Pros and Cons of Online Lingerie Shopping
May 08, 2008
I came across an entry on The Lingerie Post blog called "In Favour of Online Lingerie Shopping" written by Gill Fernandez, owner of ever-so-sexy.com website. In it, Fernandez summed up why shopping for lingerie online is better than going to a traditional retailer.
As a fellow owner of lingerie and underwear websites (HerRoom & HisRoom) I must confess I too hold a similar view - lingerie shopping online is a much more positive experience than shopping at a lingerie retailer who will coax you into a dressing room, get you to remove your clothes, then hold you hostage by feeding you bras to try on until you beg for mercy and agree to buy several more than you planned.
Basically, I hear three arguments against lingerie shopping online:
- Can’t try it on before buying.
- Can’t touch or feel before buying.
- Security concerns when purchasing over the Internet.
Well, let’s take each one of these issues and talk about them.
Can’t Try it on before buying - Michael Dell made an interesting comment that really stuck with me. He said he didn’t want to be a customer’s first purchase, but rather every purchase thereafter. The rationale being that the first purchase is fraught with a lot of contemplation, comparison and education. I have pretty much the same view when it comes to women and underwear. A woman who doesn’t know what she wants should probably spend some time just shopping around and looking. But, most of us have already purchased underwear, so we know what we want. There are very few of us who want to just purely shop for a bra. It’s more like we know what features, color and style we want. In fact, many of us are simply replenishing our lingerie supply with a style we already own. So, not trying it on first is really not an issue. For that small percentage out there who aren’t sure of their size, I know that HerRoom has customer reviews, specific sizing charts for each vendor, and "fitters comments" on every item on our site. So, an online customer can actually get more information about a piece of lingerie than they would walking into stores.
Now, I get that trying it on first means you don’t make a purchase that you might have to return. But, return policies have become quite simple and fast on most websites. And, the time and gas saved not having to drive to a store probably covers the cost of the return if you don’t like it.
Can’t touch or feel before buying - This argument on the surface sounds salient. But, let’s give this a little more thought. If you were to order from a catalog, you couldn’t touch it, and many times when you go into a store, underwear is in a box or packaging that can’t be touched prior to purchase. Look at all the toys and other merchandise that we buy in tamper-proof packaging. We don’t get to touch that either.
I hate touting my sites, but I work really hard to come up with solutions to customer concerns when shopping. For example, on HisRoom we have softness and thickness gauges on all our men’s undergarments. This way a guy can gauge how soft and how thick the garment is before he buys it. So, this is just one of many ways for a shopper to get a sense of the garment before it’s purchased online
Security Concerns when Purchasing Over the Internet - During the WWW Wild West years of the Internet, I would agree that security was an issue. However, between the banks, credit card companies and our government, this issue has all but gone away. Secure check out on most sites is very safe. Credit card companies are quick to give customers refunds once they prove fraud has occured on their credit cards. You are more likely to have your credit card number stolen at a restaurant or at an ATM than you are at an online retailer.
The truth about fraud is that it’s perpetrated more on the websites themselves. Our websites constantly receive bogus orders submitted by faudulent credit cards. The only one this hurts is the online retailer. We don’t have the luxury of a bank or credit card company to refund a mailed-out order if we don’t catch it in time.
I will conceed that there is one disadvantage to shopping online - timing. If you need something the same day, you are better off going the traditional retail route and trying to find it in a local shop.
Having said that though, there are a number of advantages to shopping online over traditional retail. First, is speed. Online you can visit many different retailers in a relatively short amount of time right from home. Second, your selection online will always be better than anywhere else, Third, convenience. You can literally shop in your underwear. And that brings me to the fourth advantage: privacy. You can freely purchase items you may feel uncomfortable purchasing openly in a retail store.
So, I think I’ve crafted a pretty good arguement for shopping online for lingerie and underwear. It is a far improvement over traditional retail lingerie shopping.
Posted by Tomima at 7:13am
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How Maidenform Designs a Bra
May 05, 2008
Thanks to National Geographic, we all now have a sneak peak into the very secret world of bra design. This clip from National Geographic’s documentary "Secret History of the Bra" below shows the steps Manufacturer Maidenform goes through in designing a bra for market. What’s particularly fascinating is the process of taking fabric and molding with heat a bra cup shape into it. Basically, this is how a molded bra is formed.
I was delighted to see the care that was taken to careful measure the many aspects of the samples. And, it was encouraging to see that they also take the time to bring in several "fit" models. Not only do they fit to them, but actually ask them how the bra feels, and what they do and don’t like about it.
This video is a real treat for us lingerie junkies.
Here’s a link to Maidenform products.
Posted by Tomima at 5:56am
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How Much is too much Breast Bounce?
April 29, 2008
All parts of our body bounce as we walk around and do everyday chores. But, when it comes to doing impact aerobic workout, we really want to contain the bounce of our breasts for comfort and well as to keep them from becoming pendulous and sagging. So, do we need to bind our breasts and prevent any movement, or can we let some breast movement occur?
I put this question to Dr. Joanna Scurr. Dr. Scurr is the lone researcher of breast bounce. Here were some of her comments.
First, we need to understand that breasts are kept in place by the Coopers Ligament - not muscles. Once the ligament becomes stretched, your breast sag, and there is no way to reverse the sagging. A sports bra, or most bras for that matter, support one’s breasts to reduce breast movement. Even testing of breast movement on an everyday bra, says Scurr, showed that it reduced breast movement by 49% compared to not wearing any bra at all.
Dr. Scurr’s research also found that breasts just don’t move up and down, but from side to side and in and out. All this movement, if not supported will contribute to sagging breasts. So, though it would be nice to have a sports bra that provides no breast movement, the truth is, as long as you have a sports bra that reduces your breast bounce enough so that the movement is less than your normal breast hang, you are protected and no further sag damage can occur.
At HerRoom, we offer the Bounce Test videos on all our high impact sports bras. Some clearly don’t provide enough support, but many also show some breast movement. What been learned here is that some movement is fine, but just make sure the movement is less in the 3 directions than your breasts normally move. This way, you won’t be stretching any of the breast’s ligaments or tendons during impact workouts.
Posted by Tomima at 11:04am
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