Kohl’s is an American department store retail chain with over 1100 stores across the USA. With their tremendous buying power, their online shop is a winner.
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Product Line
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Website
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Shipping
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Customer Service & Returns
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Loyalty Program
Summary
By using coupons and timing your purchases around sales, savvy home shoppers can take advantage of the tremendous buying power of this massive retailer.
Kohls retail well-known brands like Nike, Adidas, Levi’s, and New Balance for a moderately discounted price but also have their own branded product lines, such as Sonoma, which is their clothing brand, for both men, women, and children.
Ordering Through Kohls.com
The website is intuitive and generally easy to use. However it does appear a little too busy at times with links to special deals and sign-ups etc. The internal search feature works well for items and brands. The “roll-over” zoom is a good feature when you’re taking a look at an individual product. Generally, you will find it easier to navigate and check-out once you have registered. Though you can go through the whole process as a guest, ultimately you will need to fill out all the same details at the end of your online shopping anyway.
Coupons, Discounts and Sales
Kohl’s marketing model relies on the constant supply of discount coupons and seemingly never-ending sales. In 2012, CBS ran a story/expose on Kohl’s which showed how they were marking up prices the week before a sale, in order to deliver massive sales discounts the next week. It really shouldn’t surprise anyone, and the savvy stay-at-home shopper is best-advised to follow these sales, arm themselves with coupons but understand the real net value of any particular product.
Price Matching
Kohl’s have an in-store price matching policy but after being stung badly by savvy online shoppers in the past, do not extend this to online purchases.
Loyalty Program
Kohls has two types of loyalty programs running simultaneously.
The standard all-year program is Yes-To-You which offers 1 point with a $5 voucher redeemable every 100 points. That’s an effective and rather generous 5% cash-back.
You can enrol here. It’s free.
However, our favourite parts of their marketing is the so-called Kohl’s cash. Periodically throughout the year, Kohl’s announces that customers can earn Kohl’s cash from purchasing certain products, with the Kohl’s Cash redeemable (within a certain timeframe) for goods at a Kohl’s store.
A $10 voucher is offered for every $50 spent, delivering an incredible 20% cash back. The catch is, of course, that you have to use the vouchers during the specified time which is usually within a month or so.
Kohl’s Cash will be delivered straight to your inbox when you order online, and you can redeem it online or at a store as well.
Here’s an interesting article from blogger The Frequent Miler, who writes on the strange economics of Kohl’s Cash.
Shipping
Within USA
Shipping is generally not included in the price, though promotions and coupons offer free and discounted shipping from time to time. Prices are listed on the right.
International
Kohl’s broadly splashes across its website that they ship internationally. Sort of. Kohl’s have entrusted their international shipping to shopping consolidator myus.com. Kohl’s will send your order to myus.com who will then forward your order to any international address. International customers are also required to set up an account with myus.com before they commence shopping. It seems a rather clumsy and convoluted system to use for international shipping when compared to competitors such as JC Penney and Sears who allow international browsing and shipping direct from their website.
Customer Service, Refunds and Returns
Kohl’s boast of their “no obligation, hassle-free” returns policy which includes no time limit, and no need for a receipt (there are exceptions, particularly for electronic items, so always check carefully ).
The easiest way to obtain a refund from an online booking is to take the item into a store, where Kohl’s will be able to refund you on the spot. If you can’t get to a store, you can return the item by mail.
By using coupons and timing your purchases around sales, savvy home shoppers can take advantage of the tremendous buying power of this massive retailer. You can always find discount coupons on Ebay.com here => discount coupons.
Heres a warning about the Kohls Credit card.. You have to give them your Social Security number in order to do anything with them even if it’s only to check your balance. and then you ask them why and they say its policy. But where is this policy?
Kohl’s refused to honour a sales sign that they put up and just claimed that a customer must have done it. WTF? Anyway, the kohl’s cash is good but they use some funny accounting methods if you want to get a refund on something you used Kohls cash for, so be careful.
Very interesting review. Kohl’s has lots of coupons and sales, but I would be careful with their Kohl’s cash, because of strange accounting methods.
I like the zoom feature since I can look at the features close up. Sometimes things look quite a bit different when you get ‘up close and personal’ on them. Thanks for the review. We have a Khols store here, and I’ve not tried them. I guess I should try since it looks like they are easy to buy from and offer online discounts as well.
You should check them out Amber. They have some quality clothing items. I think their household items are too pricey, but the other items are worth your time.
I purchased a comforter with matching shams several months ago. Since then I recently washed it, following the washing instructions. The filling in the comforter has become terribly lumpy and I want to return it for a full refund.
Please email a Free Return Shipping Label. I live in the northwoods of WI and
there isn’t a Kohl’s store around, well maybe 3 hrs away but I do not drive.
Thank you.
Nancy Perrone
Hi Nancy, you’ll need to contact Kohl’s themselves. that isn’t us. We just review online stores, like Kohl’s online.
just want to shop
don’t we all!
Kohl’s is an amazing store as far as I’m concerned. They have a great selection of clothing and it’s often at reasonable prices. However, as mentioned in the article, buyers must be wary of “sales” and be clever with their use of Kohl’s coupons and Kohl’s cash. It’s like the glory years of grocery coupons when stores had double coupons and smart consumers were able to pay little or nothing for grocery items while less savvy ones paid more than normal. You have to do your math and monitor prices if you want to save. However if you do so, you can get some good items for a good price.