Macys.com: Lucille Ball Would Approve

Full Review
I have always been a fan of Macy's for no reason other than the fact that I almost never, ever find myself paying retail prices. Whether in store or online, I find that Macy's offers amazing offers - from discounts for using your Macy's card, to 20% savings passes, etc. This past holiday, I decided to use Macys.com to purchase my mother her Christmas gifts. With a $100 budget, I knew that I would be able to find a couple of items for her. That, plus the 25% savings pass that I had (which had a few exclusions, such as Coach and Macy's Home items), inspired me to shop more freely.

The Macys.com website is similar to other department stores, but it has a striking resemblance to Bloomingdales.com - its upscale sibling. The bulk of the homepage has some type of promotion, generally touting the most recent sale or deal. With clear and large text, the upper part of the Macy's website offers several core categories - women, men, shoes, sale, etc. - which users can play with when navigating the site. There is a search function as well - which I have found to be remarkably responsive and on-topic - as well as a shopping bag feature.

As much as I hate apparel shopping for my mother, I figured that she could always return whatever I bought her if it didn't fit or if she didn't like it. However, with the assistance of my sister, there was a pretty good chance I'd find something half decent. Instead of scrolling through endless pages under the women's category, I decided to look more specifically. I ended up clicking on a tab which touted "under $50 shirts and dresses" - perhaps the prettiest words I have ever seen in Arial text.

To my surprise, the selection was quite generous. There were literally dozens of items to choose from, but I was disappointed that I couldn't narrow my search down even more. When searching for items in general, you can separate them by brand, apparel type, or size. However, once you specify your search within one of these categories, you can't specify the search even further.

I managed to find three very nice items for my beautiful mother - a Michael Kors dress and shirt, as well as an INC shirt. When viewing the items, I got to see the material they were made of, as well as a brief description of the design. I could also choose to pan in and out on the item's image with the zoom function. Overall, I am satisfied with the way the items are displayed and can't really find anything missing or out of the ordinary.

Each item that I chose was under $50, and after adding all the items to my shopping cart, I found out that orders over $100 were being shipped for free. I figured, however, that my 25% off savings pass would put my total a little bit under the $100 mark. Luckily, Macy's honored the free shipping promotion and instead used the non-discounted price to determine the free shipping - something which I found to be very customer friendly, especially in comparison to stores which are likely to have more strict policies just to make a penny.  

After approving the price of only $94 for three nice gifts, I typed in all my credit card, contact, and shipping information. Immediately after placing my order, I received a confirmation e-mail which came with details regarding the use of FedEx.com to track my package. Within two days, all three items arrived in perfect condition, invoice intact. My credit card was charged the correct amount and I have had no reason to call Macy's or go to the store with any issues.

To conclude, I am impressed with Macys.com. While searching for items can be stressful because of the sheer amount of products available, I think the site does a good job of breaking things down more easily. I love the sales that the store offers - they are seriously unbeatable. The free shipping was certainly the cherry on top. I definitely would not hesitate to shop with Macys.com again - it certainly beats driving to the mall!