I don’t know if this happened recently or if it’s old news, but if this isn’t "HOT!!!" material for BerryReview, then I don’t know what is:
Victoria’s Secret has a mobile site.
What that means to you will depend a lot on a number of factors:
– Are you male or female?
– Do you think it’s OK to buy lingerie online or do you absolutely make a point of buying that sort of thing in person?
– How much do you care about your underwear?
We will look into all of these issues. There is something interesting here for everyone.
If you are male, there is absolutely no reason for you to ignore this Web site. Believe me, it’s a very beautiful Web site. I am pretty sure that many guys wouldn’t mind spending a long time admiring all the beauty of design that has so evidently been put into every corner of this site: the classy fonts, the smart style sheets, the tasteful backgrounds, the luscious buttons and the impeccable forms. Personally, I just wish every Web site were as beautiful as this one.
Oh, and the usability. A lot can be said of Victoria’s Secret mobile site’s usability. After all, this is a mobile site. One very good thing about BerryReview ourselves is how much we care about the mobile readers. How could we not, it’s about the BlackBerry, our readers value mobility more than any others. I think it’s very important that a company, outlet or organization understand the importance of catering to this blossoming market. It’s good to see that more and more companies are learning that. Last week, Luis wrote about Amazon’s BlackBerry app. This one here isn’t an app, but it’s a very functional mobile site. Victoria’s Secret has nothing to do with mobile devices, but nearly everyone is using mobile devices nowadays, so they are covering this ground as well and I applaud them for that.
If you are male, you may also find this site very useful for buying gifts, especially in a pinch. In case you don’t have time to run by a brick and mortar store to get a nice gift for your beloved one, you can just choose and buy right it from your BlackBerry. I recommend choosing it personally, but I know that is not always possible. Keep reading and I will tell you a little more about buying at this site.
Last, but not least, if you are male you still can buy something nice here for yourself. Why not? We’re not here to judge. 🙂
If are you female, it’s all the more obvious. You can buy your own lingerie in the most convenient possible way: online and without a desktop! The mobile site catalog is not very thorough, you may miss a few items that are only available from the more complete desktop version of the site, but this one still has many beautiful items. Buying at the mobile site is very straightforward: they have put no obstacles here, just relevant information and a good measure of pictures so that you know what you are buying. If you choose bras, for example, you get two pages of items. Once you choose one, you have instant access to a lot of specific information about that one item: design, fabric, straps, lining, available sizes and colors and a few other details I had never even heard about – but you certainly know them well if you buy bras regularly. If you like what you see, you can just add it to your shopping basket just like in any other e-commerce site. When you think you’ve bought enough items, you check out.
The amount of information that Victoria’s Secret has put into the site reminds me of an important issue: do women really buy their lingerie online? Is the amount of information really enough or do they prefer to see it live and make sure it is exactly what they want? I didn’t waste my time just wondering and guessing, I went straight to the source: the women. I ran a quick poll among eight of them I could reach quickly, very far from what could be deemed a "scientific" approach, but it was enough to surprise me: I thought all of them would be especially fussy about this, but it turns out only two of them refused to buy their lingerie online. All the others buy online and buy regularly. And there is more, seven of them mentioned Victoria’s Secret immediately! Which brings me to the last question: how much do you care about your underwear? Well, women certainly do a lot, and it seems to me that Victoria’s Secret knows that very well. It seems to be a very strong brand indeed. Excuse me if you buy regularly and are saying "Duh!" This is all pretty new to me. Victoria’s Secret goes yet a little further with the mobile site and offers other products and services. Like I said, this mobile site is a great place if you’re planning to give someone a gift, and if you think you’re not qualified to choose for any one reason, you can buy a gift card. Just open their Home page, it’s right there in the first link. There is also a "store locator" feature. If you absolutely insist on buying your lingerie in person, at least this mobile site can help you find the nearest store in your area so you don’t waste your time looking for it or shopping at another store across town when there is one two corners down and you just weren’t aware of it. That, in my opinion, is the absolute least that every store should have in their mobile sites.
Victoria’s Secret mobile site also offers some kind of service I could not really understand. You can sign up to receive text messages on your phone, but I couldn’t find out what the content of those messages is. At least it seems to be a free service unless you pay to receive text messages in your mobile phone plan, so if it sounds interesting to you, why don’t you just give it a try? While you’re at it, you may also want to drop them a line. You are invited to fill in a quick survey and let them know what you think of the mobile site and how you suppose it could be better. Hey, I did myself. 😉
Victoria’s Secret is a good example of mobile site to me, besides all the beauty that clearly abounds, it is very straightforward and useful. You can actually get a lot done here with no hassles. It’s just too bad I didn’t get to buy anything to tell you what that part of the experience is like, but like I said, several of the women I polled claimed to buy from Victoria’s Secret online regularly. One of them is in Brazil, she has it shipped internationally and she is not one to put up with shoddy service, so I guess no one is likely to be unhappy about it. I recommend it wholeheartedly.
Here is the link again.
