in. And it’s all free with just a $35 purchase!
Moving on to check out the service, I link to Assistance. Here you find links to FAQs, All the Ways to Get Avon, Ask Avon, Customer Service Department, and a Site Map. I click on Customer Service. The first line of copy puts me at ease: “100% Satisfaction Guaranteed. If you’re not happy, we’re not. We’ll give you a full refund or an exchange with your return. It’s that simple.”
Another site highlight: the Virtual Beauty Advisor in the Tip & Ideas section. The Advisor is essentially a questionnaire about your skin coloring, your age, and your hair. When you have finished with the survey, Avon shows you which makeup color groups are right for you.
Finally, I want to enter the $100 shopping spree. Here, Avon asks you to enter its Test Your Beauty IQ Sweeps, which contains only five trivia questions. The questions are laughable – all aimed at getting you to answer that you would shop online with Avon – but what the heck. I get them all right, of course, and then have to give Avon my name, address, phone, and e-mail to enter. I’m also offered an e-mail notification service.
My only disappointment here is Avon’s search engine. For instance, when I search on “lip gloss,” I get no matches. But then I search “gloss” and get a hit. Go figure.
www.ibeauty.com
Reviewed Dec. 10, noon, Netscape browser
Whoa! Talk about information overload. There’s so much going on here, it’s tough to know where to go first. Categories include Fragrance, Beauty, Gifts, Horoscope, Beauty Guide, Ask Shirley, Fitness/Nutrition, and Beauty Trends. Also jammed onto this home page are an offer for a free gift and a recommendation of “gifts we love,” categorized by recipients (husband, brother, mother, etc.) and Ibeauty exclusive holiday offers. In addition, there’s a neat pop-up offer of free express shipping and gift wrapping – and let’s not forget the live gift adviser.
And there’s more. Scrolling down, you can click to win products, there’s a list of “what’s hot,” and you get an explanation of who “Shirley” is – she’s Shirley Lord, the former beauty editor of Vogue magazine, dahling.
Along the side, you can choose to use the search engine (which searches through 500 brands) or to click on Fragrances, Beauty, the e-mail notification service, a service link, and a register to win the fragrance basket sweepstakes.
The site’s timeliness is great. Ibeauty announces that there are “13 shopping days left!” With that in mind, my first stop is the search engine. I look for Estee Lauder. Boom! More than 20 choices. I click on a product, and a big graphic appears, as well as an offer of a lip gloss shimmer ring, free with any purchase. To order, I just check the Add to Shopping Cart box. Simple.
Then I try the live gift adviser. Suddenly, a pop-up screen tells me that “BethAnn” is currently busy but will be with me shortly. When she is available, I will be notified – or I can just leave a message. Cool.
The service area is the same link as the live adviser, but scrolling down I also see instructions on returns, e-mail contacts, free shipping offers, and a product request link. But there’s no guarantee, and no privacy policy, either.
Finally, just for fun I check out the horoscopes. You can get your weekly horoscope by e-mail if you want, but linking to this leads me to the fragrance basket sweepstakes sign-up (curious how they bundle these two). And then it becomes a big survey. You can’t just get the horoscope, apparently – you have to register for the whole contest.
The best part of the site: the list of fashion runway shows. Beauty Trends links to a long list of Real Player videos and photos of the big designers’ spring collections. You feel like a real fashion insider!