Simply Hike Review

A friend recently let me know about an outdoor clothing & camping equipment specialist- www.simplyhike.co.uk. As I was in need of some new gear for the summer season, I decided to give them a go and let you all know about my experiences.

The website offers has a huge range of outdoor products available including clothing, tents, rucksacks and even Pet camping equipment! The stock list is very comprehensive and all the best brands are represented from Barska to Vango. As is typical with large online retailers the items are very competitively priced with some real bargains to be had on select items. The site also offers a range of outdoor and camping advice including reviews and buying advice.

The website has a nice clean design with lots of clear navigation option. I decided to buy a couple of items from the Simply Hike Berghaus department and from within that page there were a variety of useful ways to filter products down to those that you are interested in. The ability to filter by price is particularly useful for those looking to shop within a particular price range for an item. You can also sort by colour or clothes sizes. I did find that not all products were available in every size but this is understandable considering the range they offer. 

Once you have filtered to the items that interest you, they can be further sorted by rating, price and several other options. Again, this is another easy to use feature that helps you through the selection process.

A particularly useful feature of the site and one that sets it apart from other online retailers are the product videos. The majority of items listed on the site have a product demo to watch with a staff member taking you through the features of the product. It really does help you to get an idea of the features and design of the item, more so than just a written description.

Having added a few items to my basket it was easy to manage as the basket pops out inline on any page you are looking at and you can add and remove items as required. The checkout process was also very easy to follow through. There is an express checkout option for those who just wish to pay for their items or you can create a customer account and benefit from additional account management options such as delivery address management, making return visits even easier. Unfortunately, there is a small delivery charge on orders under £100, which is a shame as often online retailers offer free delivery. The option to checkout with PayPal is a real bonus on the site too and makes checkout extremely quick whilst remaining secure. 

Communication from the site was excellent with order confirmation & dispatch emails arriving very quickly. I placed my order on a Thursday afternoon and my parcel arrived early Saturday morning so the dispatch for items was very quick. The items were neatly and securely packaged. With the delivery note were clear & simple return instructions had that been necessary for an item not fitting etc.

Overall, I was very pleased with my experience with simply hike and I would use them again. Their stock range is extraordinary, the site is cleanly designed and easy to use and the items arrived promptly and in good order.