Wednesday, May 14, 2014

J.Crew Updates Website Back End {customer reviews and more!}

As many of you have noticed and commented, including Tiffany Rose (in this post), J.Crew has a major back-end update to its website today. Unfortunately, as many of you have noticed and commented, expect a log of bugs and hiccups in the system today... Things appearing and disappearing on product pages, pages not loading, etc.

What is new? First, customer reviews are up and running on the site. They can either be spotted on the upper right hand side of the page -and- beneath the product info.

Customers can rate the item overall (out of five stars), overall fit (whether its true to size), in addition to their opinion. Similar to other sites, including their sister company Madewell.

Overall, I am super excited about this feature. I was actually interested in the Pleated Knit Dress this morning and read several reviews that all said how the fabric was too thin. I was able to make an educated decision on whether or not this dress would be good for me and avoided the dreaded buy/return. Moreover, I was on the fence about the Patio Skirt in Photo Floral Skirt and the reviews were glowing making me get it. Yey for customer reviews!!!

As I was placing an order this morning, it was mentioned that the distribution center / online and in-store inventories are now mainstreamed into one system. Therefore, online now reflects all of J.Crew's inventory. Moreover, J.Crew will *no* longer be offering the "we will find it" service since online will now show all available merchandise.

We have seen how this works already as J.Crew tested out this feature in the past few months. (Remember ordering online and getting an item fulfilled from a retail store.) I am wondering if we should be expecting most orders to be broken up into lots of mini-orders- shipping from across the country? Or... If items from stores will be shipped to distribution centers and then packaged/shipped to customers?

What are your thoughts on the new and improved J.Crew? Do you like or dislike the new system?

57 comments:

  1. Am I the only one that is not seeing any customer reviews?

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    1. I'm not seeing them either.

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    2. I'm still not seeing them in Chrome, maybe I have to clear out my cookies?

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  2. OT: has anyone gotten a random email from a VP about giving comments on previous orders and returns? I got an email about my thoughts comments on petite fit. I'm going to respond just haven't been in the mood yet and wondering if anyone else has gotten anything similar.

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    1. I also received that email and haven't responded as of yet. They may be in the beginning stages of setting this up on their 'amazing website'.

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  3. I thought I'd be helpful by jumping in and posting some reviews for recent purchases but realized my only recent buys were super markdowns of older items. I have the drapey linen drawstring pants on the way, and they have the potential to be a diaper-like disaster, so I will be sure to post a report!

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    1. Hexicon - I returned the linen drawstring pants today. I know they're linen, but it looked like an accordian down the front after I sat in them for 10 or so min. But not evenly spaced folds like the instrument. It was a mess of wrinkles.. I reviewed them at the bottom of this post. Will post the at-home wrinkle pic soon.

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  4. I can't see the reviews on our pc, but can see them on my laptop. It might have something to do with your browser. I'm not techie enough to know for sure.

    I am glad to see this feature added, although, the reviews I have read so far have not been very helpful. As some mentioned in an earlier post, reviews need to have detailed information on size, fit, color, fabric in order to be useful.

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  5. I received an email from J. Crew, telling me that one of my reviews was "live," but when I go to the site (via Google Chrome), I don't see any.

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  6. FYI: I noticed I couldn't see any reviews on the site when using IE. I was able to see them when using Chrome and Firefox.

    HTH!

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  7. I can see my review online(cove floral pants).

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  8. I was able to read my review online. So happy that J.Crew is finally doing this...

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  9. Yes! Finally reviews. Well, as soon as all the bugs are out anyway.

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  10. I also got an email saying that my review went live, but I can't see any of them. I've tried with both Firefox 26.0 and with Chrome, although Chrome is not fully compatible with the Scientific Linux I'm running. I'll try again from home. (I hope someone from JCrew is taking advantage of all the debugging data we are providing!)

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    1. ... by the way, I can see the Madewell reviews with no problem using the same computers and browsers. From Alexis pictures above I gather that both (JCrew and Madewell) review systems are very similar. Only one does not quite work :\

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    2. I can see the reviews with Safari 6.1.3. Nice addition!

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  11. Another JCA member called it, can't remember who, but a lot of the reviews that I am seeing are really not helpful. "It's cute", "I get compliments everywhere" or "I love it" alone doesn't tell anyone about the fit, fabric or style. Sigh. Thankfully we have this wonderful blog to turn to.

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    1. D*ska - I said I hoped our community would have excellent, helpful reviews and many others here agreed. I wonder if J Crew is posting all of them or filtering from the bunch as they kick off the reviews.

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  12. Off topic,but i have lots of new factory reviewes on my blog.

