I'll make fun of it from time to time, but there's no denying the sheer size and power of Zappos. The behemoth stocks shoes by everyone from Steve Madden to Sigerson Morrison, features multiple views of every shoe, has (admittedly useful) customer reviews, and, best of all, offers free shipping and free returns. Zappos is pretty much a goldmine, and most other shoe websites don't even come close to its selection or services. Well, until now. Amazon's new venture is Endless.com, a site featuring shoes for men, women, and children, as well as women's handbags, albeit in a Flash-enhanced, way more aesthetically pleasing design that lets you do everything from narrow down your search results by size or mouse over to see all the colors of a certain style. (One of the things about Zappos that annoys me is that each color of each shoe comes on a separate page, which I find time-consuming and unnecessary.) The kicker, though, is that Endless raises the ante by offering free overnight--yes, overnight--shipping. The question is whether you'd want any of these shoes so urgently that you'd really need them overnight. While lower- and mid-priced brands are well represented (think Nine West and Skechers), and there are even some trendier favorites (Penny Loves Kenny, Oh Deer), the "luxury" shoes peter out with Delman and Donald J Pliner. And many of the styles are somewhat lackluster. Like, this FarylRobin boot is somewhat basic but cute...but I'm not sure if it's so special that I need to have it tomorrow.
This silver buckle flat is very Edie Sedgwick, but sadly my size is out of stock.
This Steve Madden wedge is a nice Christian Louboutin knockoff, at about a tenth of the price of the original.
The selection of handbags leaves something to be desired--it runs the gamut from boring to tacky with not a whole lot in between--but I think this Charles David satchel is not bad.
So...Endless.com isn't exactly Zappos (I even had a hard time finding any shoes that had been reviewed, but then again the site has only been up for a week), and it certainly has a bit of growing to do. But as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day, and I'm always willing to cheer for the underdog.
2 comments
I absolutely love your blog! I know as an avid reader I should comment more but I usually get lost after clicking thru many of your links!
you know, i just ordered from zappos and they upgraded my shipping to overnight for free -- fighting back?
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