Nordstrom is embarking on a new way to satisfy customers.
Shoppers who wanted to know the minute a coveted pair of jeans or other merchandise arrived in a store used to leave a request with a sales associate and wait for a phone call.
Now Nordstrom is automating that service by adding RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, feeds to its Web site.
Common on news media sites, RSS feeds are unusual for an apparel retailer to offer. By subscribing to a feed, a customer can automatically find out when new items of interest are posted on a site. It’s a handy way to scour many Web sites at once for a certain subject. In this case, the shopper would automatically be alerted when a new product she is interested in is added to the Nordstrom online store.
“Our goal is for customers to visit our site more often,” said a Nordstrom spokeswoman. “We also want to provide them with the service of being able to find out when the merchandise they love is on the site. I think the best way to compare it is when you are in the store and you say ‘I love Seven jeans’ and the sales person is able to call you when they get a new shipment in.”
The RSS capability began last month, and Nordstrom has since generated thousands of feeds. The company officially announced the service on Tuesday.
A shopper may sign up by doing a search or visiting the customer service section of the Nordstrom online store. For instance, a customer can search for “ballet flats,” get the results back, then click on the orange RSS feed button on the search results page. Any time a new product is added to the store that would fit the search, the information is automatically sent via RSS feed to the shopper. Each item is displayed as a headline. Clicking on the item automatically takes the shopper to the product page.
Alternatively, the customer may delve into the customer service page for more information, or to sign up for any of four “favorite feeds” Nordstrom has already set up, including new sale items and men’s jeans.
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“We’re excited to offer RSS feeds to our customers,” Jamie Nordstrom, president of Nordstrom Direct, said in a statement. “Fashion is constantly evolving, and by giving our customers the opportunity to see what’s new on the site in real time, we’re giving them even more of an opportunity to stay current.”
If other retail sites follow, it would be possible for a shopper to immediately be notified whenever a shipment of a quick-to-sell-out brand or item arrives in her favorite Web stores without having to remember to check each site regularly.
The success of the service will ultimately be measured by how often customers visit the online store and make a purchase, said the spokeswoman.