Customer Satisfaction and Security Online

We all love to shop online because it’s fuss-free, there are no queues (especially important in the lead up to this festive season) and you can easily find what you are looking for.  Our online team’s mission is to make shopping online as easy and safe for you as possible. We were therefore really proud and delighted when we found out this week that our website came top in Which? magazine’s biggest online shopping survey. It was really amazing to receive a customer satisfaction score of 95% in addition to very high scores for delivery and ease of ordering!

As long as you take sensible precautions, online shopping can be just as safe as shopping over the phone, or in shops. However, for those of you who are a little concerned, here are a few of my top online shopping safety tips…

Never include valuable card or bank information in an email
Never give away your Personal Identification Number (PIN) or secure passwords in a response to an email. Sensitive information should never be requested via email, so although an email may look very convincing never give this information away.

Only shop at secure websites
Ensure that the security icon (this is usually a symbol of a locked padlock or unbroken key which appears in the bottom right hand corner of your web browser or on your address bar) has appeared, and look at the retailers web address which will change from ‘http’ to ‘https’ when you have reached a secure connection.

Consider setting up an internet only credit card
If you regularly shop online, you could consider opening an internet only credit card, allowing you to monitor transactions at a glance and set up additional consumer protection just in case something goes wrong.

And finally…..

Sign up to ‘MasterCard SecureCode’ when you are given the option whilst shopping online
Increasingly, when you go to make a purchase online, you will be given the option to sign up to a scheme that gives you extra security when you’re buying online.  This scheme is very similar to entering a PIN when you buy goods or services in person, but involves setting up a username and password that confirms your identity when you buy online.  Our own website uses ‘Mastercard SecureCode’ when using Maestro as a payment method online.

I hope you’ve found these tips useful and they make you feel more confident whilst shopping online and remember, if you ever have any questions about shopping on our own site, our friendly customer centre team are only a phone call away on 01983 813913.

The Secret of The Best Facial

Wow, what a day of bliss! This week, after the hectic rush and prep for the fun QVC show last Sunday (hope everyone managed to get their hands on the new hand wash kit?!), I booked myself in for an hour and a half of pampering in our Duke of York’s Square treatment rooms. Heavenly! My first beauty treatment since Baby Isabel made her entry into the world and, as expected, I found the ‘me’ time the best that I’ve experienced in months! The calmness of the beautiful rooms immediately hits you as you meander downstairs, away from the hustle and bustle of the Kings Road. The beautiful Isle of Wight imagery made me feel right at home and I almost fell onto the inviting couch, I was so full of anticipation! And I wasn’t disappointed, let me tell you……

Time literally seemed to stand still for the whole treatment. One of my big bugbears with treatments (and I have had many facials and treatments, all over the world, on my travels), is that they can seem sadly all too short. I find that one always starts to feel that you are almost anticipating the end, all too quickly! Not so with our wonderful signature facial – Emma’s calm hands worked their wonders for what felt like an eternity. (She even had to tell me to stop asking if it was nearly over, as I was so surprised each time she said, ‘Oh no, not for a long while yet!’). I found the whole experience from the thorough consultation beforehand (including the key question that one is so rarely asked – ‘what do you want to gain from your treatment today?’) to the actual facial and results, to be just what I had expected and hoped for during our long preparation period as we developed the treatments. Just like our product development, the end result has to be perfect before we can share it! There are so many personal touches too, to make it precisely what you want and not just a standard treatment adapted to you. It’s totally bespoke, such is the skill of our team.

I also love the way that our team of expert therapists use the products in new ways – for instance, Emma used Deep Cleansing Mask (UK, US, Ireland) on the tricky t-zone areas and Intensive Nourishing Treatment on my dry cheeks. Sounds logical but something that I rarely remember to do. It’s an incredibly holistic way that our special team work with your skin too – looking at the whole picture. I don’t want to give away too much, as I really invite you to try this wonderful escapism for yourselves, but we also use some clever little gadgets that work naturally alongside facial massage to help really tackle all sorts of skin issues. I found it a perfect balance between actual facial massage, treatment with our hard-working products (our Special Treatments range is perfect for zoning in on specific areas of need) and the little help from the magic gadgets.

Today, two days later, my skin is crystal clear and so matt, ‘plump’ and soft, that a stranger even commented on it today. This morning my husband also complimented me: ‘You must be sleeping deeply as you look great’ (music to my ears!) I think the girls will be seeing a lot more of me in the coming months! Do book up, as word is spreading and that waiting list is starting to grow. And then do come back and let us know what you think here, by posting your thoughts. We’d love to hear your experiences.

Well, now that my skin has had the best workout it has had in months, it’s time to work on the other bits of me that need trimming up! Running shoes, here I come!

Seasonal Treats & Diary Dates!

