Why Does Australian Online Apparel Retail Suck?

LOrderedChaos on 22/08/2020 - 15:35
Last edited 22/08/2020 - 15:46 by 1 other user

General gripe here.
I'm sure there's going to be a lot said by Apparel Retailers about how "difficult" COVID has been.
To that I'm going to say "Bah bloody humbug. You've done it to yourselves.".

I'm in Vic, so Online shopping is the go-to channel. I'm looking to shop the basic range - nothing fancy.
Can't get the basics Online. The vast majority of items are out of stock for Online ordering.
Shopping for a 10 year old… need a couple of Trackpants, Hoodies, Socks, Slippers. Here's my experience:

  • Target - At least they have a filter for "Available Online". Awesome right? Click it and everything vanishes. Arrrggg… Couldn't find sizes, or colors, and range is hugely limited. Found only two units of the needed items.
  • KMart - Don't have a filter for "Available Online", so it's the freakin lottery. Popped 8 items in my basket and only TWO are available for Online Ordering. Couldn't you tell me this before disappointing me?
  • H&M - Geez folks. No online presence in Aus? WTH. Am I dreaming. Certainly Google'd my ar$3 off to spend my hard earned $$'s with no luck.
  • David Jones - Seriously - no filter on Size!!! I have to click every item to check size availability. Gotta be kidding me. With premium prices was not expecting that. Gave up searching on Trackpants.
  • Myer - Dudes… Range!. Like Target limited Trackpants available and out of stock on the go-to colours - black, charcoal, navy.

… and so I "walk away" empty handed…. so Mr/Ms Retailer don't you damn complain about how "hard you've been hit". You've been ill-prepared for the Digital age. Online has been sluggish because your range and availability online has been, and remains, poor. Contrast my experience with the Apparel Retailers vs the Tech Retailers - 10 items sought out, 10 items found and purchased.

… and before anyone suggests that Tech is "different". This all ultimately comes down to the 3 P's of retailing - right Product and the right Price at the right Place… and that folks is the failing of the Australian Apparel Retailer. There is demand, and there is supply. It's simply not available at the right Place!

Fashion & Apparel

Comments

  • Fiximol on 22/08/2020 - 15:37
    +14

    Honestly, Uniqlo is your best bet.

    • OrderedChaos on 22/08/2020 - 15:54

      Actually forgot about them :). Will give it a go.

    • Nalar on 22/08/2020 - 16:40

      Uniqlo is exactly Japan's site, probably only decent online cloths anywhere.

    • follow on 22/08/2020 - 19:27

      and ascolour

  • bazingaa on 22/08/2020 - 15:58

    ASOS? BigW?

  • this is us on 22/08/2020 - 16:00
    +2

    Depending on your style, you can go the following website: Uniqlo, Cotton On, Hallenstein Brothers

    I've also bought socks from Aussie Sock Shop, and other things directly from Adidas, Under Armour websites, plus ASOS and Amazon… The amount of options on ASOS website is quite overwhelming… You can spend hours browsing pages if you don't filter enough.

  • Orico on 22/08/2020 - 16:40
    +1

    Honestly, I just get my family in the USA to buy all the cheap brand name stuff every year and ship it over to me in a large box.

  • djones145 on 22/08/2020 - 16:52
    +2

    kmart is the worst
    can add in cart
    no.stock online, no click and.collect
    like u say it's a lollery

    but.omg its like to best, kmart for life, best products ever, air fryer is tat bomb. place this on news.com.au pleasereee

    • tanksinatra on 22/08/2020 - 21:17
      +2

      agree. The kmart website is unusable. It's all 'available' until you go to pay then boom no stock.
      waste of time.

      • djones145 on 23/08/2020 - 08:54

        and even if its.in stock 2 days later its out.of stock
        and u get a refund

        did help me get 3 dollar balloons lol, tried getting the airfryer, got that delivered free

  • serpserpserp on 22/08/2020 - 17:44

    If you are shopping for a 10 year old consider:

    https://www.next.com.au/en

    Cheap and quality.

    • subywagon on 22/08/2020 - 17:52
      +8

      I thought child trafficking was illegal?

  • EightImmortals on 22/08/2020 - 17:44

    Don't forget Step One. :)

  • Seraphin7 on 22/08/2020 - 17:52
    +1

    Haven't you worked out that Australian retailers don't actually want to sell anything? That requires effort and smells too much like hard work.

    Or at least nothing that requires any more effort than, "Yeah, mate, we've just got whatever's on the shelf."

    Australian retail was vaguely competent when they could gouge the customer pre-internet/international competition, but it's now just diabolical. Frankly, for some of our "major retailers", it just gives the impression that it's dead, everyone's given up, but while "head office" continues to enjoy their salary and perks they'll keep the b@stard on life support as long as possible.

  • sahh on 22/08/2020 - 17:58
    +3

    Agree with your post, people are quick to blame landlords for high rents but for some retailers it’s their lack of innovation and as you say giving customers the three P’s that’s putting them out of business!

  • kyle on 22/08/2020 - 23:23
    +2

    With DJ, they spent so much on IT and still can't get it right. They made some positive changes in the last major revamp but stuffed up other things, like the filters.

  • Jono05 on 23/08/2020 - 23:24

    Have you tried Rebel or even Best & Less?

  • Shiny Mew on 05/09/2020 - 09:13

    I've noticed the lack of a size filter on DJ's website. That omission is absolutely mind-blowing given how competitive the modern online retail space is.

    • clover on 07/09/2020 - 02:38

      Agree. Shopping online with Myers and DJ are painful.

  • CheeryCheapskate on 09/09/2020 - 15:51

    My goto online store would be Zara but I only shop there when they have sales and free delivery (over a certain amount). Uniqlo is decent, there were a few codes floating around once in a while for discounts and free delivery.

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