Stories from a Country Girl: My Online Shopping Experience

There was a time when I used to be so scared to do any online shopping. I was scared to death of trusting a complete stranger to send me my purchase after I have given him or her my money. In this age of the internet and the proliferation of online shops, I eventually gave in and purchased items online from several stores on Multiply (RIP). I remember making payments via bank deposit and getting my items the same week that I purchased them. I started with small items then graduated to more expensive ones. I had been lucky with the online sellers that I have dealt with so I decided to give the bigger online stores a try.
I bought a pair of yoga blocks and a yoga mat strap from Zalora Philippines. The items were delivered in the same week I purchased them (within two or three days, from what I remember). I loved how the items were packaged and the supporting documentation that came with it (along with a voucher I could use for my next purchase!). There were even SMS/texts sent to my phone thanking me for my purchase! Suffice to say it was a pleasant shopping experience that I hope to do again. The mobile app is currently tempting me to just that!
To be honest, I don’t know why I even tried Lazada. My sister bought one of those expanding hoses from there and when it was delivered it seemed fine but when we first used it, the hose was leaking! Replacement was a bit of a hassle and my sister also told me that at one point, the delivery person called her asking her to meet them a couple of blocks away because they thought our street was too small for their vehicle — which was weird since we even had SM’s Our Home deliver furniture at our place without any problem. I still tried to have my own experience with Lazada to see if my sister’s experience was just a fluke. I bought air diffusers from Lazada which took so long to get to me (and so difficult to track!). When it finally arrived I didn’t even realize that the delivery person had my purchase at first because the person didn’t look like he was from a delivery company. Even their vehicle seemed like it was a private/personal one. It was weird…for me anyway. There are so much more types of items with Lazada compared to Zalora but I am hesitant to make a repeat purchase. I don’t know if it is worth the hassle.

I know there are more online stores out there (SM recently started their own, but with limited items at the moment) but I haven’t tried anything else. Seriously considering some purchases at Seek the Uniq but I haven’t decided yet.

If anyone has any suggestions, I would really appreciate it!