As Liz says below, it’s that exciting time again and we’ve already started the big countdown to Christmas, here at Liz Earle. I’m amazed at how this year has sped past – one counts every week of pregnancy so meticulously, and yet now that Baby Isabel is here, the seasons have just zipped past. Like many of you who have posted messages here, I too was really excited to watch this past weekend’s TSV and to start planning my Christmas gift list. As I’m still on maternity leave, it was the first time in years that I sat down to watch all the shows with my ‘customer hat’ on. I nearly ordered the TSV myself, I was so hooked. Unfortunately, I have a heavy cold and had to watch from bed (an interesting experience with a lively 7 months’ old baby!), but thoroughly enjoyed seeing all your messages & texts whizzing across the screen. It’s a real interactive experience, and I know many of you tune in with your skincare in front of you, to join in the demos! (I have to admit that I got so carried away watching Liz on the show, that I persuaded my husband to give Baby Izzy her daily bath early, after the 10am show, as I enjoyed the Orange Flower Body Wash baby discussions so much). Very exciting that we received three awards for Cleanse & Polish too last week – well done to our hero product.

Another product I foresee becoming one of our heroes is our new Orange Flower Hand Wash (UK, US, Ireland). I’ve only been using the hand wash for a few weeks but am amazed at how soft my hands are already (and I can tell you they are seriously under the kosh at the moment, with the changing season and cold weather biting into my buggy-clutching hands on daily walks, and the constant washing between nappy changes and feeds!). My other ‘mum’ friends are already pestering me for the secret of soft hands, but my hand wash has been - almost literally - glued to my basin to avoid it going walkabout! Even my husband is intrigued by the new addition to the Liz Earle family in our bathroom.

And my final ‘PS’, I am really excited to let you know that I am due back for a quick QVC show this coming Sunday morning (12th October). Part of the ‘Christmas Stocking Fillers’ show at 11am, I will be revealing a very special new kit with a new hero product! It will be the first time that we’ve aired this fab new product, so please join me on Sunday when I reveal our new kit and look out on the website for more brilliant gift ideas.

Christmas countdown

This week I started thinking about my Christmas list. Each Autumn, I retrieve the small notebook of festive jottings in which I write what I have given my nearest and dearest - partly to make sure I don’t repeat myself but also to keep track of the growing number of nephews, Godchildren and family friends I’d like to buy a little something special for over the next oh-so-short two months. I’ve also made a shopping list of the ingredients for our Christmas cake which I’ll make soon too, on an afternoon when all four children are home so they can all stir the fruity mixture and make a wish. Once made, I tightly wrap the cake in baking parchment and clingfilm (having first sprinkled liberally with brandy to soak in) and leave to ‘mature’ in the pantry until it’s iced. It’s a simple tradition, but one that, for me, marks the beginning of the Christmas countdown and I really enjoy the sense of anticipation for festivities yet to be enjoyed and presents soon to be wrapped (and with a bit of luck, unwrapped!).

This week has also been a busy one on the Island for the team as we get ready for one of the real highlights of the year on QVC, the shopping channel. This is our Christmas TSV and it is a hugely exciting 24-hour period of live broadcasting when we launch a very special offer (and lots more besides), live on-air. For those who have never been part of the experience, TSV stands for Today’s Special Value and QVC launch one every single day at midnight (yes, I know, but this is a very popular time of day for the QVC viewing family…). For one day only, we produce a beautiful set of skincare at an extremely ‘special’ price and promote this as our TSV. The exact contents have to remain a secret and so I’m afraid I’m absolutely not allowed to reveal the details, except to say that this year, the team have really excelled themselves and there’s something really very special that’s been included. Don’t say I didn’t tip you off in advance.

One of the best things for me about the event is the opportunity it gives me to chat live on-air to callers who ring into the studio – which always reminds me of the live phone-ins I used to do on Richard and Judy’s This Morning programme so very many years ago. I love it because it’s so real and inter-active – we also get lots of text messages and emails coming through, so do tune in and join me if you’ve not done so before, especially if you’ve any wonderful stories or skincare experiences to share.

One of the things I’ll be launching on Saturday is our brand new Christmas box range and this year they are all especially beautiful. We’ve spent almost the entire year working on these (our first planning meeting happens in January, just after we’ve taken the tinsel down). We’ve lots of shapes, colour and sizes but the overall theme features a beautiful beach botanical Eryngium maritimum, or Sea Holly. Up-close, the flower of this special, spikey plant looks just like an intricate snowflake but it’s actually an endangered species, found in very few places and one of them is on our very own Isle of Wight. I was fascinated by this unusual botanical, which is not only beautiful and rare, but also extremely useful as this coastal plant has an extensive root system that helps bind sand on our sea shore. This is especially important in areas where there has been much coastal development, as it can help preserve sand dunes and the unique wildlife habitat they attract. If you’re visiting the Island, watch out for this pretty plant which we’ve spotted growing wild in Yarmouth’s Norton Spit, St Helen’s Duver and Newtowns Creek, but don’t pick it as it’s on the Sussex Rare Species Inventory (and even has regional protection in Northern France).

I do hope you’ll be able to tune in over the weekend and join me – either at our live midnight launch, or for some of the many live shows being broadcast throughout Saturday, from mid-morning right the way through the day until late evening. And do let us know what you think of both the shows and our new Christmas boxes by leaving a comment here on the Blog – the team and I really hope you’ll be as dazzled and delighted as we all are.