The Iconic is probably the first serious mass market fashion-oriented etailer in Australia. They have gone all out with advertising - I was surprised to see an ad on TV!
More importantly, they are delivering the type of online shopping experience that our US and UK counterparts have enjoyed for years.
- free delivery regardless of order size
- overnight delivery
- free return (100 days!)
How do they achieve overnight delivery for free? Apparently they persuaded Australia Post to run a sorting shift between 2am and 4am at no extra cost to them (and us) so that products bought at night are ready to be dispatched by 6am the next day and delivered at 9am.
The number of products on The Iconic is overwhelming, and the styles are a bit all over the place so it take a long time to sort through. ASOS probably has more products but somehow they appear to be more unified, whereas with The Iconic I see a bunch of teenage-oriented clothes immediately followed by matronly designs, which was very strange indeed.
I've been itching to give them a try, partly to see if they can deliver on their promises, and partly so I can blog about it! On Tuesday night I went on the website to check out its final sales and liked the look of a pair of flats. I placed the order around 9:30pm and at 10:54pm I received an e-mail from Australia Post notifying me that the parcel has been despatched! The next morning I received another e-mail stating that the parcel was with the driver, and it was delivered to my workplace at 10:50am. That was some service!
The flats I ordered are Sia from Siren Shoes. They're down to $74.95 from $109.95 and I found a coupon code (RUSSH) which meant another $25 off. $49.95 for a pair of leather shoes - bargain!
And they are very cute indeed.
Unfortunately they don't offer enough support for my super flat feet.
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| Not a good look! |
I don't usually buy shoes online because fit is tricky, but with free delivery and free return it's OK to order just to try and return if they don't fit. I remember one of my colleagues in London said she could order items online in 2 sizes and return the one that doesn't fit. Now we can do the same!
Other thoughts on The Iconic:
- Website functionality gets a tick from me - filters, sort by, wishlist, product information, ease of use are all good. They've learnt from the best in the business.
- I'm not really "feeling" the model shots. I can't put my finger on it but they're not as good as ASOS, Shopbop etc.
- There are so many brands offered it is difficult to navigate the brands page. Maybe they can sort the brands by categories, so for instance the fragrance brands don't clutter the fashion/clothing brands?
What are your thoughts on The Iconic?