An Entire Universe of All Things Baby is Just A Click Away
Written: Mar 08 '05
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Despite its space age name, BabyUniverse.com is not some intergalactic shopping mall in the world beyond. Far from it. This Fort Lauderdale, FL-based company is as close as your computer, and easily accessible from the comfort of your own earthly home. Literally, an entire universe of all things baby is just a click away.
My wife and I decided to gift our soon-to-arrive first grandson with a crib and accompanying bedding. Since I much prefer the peace-and-quiet of cyber-shopping to the hazards of crowded department stores, I decided to check online for a one-stop shopping destination for baby merchandise. A Google search brought up the ubiquitous BabiesRUs (Amazon partner) and Target.com which I checked out initially. However, I soon discovered that the shipping charges for a baby crib at both sites averaged about $50 - $85 because cribs are considered heavyweight items. We were anticipating spending about $250 for a standard crib, and the additional fee would really eat into our budget.
Nominal Shipping Charges
My third destination was BabyUniverse.com, mostly because I liked the name. It sounded like I’d be able to find just about any item even remotely related to a baby. Immediately, I felt encouraged by the banner that announced “Your entire order ships for a flat $6.95 shipping fee.” Even better than the low standard fee, I discovered nearly a dozen pages of FREE SHIPPING offers on heavy weight items, such as high chairs, crib mattresses, select cribs, strollers, and changing tables. Astonishingly, there was even a free shipping offer on the child-sized “Gaucho Silver Edition,” a 94-pound, battery-powered, all terrain vehicle retailing at $479.99. At this point I felt greatly optimistic. Even if the crib we ultimately purchased wasn’t on sale, the most we would pay for shipping would be $6.95—at least 80% lower than most competitors.
Customer-Friendly
My first impression about the BabyUniverse.com website is that it is so customer-friendly. Prominently displayed on the home page is “Live Help”, their toll free number and business hours, FAQs, and a Help Center. When you visit a website for the first time, there is nothing more annoying than having to click through a million web pages in order to find a phone number or other contact information. In contrast, BabyUniverse.com places Help links on virtually every page of their website. You are encouraged to contact them via the method that suits you best—live chat, email, or telephone. That is truly a comfort to a first time visitor.
Additionally, I noticed that website security is an important characteristic of BabyUniverse.com. Security icons such as “PayPal verified,” “Bizrate.com Customer Certified,” “Verisign Secured,” and “Hacker Safe” provide the buyer with a sense that this will be a safe place to shop. There is even a Spanish version of the website for consumers who are more comfortable shopping in Spanish. How many merchants can compete with that attention to customer needs?
Merchandise
Browse the entire site by baby registry, sales, free shipping offers, or brand. Familiar baby brands—such as Fisher-Price and Baby Einstein—share virtual shelves with more esoteric brands, such as Shoos Shoos (stylish baby shoes developed by a pediatrician) and Cheeky Monkey, creator of the “Pac Back” (which apparently is a nylon-and-buckle contraption designed to let you strap your baby’s car seat to your back…Ouch!)
If you’re not in the mood for browsing, you can head straight to their Departments (Apparel, Bathing, Bedding, Furniture, Décor, Feeding, etc.) or click on one of the Home Page headings (Baby, Toddler, Youth, Maternity, and Boutique). Either way, this site has everything you would expect find in a specialty store catering to the care and needs of an infant, toddler or expectant mother. For those who are hard to shop for, you can purchase the Baby Universe “Message in a Bottle”—a gift certificate packed in a baby bottle and tied with ribbon. There is also an email version of the gift certificate if you prefer.
My Order
Since we were in the market for a crib and mattress, I began my search by clicking on “Cribs.” Within that category, there were several subcategories for the style of crib (i.e. Canopy, Convertible, Handpainted, Jenny Lind, Mini, Room Ensembles, Round, Sleigh, and Standard). I knew that I wanted to view the Sleigh and Standard versions, so I started with Sleigh cribs. There, I had the ability to sort by: Brand, Price: Low to High, Price: High to Low, and Best Sellers.”
I sorted by price, and found 25 styles of sleigh beds ranging from $168 to $399. Unfortunately, roughly 30% of the products on the page had no picture image, just a note saying “picture coming soon” and the product name. Since I didn’t want to purchase a crib without a picture of it, I ignored those products.
After spending time reviewing my options, I went back to the Free Shipping page, and found a crib that suited my step-daughter’s request. After much deliberation with my wife, we decided upon a standard, attractive-but-not-overly-fussy sleigh style bed that was on sale for $179.99 and included free shipping. Like all the other products, the “Stardust Crib” product page included a comprehensive description of the materials (solid hardwood), tools needed for assembly (Phillips screwdriver), finishes (non-toxic, Natural stain), and manufacturer certifications. BabyUniverse.com provided as much information about the manufacturer of the crib, as it did on the crib description. This gave me the information I needed to check out the qualifications and background of the manufacturer.
Once I was satisfied with the crib, I also purchased the Regency mattress by Jupiter Industries for $99.99 plus free shipping. Again, the product page provides a detailed description, and many items have product reviews from consumers who have already purchased and used the product (like a mini-Epinions review!). I found that feature exceedingly helpful in making a final decision.
Shipping and Delivery
Shipping information is included on every product detail page and many items ship separately from the same order, which I found to be true in my case. The mattress was scheduled to take anywhere from 2-3 weeks to process, and the Stardust crib had a similar 10-14 day processing window. To my delight, the crib shipped out via UPS only 5 days after ordering and arrived 4 days later. The mattress took a bit longer, shipping out 13 days after I placed the order and arriving at my doorstep via FedEx in 4 days. In sum, both items were delivered to my door within 15 calendar days. Even though the transit time is a bit extensive, free shipping on two oversized, heavy weight items is a real bargain and ordering early is the key to success at BabyUniverse.com.
Conclusion
The crib is up; the bedding laid out and waiting for the new arrival. The parents-to-be are extremely pleased with our selections, and my wife and I are left with a good feeling about this very important shopping experience. If you need stuff for that new child or grandchild, you can’t go wrong with BabyUniverse.com.
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? Baby Crib & bedding
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vemartin
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Member: Vincent
Location: Aurora, IL
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...A Great Empire cannot be Conquered from Without until it first Destroys itself From Within...
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