I was JUST thinking about this the other day, wondering if we'd get more info soon, and today I received an update from Macy's so I wanted to share.
First let me back up for a minute for new readers:
Back in late October of 2015, I published THIS POST about a new beauty box subscription service at Macy's. At that time, Macy's was allowing customers to join a wait list, with more info pending. Also at that time, Macy's revealed very little about this subscription service, but they did say that it would be $9.99 per month and that it would be a "beauty and fragrance box", and that each box would contain "surprise beauty samples plus one full-size product".
Well today (5/31/16), Macy's sent an email to customers who joined the wait list back in October 2015 (myself included):
So you can no longer join the wait list, and the link to the wait list now gives you THIS MESSAGE.
It sounds to me that they may be changing things up a bit from what they originally teased about this subscription back in October. Perhaps this was based on early feedback? I know some of you weren't too jazzed about this being a beauty AND fragrance box. I honestly have no idea what's going to happen with this, but what I CAN tell you is that the moment I hear that this box is live and that you can enroll (or at least join the wait list again), I will post here ASAP. Until then, we'll have to wait and see...
What a coincidence! I was thinking about what had come of their subscription service too. I shop at Macys more than any other store. But I have to admit that they're not great when it comes to beauty purchases - in store or online. I've bought a lot of beauty products from their sale section. These items are often shipped from stores in used and/or damaged condition. Orders almost never include samples, other than fragrance tear outs. Even the counter salesgirls are hard pressed to give samples with purchases. I'm not sure if you know that back in 2013 or 2014, Macy's had a beauty loyalty program in select markets. CS didn't know anything about it, other than what areas had it. I never heard anything more about the pilot program. So with all that said, I'm not enthused or holding my breath about this subscription service.
ReplyDeleteI vaguely remember something about a loyalty program back then! Wonder why they scrapped that idea?
DeleteAs for online orders being fulfilled from stores, I hear you. For the most part, I have received my beauty products in mint condition from Macy's (brand new and sealed) but one time a few years ago I bought a Cargo Blush that was on deep discount online, and the packaging was damaged and it looked like the blush hand already been swiped. It was hard to tell if it really HAD been swiped but I didn't want to take any chances so I returned it (I couldn't exchange it for a new one because it was a clearance product and they were sold out by the time I got my package).
That being said, I feel that this type of issue probably won't occur with beauty boxes, because those would have to be assembled off-site, and most likely they will contain special samples that you can't purchase in-store. So the distribution model SHOULD be different from regular online retail purchases. That's just a guess of course, but it makes sense that the beauty boxes would be a whole different animal than regular retail purchases. :)
I wonder why they did too. I just seriously don't think that as retailer that they're really vested in that particular product category. Did you buy your Cargo blush last summer? Cause' that's when they had some really major beauty clearance sales. I didn't mean to imply that everything is usually damaged or used. For me, its been more like 4 out of 10 orders. I had my fingers crossed that the UD lipsticks were in pristine condition and they were.
DeleteI know the condition of the subscription boxes will be fine. I have reservations about the service's facilitation and the content.
I wish Ulta would get in the game!
Aaah, I see what you're saying! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will be a smooth program since it's taking so much time for them to launch it (in relation to the first teaser). I HOPE that means that they're crossing their Ts and dotting their Is to ensure that the roll-out is issue-free and runs like clockwork. Because, with so many other beauty box subs out there, they really can't afford to have this turn into a customer service disaster, right? Lol! ;)
DeleteI THINK I bought that Cargo blush two years ago, but maybe it was one year ago? I have blogged about so many clearance sales at this point I can't keep them straight. Sorry!
Charlana: I worked at the Clinique counter at Macy's for awhile but thankfully left the position 6 months ago. Just to comment on your post, yes they do fulfill the online orders from the stores. If the sales person doesn't check the product it is possible (and had happened when I was there) that you could get a used product. When people return cosmetics, our counter manager would tell us to "check it" and see if it looked used or not. If it didn't look used we were instructed just to put it back in the drawer for sale. Technically speaking, anything returned should have just been damaged out but our manager's attitude was, "it comes off the counter's sales for the day" so we were told to save anything and everything. I didn't like doing that because even if the product wasn't used, you never really knew where the product/packaging had been. At any rate, I am ticked at Macy's right now anyway because the very first day of the recent Lancome Gift with purchase they claimed they were out of the tote bags. I kept emailing them insisting they could not possibly be out on the first day of the gift but they were kind of snotty about it and kept saying they were. Low and behold, about 5 days later I received a tote bag so I thought to myself I'm pretty much done with ordering from them. So yeah, not sure if they have their act together yet to do a subscription.
DeleteI bought the Cargo blush last year on clearance. I got some quads too. I love the blush so much, same with the quads. Cargo is so under-rated.
DeleteI LOVE Cargo!!
DeleteCarol, I really appreciate that information. At first I thought it was me being too particular. But every so often there'd be an order where the product had been opened and/or used. I was so excited to find a Laura Mercier Liquid Lip Colour at half price. But when it arrived, I saw that the packaging had been ripped and then taped up. But hey, I still buy from their clearance section. I'm not trying to trash Macy's. I love the store. But I do feel that their overall handling of beauty purchases needs improvement. That's why I'm a bit skeptical over how well they'll handle a beauty subscription service.
DeleteCargo is most definitely a great underrated brand. I think the blushes were marked down to $8 and the lipsticks were $11 last year.
Hi G , I also got same email but I donot understand if we have been enrolled or not.
ReplyDeleteNo, the sign-up in October was just to be on the wait list. No one is actually enrolled in this yet, because it has not yet launched. :)
DeleteGot the same email. How vague and mysterious :P It reads as though they've been around to now be going away for a while. They haven't even started anything yet though, but it was definitely a good reminder that yay, I am still on the waitlist.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing - until I received this email this morning, I'd completely forgotten I'd signed up for the waitlist! Since then, I've received a gift subscription to ipsy, so I'm starting to wonder just how many more mascaras I need....(I have so many right now I don't even know when I'm going to need to buy mascara again.)
ReplyDeleteI'm a little disheartened to hear about the state of the cosmetics shipped from Macys, since I ordered some other stuff from them this weekend and ended up with $20 in Macy's money, which I was going to use to treat myself to something from the beauty dept. Now I'm wondering if I shouldn't just buy underwear or towels or something.
I received the same email today. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
ReplyDeleteI received this email as well. To be honest I had forgotten about it!
ReplyDeleteSorry to resurrect an older topic... Does anyone know the status of this box? I can't seem to find anything on it anywhere.
ReplyDeleteHey G!
ReplyDeleteAny new information on this box?