When Kevin first told me about Zappos, I wasn't convinced. If shoe shopping is so hit-or-miss in person, how could it be better when you can't even try things on? At least in the U.S., Zappos has addressed this concern with their policy of taking back any purchase at no cost to the consumer within 365 days. At first glance, this seems like a loosing proposition. When I go shoe shopping, I invariably try on at least 10 pairs of shoes for each pair that I buy. Different styles, different sizes (by the way, what's the point of a sizing system if each brand decides to re-invent it slightly?). So, when I first ordered from Zappos last fall, I was fully expecting to send my footwear back.

 

My first Zappos order was a pair of boots. After spending the better part of a day last October on Sainte-Catherine's Street in Montreal and several boot quests along Robson in Vancouver, perusing over fifteen shoe stores and trying on several pairs of boots, I came to the conclusion that boot manufacturers have something against me. Specifically, my calves. Of the boots that actually zipped up over my rotund (there is no nice way of saying "fat", is there?) lower legs, I split the zipper on one pair and came to the conclusion that I only liked the other pair because I was excited that they zipped and that the zipper was strong enough to contain my corpulent (still trying to find a favorable synonym, still unsuccessful) calves. So I gave up on boot shopping.

 

Then I moved to SF and started browsing Zappos. I came across a cute pair of Teva boots that were the style I was looking for (functional without being backwoodsy):

 

The question remained: would they fit my tree-trunk (yup, I've given up) legs? And this is where Zappos won me over—they provide quantitative data beyond size:

 

Based on the circumference information and trying to extrapolate from the size 6 baseline to my size 10 (another reason why shoe shopping is not my favorite activity), I broke out a measuring tape and concluded that these boots actually might fit. And if they didn't, I could just send them back. After reading all the positive customer reviews and the added data about fit provided by fellow shoppers, I placed an order.

 

They arrived and I opened the box with low expectations based on historical boot-shopping experiences. I put my foot in. Good fit. I started zipping. Good. Still good. OMG, the zipper made it to the top of the boot! OMG, I don't feel like circulation in my leg is being restricted. OMG, they fit! 

 

I put the other boot on and walked (and did a happy dance) around the apartment. But, after other experiences of shoes being comfortable for all of 10 minutes before transforming into devices of torture, I decided to wear them inside for a few hours before making the final decision to keep them (another Zappos advantage over the traditional competition—the pushy sales people and toxic smell of pleather at most shoe stores incentivizes me to get out of the store with a new pair despite relying on only a brief tour of the retail space as the comfort test drive). 

 

So, my experience with Zappos was positive even before I witnessed the customer service prowess the company is supposedly built on. When I tweeted about my new boots, I got a reply:

 

When Zappos invited me to submit a review, I did. Although I rarely ever review my online purchases, I wanted to in this case because Zappos offered me such a refreshing alternative to shoe shopping.

 

I just placed another order through Zappos yesterday, this time for shoes:

There was less data to go on for this purchase because there was only 1 customer review. But, since I can always return them and because I've done a bit of in-store shoe shopping lately and like this pair more than anything I've seen in stores and because I've had good luck with Clarks in the past, I bought them. 

 

I got an email from Zappos this morning and now I'm wondering if I'll ever buy shoes anywhere else again: