Have you ever said to yourself that you need a clone to help you get everything done? I have. Between looking after the kids, work, running a home and generally leading a full life, there’s little time for me – a situation many mums can relate to. However I have just discovered a new website that aims to help me with all that – by bringing a department store to my mobile so I can shop everything I need in one place! Extremely useful with Christmas coming up.
Octer is a brand new website and app with a difference. The site not only brings to gather all the biggest UK stores into one place. but it also compares thousands of brands to help you get the perfect styles you want and the best price.
I could have used this last year when I wanted a zip up hoody with stars on it. I hadn’t seen one anywhere – I’d just got it into my head that I wanted a hoody but I didn’t want a plain one, I like things a bit different. It took me ages to find one – I scoured all the main High Street department stores and found nothing, then had to rack my brains to think of where might do one. Googling ‘star hoody’ brought up loads of Pinterest pages or Hong Kong retailers but I just wanted to buy from a UK store so I could get it quickly and not have to wait 3 weeks for delivery! At least with Octer it eliminates all that.
Octer is fashion forward but it’s not just clothing and accessories they sell. I was browsing Octer for some suitcases for our holidays next year and found a cute fashion bright hardback case that I liked. When I clicked on the product, I was also shown two further cases that are similar to the bright case I chose and I saw their prices – the one I liked was the cheapest!
I liked this as being able to see further options that are similar to what I was searching for either enables me to find a choice that I many not have discovered on my own, or reassures me that I made the right choice in the first place!
With Octer you can shop by department or shop by store. The department option brings together items of clothing (divided into womens, mens, kids & baby); interiors; technology; beauty; gifts; sports; outdoors; travel; stationery; books and food & drink. Then each category is further divided into different genres. It is all very well organised and makes it easy to quickly get to the items you want to browse making it easy to shop when you have little time.
The shop by store option asks you what category your store is in (e.g. department store or shoes & accessories) then presents all the retailers from that category. I wondered if I’d be taken to the retailers’ website at this point but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I wasn’t! Just offered up some factors to help me narrow my search. When I wanted to look at the shoe store Office, I was then presented with women boots; women’s flats & sandals and women’s heels as some of the choices I could make from that store. It is only at the point of purchase, once all the research has been done and your choice made that you are taken to the retailers’ website to complete the purchase! Octer basically takes all the leg work out of finding what you are looking for.
But Octer is so much more than a search engine, it’s like your personal stylist too. From the home page of the website you can access trend led collections such as the ‘AW16 Men’s Edit‘ or ‘Eclectic Modernism‘ which brings together an assortment of key pieces from across the web into these groupings. It is basically your one stop shop for inspiration, bringing you thousands of items from UK retailers both stores and online, under one virtual roof!
As there are so many alternatives to choose from with Octer, I have put together my top 5 picks for busy women from their website. Here goes:
1. Luggage.
I mentioned that I was looking for suitcases for my holiday – here is the fab brightly coloured hardback case that I liked. It is from a brand called American Tourister that I was not previously familiar with so this is definitely a case that I would not have found on my own.
2. Gifts.
With Christmas coming up this is a great category to browse! I was interested by the wedding sub-category however as I have had two family weddings this year. I spotted these beautiful Vera Wang tea light holders that would make a gorgeous gift – for a wedding or for Christmas! I didn’t know that Vera Wang had branched into homewares – I have always admired her wedding gowns and perfumes.
3. Menswear.
For the man in your life, how about this snuggly fairisle jumper to get cosy in this winter? It will keep him warm and is quite festive looking and this one is even on sale! Bargain!
4. Food & Drink.
I loved this hamper which could work for practically anyone at Christmas. Who doesn’t like a food gift?! I thought this one was reasonably priced and has a ‘posh’ vibe going on, to impress any recipient who is otherwise hard to buy for.
5. Womenswear.
After you have sorted out all that you will want a little something for you! I loved this Sisley cocktail dress for the Christmas party season – just team it with some high heels and you are glamour itself! I thought this one was classy yet modern and would work well beyond Christmas parties too!
So what do you think of my picks? What is on your wish list for this year? Let me know in the comments!
Disclosure: This post was brought to you in association with Octer.