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  13. Gigi, As far as filtering goes, I think they're just rejecting submissions with vulgar language, pricing information and such. I'm inclined to think that they aren't filtering out bad reviews. I got a review request yesterday, completed it about an hour ago and it's already up. (it was a + review though, so IDK if that's a factor).
    Were you also the one who wrote out a guideline for a great review? I copied it out and worked from it to write my reviews but didn't copy the poster's name.

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    1. D*ska - Well that's good on not filtering. I still can't see them on the site. Hoping they will show up for me soon. I'll have to clear my cookies again. I'm in Chrome.

      It was Jennifer who wrote detailed, suggested review guidelines. It was in this post.

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  14. off topic - Vancouver downtown stores have 50% off sale section today. Loved my flowers with sale purchase from Robson!!!!

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  15. off topic--new sale items in store: embroidered floral racerback dress 129.99, eyelet baseball hat 24.99, embroidered floral racerback top 69.99?, merino baseball sweater in scallop intarsia 69.99, I'm sure there were more but I was in a rush!

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  16. I was asked to review a couple of things. My 5 star review for the Tybee slides was accepted. My not stellar review for the ceramic jewelry tray was rejected. I followed the rules. I find this editing totally infuriating. A quick scan of reviews shows that they are mostly 5 star. This us going to backfire on them.

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  17. Wow that really sucks. So it seems J.Crew is editing out the negative reviews? Annoying especially since most other online retailers (even the wildly successful ones like Zappos and Amazon) publish the good and the bad.

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    1. I dont see the review either. This is stupid, i have no problem w other websites no matter what device or browser i use. Completely worthless. Plus if they are rejecting negative comments, thats a complete turn off. Wth

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    2. Torikomatsu - I don't see reviews either. I've updated Adobe Flash (not that it has anything to do with it), cleared cache and rebooted. Still nothing. I'm in Chrome.

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    3. I'm using Chrome right now and have no problems seeing the reviews. I just switched from Safari and also had no problem there. I don't know what's the problem with J.Crew implementing this review system.

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    4. I plan on writing a review of the silk maxidress. It's not going to be pretty. I guess I'll see if it gets published.

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    5. D*ska - Am I not clicking in the right place. I went to Tybee sandals since Mo said her review is published and I don't see anything. Did they block me? lol

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    6. I don't see any reviews; tried IE and Chrome. Nothing!

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    7. Try opening an incognito window in Chrome (Ctrl+Shift+n) - I was able to see them this way so it's probably a cookies/cache issue.

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  18. Lol Gigi. I hope that isn't the case. I am reading the Fluted skirt in double crepe reviews now. I just clicked on the read review link right under the star rating and it brought me to the reviews. Maybe a link to my page will help? This sounds so frustrating. J.Crew can do better than this.

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    1. D*ska - Nope, still nothing. :(

      Thanks for dropping the link for me to try. BTW, I'm keeping the silk maxidress. I'm not excited about the poly lining, but I never saw/tried the previous version.

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  19. I submitted three reviews yesterday, with two of those only being 2-star reviews, and all three were published. Additionally, I received emails back from J.Crew on the 2-star items acknowledging my disappointment with the items and saying they would share my feedback with their team. Both emails were from the general J.Crew email address, but signed by two different women with their phone extensions listed.

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  20. Hi ladies! For anyone using Chrome that can't see the reviews, here's how to make them appear:

    **WARNING: This process will clear ALL of your browsing history, saved logins, etc.***
    - Open your history (Ctrl + H)
    - Click the "Clear Browsing Data" button
    - In the dropdown, choose "Obliterate the Following Items from: The Beginning of Time"
    - Check the TOP 4 BOXES ONLY (that's browsing history, download history, cookies and..., cached images and files)
    - Click clear browsing data. It may take awhile!

    When you use modern browsers to visit websites, especially ones you visit often, the browser doesn't reload the entire page or CSS file. Clearing out your history from the beginning of time will force the browser to reload the page fresh. HTH!

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    1. Roxy - A thousand bug pins to you! That worked! Thank you so much.

      JCAs, if you don't know Roxy, visit her most excellent and thorough blog Effortless Anthropologie.

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    2. Glad to hear it Gigi! Of course, J.Crew's tech team could also help out here by adding a CSS header that would tell all browsers to reload the page and style sheet completely but that's another story... ;)

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    3. Uh Roxy, they might be still trying to figure out why it's not working for some us. (slaps knee)

      You just saved some jobs this morning! ;)

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    4. ok so I could see the reviews yesterday, cleared my browser data because I haven't been able to use the search box (won't open when I click on it) and now I can't see the reviews...haha and still can't get the search box to open...

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    5. Pakcola what browser are you using?

