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There are several online running stores. As a person who runs quite often, I'm always looking for good places to shop for my running gear. Working in the running industry for a while has given me a keen sense of whether or not a certain internet running shop is giving me competitive prices, accurate information, or good customer service. During my time researching, I've run across a few good places worth shopping at and have listed them below. Most of them have given me an overall good experience, but if any of them excel in one area I'll point that out to you. Likewise, I'll let you know if any of them lacks in a certain area. Happy shopping and I hope you feel great in your new running gear. Running Warehouse gives the best value. Most of their prices are lower than any competitor. On top of that, shipping is free and you can get your gear in about 2-3 business days. Return shipping is also free. Over the phone, Running Warehouse provides good customer service with reps that know their stuff. I've done a couple test calls to get recommendations and advice and they've always given me the correct information. Its website is very simple and easy to use. You can view lots of information regarding the fit, feel, and technology of the products. You can also get multi views of the products that you are interested in. If there is a backorder on an item, the website will tell you when its coming in and will give you an option to reserve it. This is not typical of most other websites I've been to. The website also features some helpful information regarding running in general in its resource center. You can even have discussions with other runners and employees about a number of different topics on their message boards. Its shoe finder needs to do a better job explaining terminology such as "pronation" and "technology." The average person usually does not know what these terms mean. Other than that, it works fine. Bottom line, Running Warehouse offers the best deals. Check it out at www.runningwarehouse.com. I give Road Runner Sports the top award for advice and customer care. Its website has lots of tools, such as the "Perfect Fit Finder" to help you find your ideal shoe type, and a training log that will let you record and analyze your running workouts. The website also features lots of helpful articles and videos about running. You'll get a very large selection of running shoes and the website does a pretty good job helping you find the gear that's right for you. You'll often be able to read customer reviews on the various products Road Runner offers. If you ever need help you can chat live with a fit expert online or just call the toll-free number to speak personally with a fit expert. They have a wealth of knowledge and are extremely accurate with their recommendations. Most of them can fit you better over the phone than if you were to get fitted personally at a regular retail store. Road Runner Sports is so confident that it will find your perfect fit, it will even let you run in your shoes for up to 60 days, and if you're not satisfied you can return them for an exchange. I don't know of any other online running stores that will do this for its customers. Road Runner's customer care department is usually very helpful at resolving problems with your order or concerns with the service. Careful shopping over the phone with Road Runner. Although the fit experts are very friendly and knowledgeable, they are also salespeople and will try to sell lots of things to you. Shipping is expensive too, anywhere from $10.00 to $18.00 (ground)per order on phone orders. You can save money by shopping strictly online since shipping for internet orders is a flat $8.95 fee. If the item you ordered is not defective, Road Runner will not pay for return shipping like other company's usually do, and it can take up to three weeks to process a return/exchange. Prices vary widely, from real steals to non-competitive. If you don't mind a bombardment of promotional emails, you can sign up with Road Runner's newsletters to possibly save some money. If you join the VIP club for $39.99 per year you can get 10% off merchandise and free ground shipping on every order, but you obviously have to shop with them and only them multiple times per year to make it worth the cost. VIP members will sometimes get invited to secret sales for additional discounts on top of the usual ten percent. Overall a good place to shop at, with an interactive website, well trained fix experts and customer service specialists. The constant sales and marketing could be a little annoying at times and the shipping can cost you a pretty penny if you're not a VIP. Keep in mind that the website has a sophisticated design so sometimes it can spit out the wrong information or just crash on you. Check it out at www.roadrunnersports.com. Even though its not a true online running store, OnlineShoes.com's running section is worth noting for its ease of use, price, shipping, and well organized information. You can use their Shoe Finder feature to input some information about your body type, running styles, and preferences, and it will recommend with fairly good accuracy the types of shoes that you will need. Just make sure you read the product info before you buy. You can also start browsing the four major categories - brands, shoes, apparel, and gear, then work your way down into more specific categories of products (i.e. stability shoes, tights, insoles). The website itself will give you helpful information about the products and give you lots of multi-view options. Ordering is really easy. Inventory is readily seen as you get ready to order. Although you cannot backorder online, you can sign up for email notifications that will tell you when your item/size is in stock again. But you shouldn't have to worry much about an item not being available because Online Shoes is generally well stocked on every size for every product they carry. It consistently offers lower than average prices and the free ground shipping definitely makes shopping here a great value. Not only that, if you find a better price somewhere else they will not only match it, but beat it by 10%. Return shipping is not free on refunds but is free on exchanges. Overall, this is a great overall website with good pricing, information, and customer service. The only downside to it is that although the phone reps give friendly customer service, they are not very knowledgeable about running shoes. When asking for a recommendation, they merely use the same Shoe Finder feature found on the website. But at least they follow a system and can explain basic terms such as pronation and supination. I've seen much worse. If you're a seasoned runner and are internet savvy, Online Shoes will be worth visiting. Check it out at http://onlineshoes.com/Running/default.asp?hpb=Running
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