MySears.com/MyKmart.com: Site Review

June 23, 2009 07:00 AM | Comments (0) | Posted in sears, site review, kmart, discount department store

Sears and Kmart, despite their cheap prices, have long been all but off our clothes shopping radar; we don’t count them out completely but as a general rule the quality and style is just sub-par—after all, cheap doesn’t mean it’s a deal. Having said that, we would shop Sears and Kmart for other stuff—particularly household items—so we’re open to checking out anything new they have to offer their customers, like their new shopping community sites, MySears.com and MyKmart.com.
Our Review: First, let us just say we’re pleased that Sears and Kmart are making some efforts to be current and responsive to customers. The MySears and MyKmart sites are basically shopping communities for customers to join—a place to write reviews, give feedback, ask questions, take polls and, most importantly, share ideas to improve the Sears and Kmart shopping experiences. It’s a “we’re all in this together” marketing approach that, quite frankly, could be pretty darn effective in this age of social media.
The sites themselves are fine—visually appealing and user-friendly. But in perusing the user comments and blog entries, we find ourselves wondering how many of the positive posts are by actual users and how many are by Kmart/Sears marketing folks. We mean, in response to an announcement about a new Kmart website design, someone wrote “OMG what a great idea!!! Go Kmart!! I’m glad to see Kmart is moving and moving in the right direction!!!” Okay, maybe they really are just super excited about it—who are we to judge? But still.
Interestingly, much of what you’ll see in the discussion boards are complaints, but you’ll also see Kmart representatives responding and offering advice. Which we gotta give them props for. You’ll also find coupons on the sites, so it’s worth a look before you start filling your online shopping basket or head out to the store ...
The Verdict: Overall a yea, assuming you are a Sears or Kmart shopper already; if you’re not, at least it might be worth making some suggestions to make the stores more appealing, since they seem to be open to input ...