Achieving online retail perfection is possible
Is it possible to make the process of choosing and buying fabric enjoyable, memorable and an experience you look forward to repeating?
In carrying out that process, is it possible to achieve, what could be considered to be, online retail perfection?
My recent experience with Simple Life Fabrics and Sarah, who runs the company with her husband John lets me answer both of these questions with an enthusiastic “Yes!”
If thought to be hyperbolic in my praise, I will admit to being only slightly, but my enthusiasm for this company and my delight felt from my purchase from them is genuine. My experience purchasing fabric online is limited, but my experience in online shopping in general is not. From my experience when purchasing products and services from online retailers, few of those experiences have been memorable. When they were, rarely was the experience a positive one. To stand out in the crowded online retail sector is therefore challenging. To stand out for reasons which are so positive is rare and remarkable and should be lauded.
I made my first purchase with Simple Life after being directed to their website by another, in order to purchase a specific fabric. The website was easy to negotiate, well-written and attractive. The price was reasonable, and the purchase easily completed. So far it was a good experience.
However, the experience became great when I soon received an email letting me know that my “lovely order” had been dispatched with clear, easy to understand tracking information. My purchase price included delivery, although my purchase was not a large one. I was impressed that delivery was by Royal Mail 24 Tracked, rather than the 2nd Class “delivery when it gets there” service often used when delivery is free.
I was pleased when my order arrived when expected and the fabric was exactly as described. However, my pleasure turned to impressed delight when I found a personalised note from Sarah enclosed with my purchase, in a handmade cloth gift bag, inside a larger (and useful) canvas bag with the Simple Life Fabrics logo. This extra personalised gesture from an owner of an online retail site was extraordinary and set the company ,and my purchase from them, apart.
I was so impressed with the entire experience, I sent Sarah an email to thank her and tell her what a difference her efforts made and received a charming and informative response, which again took more time to write than most others would have spent.
I thought about posting a review of my experience at that point, but did so after making a second purchase, partly due to time constraints on my part, but also to make sure that my first experience wasn’t a “one-off” that wouldn’t continue with subsequent purchases.
I was delighted to find out it was not.
My second purchase was delivered with the same speed and efficiency, with the note from Sarah being charming and personal, expressing appreciation for my purchase with the charm found in a note to a friend and not just a customer.
I could not hold back from expressing my praise now and joining what should be a choir of voices singing the praises of this charming company and its impressive and appreciated owners. The extra touches which Sarah takes shows how much she enjoys what she does and the products she sells. I can’t imagine how much time the extra touches of Sarah must take, and whether she or others ever question if her time and efforts are noticed. I can say they are noticed and the difference they make is vast. While her efforts may come from her enjoyment of fabric, their effect is to make that enjoyment contagious and to make an everyday experience of online shopping into a memorable wonderful moment that I look forward to enjoying again and often.
In a world where mediocre is tolerated and average considered an achievement, excellence is rare, but when found it should be celebrated and shared so that others may enjoy the same experience.
Simple Life Fabrics and its charming owner Sarah are such excellence.
4 de dezembro de 2021
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