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    6. Chrome, got the search box to open (was an issue with my desktop being a touchscreen), when I reload the jcrew site the reviews part flashes for a bit but doesn't stay...weird...hoping it will fix whenever jcrew updates next

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  21. Greetings JCAs - I wrote this a few weeks ago when I first heard J.Crew was going to include customer reviews. I reposted a slightly consolidated version here. I hope these are helpful to you, other JCA customers, and for J.Crew to hear the voice of the customer. Now, if I can only read them myself! I can see them when using Google Chrome, but not Internet Explorer or Firefox. I am unsure if this is J.Crew issue or an end user issue :-(

    Here are some possibilities for helpful review criteria: 1) List your height, weight, measurements, "go-to" size, and how the item fit relative to these variables (e.g., too big so size down, too tight so size up, full-length pants that require heels unless you decide to hem them, etc.); 2) How the item fit relative to the model and/or description in the catalog or website (e.g., these seem to be bracelet-length sleeves, not full-length sleeves), 3) How the item looks relative to the photo on the catalog or website (e.g., much more or less colorful, neon with a capital “N”, etc., sheerness that might get you sent home from work or possibly arrested); 4) Perceived quality (unravelling threads, stones falling off, snags easily, color from denim rubs off on your hands), 5) Real-life performance (e.g., soles separating from shoes, pants do or don’t stretch out, sweaters pilling, clasp on the necklace broke), 6) Washer-dryer performance (shrinks, fades, recommend hand-washing with the tears of happiness from small children); and 7) Potential outfit pairings or occasions to wear item, preferably with photos, although that might be beyond website capabilities. So maybe just blog links. Finally, I think it’s important to ensure that quality ratings are not colored by “usefulness to your life” ratings. For example, I think the Lightweight Merino Scalloped Sweater is super-cute and the scalloped hem is a great design detail, but it's something I would get limited wear out of because I'm always cold and prefer closer-fitting tops that I can wear a jacket with (looks like it's designed to fit loose based on website and catalog photos). Or, the Schoolboy Blazer in Linen is a great fit, but I already have several summer blazers and simply don't need another (except the Evergreen color is really growing on me . . . Update: I bought that one). I’m sure there are other thoughts, so chime in.

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    1. JenniferD - I have a question for you. Will you please email me gigiofca@gmail? It's quick.

      See Roxy's instructions above about deleting all history from beg of time in Chrome and it will work! I'm reading the generic review right now ;)

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    2. Thanks JenniferD. I have been using your guidelines to write my reviews. They are most helpful.

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  22. With her permission, I compiled Jennifer D's tips in this post.

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    1. The link is not working for me, Gigi.

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    2. maryeb - Thanks for letting me know. :)

      Jennifer D's Review Tips. Feel free to chime in w/comments.

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  23. If they are rejecting the poor or less-than-rave reviews, the absence or scarcity of reviews on an item that's been around awhile tells the story.

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  24. I wrote a couple of reviews this morning; they accepted the three positive ones but rejected the negative one, stating that it didn't meet their criteria (I re-read the criteria and couldn't figure out what part of my review didn't meet it). They did have someone from customer service contact me which was nice, but I find it frustrating that they accepted only my positive reviews.

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    1. Vera Bradley used to do the same thing with me.

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  25. I see no reviews or any new things when I go to jcrew.com, so this is news to me!

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  26. Can't wait until reviews come to the Factory site, since there are no stores nearby returns are such a pain

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  27. As long as JCrew has the handy prepaid label I find returns with them or Factory very easy:)

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  28. Hello All. Ok, when I first read here that JCrew were filtering negative reviews I thought NO WAY, that can’t be so........so, I tested JCrew. I sent a review – for a swim suit (which I loved by the way) (adhering to ALL criteria – No bad language, No price info, No customer service issues etc.) however, unlike other reviews I had submitted spoke negatively about the item. (I said the material was too thin and the colour wasn’t bright enough and the cut was wrong). And just as mentioned here, I got an email back a few hours later telling me my review would not be posted as it failed to meet set criteria. But, that I could try again….hint, hint.
    I immediately sent a response to the email, telling JCrew shame on them. That it was a test to see if the things I had heard on a blog were true and that it left a bad taste about JCrew in my mouth to have been proven right. How can a retailer aim to learn and improve if they are not open to criticism? The feedback feature on JCrew.com is nothing short of self-glorification. Tell us we are wonderful and make the best clothes in the world. I am so over JCREW!!

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Dear J.Crew Aficionadas & Aficionados: Please feel free (and encouraged) to share your thoughts and opinions. :) However, please note that this is still a personal blog. So comments that are considered inappropriate (e.g. obscene, racist, homophobic, personal attacks, rude, and just plain mean) will be removed.

And now back to J.Crew! :)