Online Shopping at CookiesKids.com #cookieskids

At the beginning of every season, I make every effort to purge the clothes that no longer fit or aren't suitable for wearing. The feeling I have when I clear out the closets and drawers is liberating. When I see the piles of clothes that will be donated to someone who can fit into them fills me with relief. But with purging comes replacing. Replacing means shopping, and sometimes shopping for kids clothes with 2 daughters who have very different tastes in clothes and stores can be challenging.

Since most of my day is spent online, I see A LOT of online advertisements throughout the course of the day. One that I've been seeing frequently is for CookiesKids.com, an online children's department store, which also happens to have 7 retail locations throughout the greater NYC area including Brooklyn, Bronx, and Jamaica. In 1972, a young man named Cookie and his brother Marvin went into business together. They rented a 1600 square foot store in Jamaica, Queens, fixed it up, bought inventory and Summer and Fall, and opened a day after Thanksgiving with a full stock of holiday toys. The toys were a success and they put the extra money toward buying children's clothing for the next season. When that did well, they bought more clothing. The business was on it's way.

As the brothers Cookie, Marvin and Sonny, who had come in as a third partner in the business, began to open new stores in new locations, inventory expanded. Besides the latest fashions, our customers wanted shoes, toys, backpacks and accessories and we were prepared to deliver.By the late 1990's there were six superstores throughout the NYC area, and though they previously had different names, by that time they were all named Cookie's Kids. Also in the late '90s came an important addition to Cookie's Kids' inventory: school uniforms. It was the steady success in uniform sales that paved the way for founding CookiesKids.com in 2007, which originally sold uniforms and soon after the entire Cookie's Kids Inventory.

Rather than venture out to the mall, I decided to check out CookiesKids.com as an alternative to conventional, mall-style shopping for kids clothes. Not only can I shop Cookie's Kids from the convenience of my home, but I can shop at the convenience of my schedule and my children's schedule. Shopping at Cookie's Kids doesn't require me to set aside a full day to browse several stores and spend countless hours in the fitting rooms.

Shopping at CookiesKids.com couldn't be easier. The site is organized primarily by gender and type of item. Cookie's Kids carries clothes from infants through size 16.  They also offer school uniforms, Shoes, and Toys. On this particular "shopping trip", we were in search of some winter basics. My 6 year old daughter wanted a new winter hat, and my 10 year old daughter wanted some fancy skirts for the upcoming holiday season.

We went straight to the "Girls Dept" from the navigation bar. Once you choose the department that you want to shop, you are presented with a list of categories within that specific department and the brands that qualify for that category. We clicked on Hats & Gloves, and we were on our way to finding the perfect hat.

There was a wide variety of hats ranging from fun to functional. Most items were under $10 with the exception of some of the higher end brands such as The North Face. Once my daughter located the fun hat that she wanted, we added it to the cart. She chose the Critter Collection "Owlette" Knit Hat for $6.99.

Cookie's Kids details the product and if reviews are available, you can read what other's have to say. Cookie's Kids also offer recommendations for other products based on the product that you are currently viewing. I love when retailers do that since it's not always easy to see the similar products when shopping online the way it is when you are shopping in-store.

Here's one of the best things about shopping online at CookiesKids.com, I can stop shopping at any point and save what's in my cart. Since my daughter was finished shopping for hats, it was time for my 10 year old to browse skirts. However, she was at an after school activity and was unavailable at that very moment. So, I saved the item in my cart and logged off.

A few hours later, I returned to continue shopping for skirts with Emma. We headed straight for the Girls Dept. and clicked "Bottoms/Skirts". We chose her size category. and I let her loose to look around. My 10 year old was shopping by herself in the Girls Department of Cookie's Kids from our kitchen!!

She had a difficult time making a decision. She found many skirts that she liked, and she loved every color choice. Cookie's Kids had short skirts, long skirts, slim skirts, full skirts and many options in jeans too including colored jeans and traditional denim. Finally, she narrowed it down to 2 skirts, and one was very festive, perfect for Christmas!

You can see why her decision was difficult to make. The skirt is available in 6 colors, all of which were super cute. Because the holidays are upon us, she chose the "Red".

I am always hesitant to order online because you can't use a fitting room. You're flying blind when it comes to choosing particular sizes. I usually wing it and hope for the best. What Cookie's Kids does differently than many other online retailers is they offer the Alva Kids sizing chart. It's simple to use, and accurately sized both of my daughters. When you select a particular item to view details, available colors, or read the reviews, you will see a small, square icon that says "Alva Kids" next to the size selector. When you click the icon, you will be asked to create an account or you can proceed with sizing without creating an account. You simply add the requested information about each of your children. Alva Kids will suggest a size as it applies to this specific item.

I love that the sizing is item-specific and not generic based on the child's general size. I found this feature to be extremely helpful in determining sizes for my girls who are tall and thin with long legs.

We had chosen our items, and now it was time to checkout. Check out always seems to take more time online than it should. It's not as easy as swiping your card in the register. There's always so much information to type in. And I generally forget something or mis-type a number. I was hoping all would go smoothly on CookiesKids.com.

Cookie's Kids offers $5.95 shipping on every order, every day. No exceptions. I love that shipping isn't calculated based on number of items or the amount of your transaction. I don't have to estimate what my shipping will be. I know immediately what it will cost when I start shopping.

We placed our order and within a few days our merchandise had arrived. I don't know how it goes in your house, but my girls can't wait to wear their new clothes.

The Owlette hat was a big hit! These hats look so cute on little heads!

Here's a close up of the Owlette hat from #cookieskids. How cute!

Unto the skirts. Both skirts were so pretty. I worry about the quality when shopping online. You can't touch or see the fabric or stitching so it's hard to know exactly what you are going to get. But these skirts are adorable and a great value for the money.

I adore this Pink Angel Heather Knit Skirt. It was $7.99. $7.99!!!! So cute, and you cannot beat that price. It would be super cute with a black turtleneck or a cami and a sweater. It is also available in red and black.

Every fancy girl should have a fancy skirt! This is the "Pleaded Pretty" Taffeta Bubble Skirt in red. It's perfect for this time of year. You can dress it down by pairing it with a simple tee or you can dress it up with a much fancier top. This skirt was $12.99.

How seriously cute are those skirts? If you have a daughter, you'll want to pick up a few for her. At those prices, you can't refuse. And now until 12/21/2012 Cookie's Kids is offering Pieces of a Mom readers a 10% discount sitewide!! Orders must be placed by 12/21/2012. 

Enter code: piecesofamom at checkout.

Hurry!! Hurry!! Start shopping now! Visit www.cookieskids.com to get started.

Be sure to review the holiday shipping policies if you are ordering for delivery by Christmas. http://www.cookieskids.com/HolShipGuide_POPUP.htm

You can also find Cookie's Kids on Facebook and on Twitter.

Be sure to check out my Cookie's Kids path to purchase story on Google+.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This content has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Cookie’s Kids. #CBias #CookiesKids #SocialFabric