Beauty for Sale at Avon!
Written: Oct 22 '09
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Shopping online at Avon.com was a different way for me to buy Avon products. For years our family relied on a friendly face at the door when the local Avon representative visited. But times change, the world spins faster, and my time is valuable. So Avon.com is a convenience.
Navigating the Website
http://www.avon.com
Avon specializes in beauty and personal-care products and related merchandise. The products are weighted toward women, but there are selections for men and children. Avon also offers select merchandise such as clothing, handbags, and jewelry.
At first glance, the website home page is not user friendly. It seems slanted toward attracting people to become Avon representatives. However, there is some large text that says "Shop Online". Avon pushes toward shopping online with what they term an "eRepresentative". I bypass that and go directly to shopping online.
This is one of those websites that is a bit challenging to navigate at first glance. Ignore the left sidebar with links to Best Sellers, Top Rated, What's New, Special Offers, and the Virtual Makeover if you are interested in specific products.
The top of the web page (beneath the banner) includes specific links: Makeup, Skincare, Bath & Body, Fragrance, Hair Care, Wellness, Gifts, Fashion, Children, Men, Fundraising, and Clearance. For instance, click on "Makeup" and view a sub-menu that includes: Lips, Eyes, Nails, Face, Beauty Tools, Makeup Specials ... or you can shop by brand.
Each product page includes a photo that can be enlarged (often with extra views) as well as a brief description. When different colors are available (ex: lipstick), color swatches are shown along with a box to indicate the quantity to buy. If the item is on sale, the regular price is crossed out, and the discount price is displayed in red. Special Offers are highlighted in a pink box (usually unrelated to the product on the page). Each page also offers customer reviews of the product.
Let's Go Shopping!
This shopping trip, I was interested in buying small gift items for the holidays. I clicked on the product tabs along the top of the screen to surf to areas of interest. The Bath & Body section offered a nice selection of shower gels on sale (normally $6.00, marked down to $2.99). I love the bottles that have the curved handle at the top that can be hung from a shower shelf or rod. Avon also has a variety of gift sets. For instance, for $9.99 the set includes: shower gel, body lotion, body spray, bath pouf, all in an attractive drawstring bag. I was also interested in Avon's lip balms. They have a variety, and when purchased on sale, the value is great! I found a variety of lip balms that usually sell for 99-cents to $1.49 on sale for 69-cents. Can't go wrong at that price!
If you have trouble locating what you wish, the website does offer a search feature. I typed in "lip balm" and the search results came back with 15 products. A pleasant surprise was that all of the products were lip balms (no lipsticks or unrelated products).
No problem with selecting quantity and adding items to the Shopping Bag. The top of each web page also features a running quantity of how many items have been ordered. I wish they also showed the dollar total. However, if you click on the "Your Bag" link, the window opens up to show the order total. There is also a box to enter a coupon code. From here you can also Checkout.
Checking Out & Payment
Making the purchase is easy. The usual Shipping and Billing information is required, as well as an email address. There is the option to create an account. Normally I will checkout as a guest and not bother, but I recently had a rough online shopping experience elsewhere and decided to set up an account to track my order. I'm glad I did since Avon never sent me the promised email confirmation.
There is an area during the checkout process where you can write a gift message if desired. Make sure to write down the Order ID number. You will need your email address and the Order ID number in order to track the shipment.
Shipping and Handling is reasonable. Via ground, the cost is $5.95. Overnight, and two-day service is also available.
Avon accepts these credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. The security code from the back of the credit card is needed to process the order. They also accept PayPal payments.
Receipt of Product
Avon never sent me an email confirmation of the order. I should have received one within 48 hours, according to their website. I also never received an email to say that the order had shipped. I tried to log in to the account I had set up, but it isn't recognizing my information.
I did receive the order in a timely fashion. The items were well packaged. Avon even included some tissue paper with the Avon logo on it, and one of their catalogs.
Summary
I received some great items at terrific sale prices from Avon.com. Even though there were email problems, and log-in difficulties, I did receive the order and am very pleased with the items. I will order online from Avon again.
I hope you found this review useful.
Enjoy the day!
Dawn
http://dlstewart.com
Please read my other reviews:
Coldwater Creek (online store)
Coach (online store)
LL Bean (online store)
Sheplers (online store)
Kohl's (online store)
Old Pueblo Traders (online store)
Zappos.com (online shoe store)
Footsmart (online shoe store)
Crocs (online shoe store)
Copyright 2009 Dawn L. Stewart
Recommended:
Yes
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