next.co.uk > Reviews (48)

Recently I was looking to buy my fiancé some new clothes for our holiday, now being a bit pushed for time going and wondering around the shops was going to be a bit difficult so I decided to have a look online. I decided to have a look and see what Next online had to offer, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Next is not normally a shop I would buy clothes from, we both use to shop there a few years back but recently thought it had gone down hill a bit, but I was getting a bit desperate so thought I would have a look on the off chance they might have something. After typing in the web address (www.next.co.uk) I was taken straight to the home page which on first impressions was very stylish being mainly black with a picture of a model in the centre and the word Nest written in the top left hand corner in white. Along the top of the home page are various options to make it easier to find what you are looking for, these include -
Woman
Men
Girls
Boys
Shoes
Branded
Sport
Home & Furniture
Electrical
Flowers & Wine
Offers

If you hold your curser on one of these options it will then display a drop down list and each category is split up into smaller categories, for example in the men's section it has things like shorts, t shirts, suits, shoes and so on. All designed to make it very simple to find what you are looking for. I personally was looking for some men's shorts so I clicked on the shorts link under men. It then took me to the page that displayed all the men's shorts there were available. Now you can either go through the entire list of items under the heading you have chosen or you can narrow down you search. On the left hand side of the page you can select more precise details about the item you are looking for, so in my case I could select the length shorts I wanted, the colour, size and even the price range I was prepared to pay. Once you have made your selections it will then list all of the items that fit the selections you have made. This is the same for all categories.

Another feature of the website is that once you have the list of items you are looking for you can arrange them in either alphabetical order, or starting with the highest or lowest price, personally I think this is very handy if you are looking for the cheapest item possible, if you use the lowest price first option it will list the cheapest items first, meaning you do not have to scroll through a huge list of irrelevant items.

So you have found the item you are looking for and would like a closer look, well this is also possible with the Next website. Once you have chosen the item you quite like the look of you simply click on it and it will take you to another page with just that item displayed on it. The image you will be shown is quite large meaning you can see quite a lot of detail, however there is also a zoom button at the top of the picture, if you click on this it will display a square which you move across the image, it will show you an enlarged image of the part of the product you are holding the square on.

This particular feature allows you to all details closer up so you know exactly what you are buying. On this page you are also shown alternative images of the product from different angles.

If you wish to order something online from Next you do need to open an account, however this is very simple, all you need to do is fill in a few details about your name, age, address and so on, once you have done this you can instantly start using your account. Surprisingly I did find a couple of items I wanted to buy and therefore opened myself an account. It was very easy to select the items I wanted, I simply had to choose the item itself, fill in the size and colour then click add to shopping basket. Your shopping basket is displayed at the top of every page an shows you how many items are in it and also how much you have spent. Once you have finished shopping you just click checkout and follow the final steps.

Providing you order before the cut off time (I'm not sure exactly what that is) you will receive next day delivery which is charged at just over £3, however I bought a Next directory and got my delivery charge for free. TO be honest the directory to buy was about the same as the postage so I didn't save myself a lot of money only about 20p but I did get the book sent to me once it is released which I was pleased about. I was unsure as to whether I would actually receive my items the next day as usually companies make some excuse as to why they have not delivered, however I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were delivered at 8:30 the following morning. This was a bonus as it meant that the items were here well in time for our holiday and if they did not fit I still had time to send them back for replacements. Should you need to return an item Next do offer free returns on all items, again this is handy as it means you can order items in a couple of sizes to see which fits the best and return the ones you do not want.

Overall I was very impressed with the service I received at Next online, they were quick and efficient and kept you informed via e-mail as to when orders had been processed and items dispatched. The clothes that we received were of very good quality, although I cannot really comment on how they last I can say that they felt and looked like high quality items. One thing I would say about Next is that the items are quite expensive, whist I know you get what you pay for Next is not really the place you would go if you were looking for a bargain. Despite the high costs I would certainly recommend that anyone try s buying from Next online shop. Whilst I have not been that impressed with Next just lately I would use their online shop again.

Advantages
Quick and efficient service
Next day delivery
Items appear to be of very good quality
Website very easy to use and find your way around

Disadvantages
Items are quite expensive, this is true for Next in general not just Next online