If there is one thing that we love around Zappos, it's potlucks (among other food obsessions..read on)

Some department seems to have one at least once a week, if not more. We think it has to do with our Core Value of Team and Family Spirit. Or maybe we just love cooking for each other. Or we love eating? Or we love Tupperware? We're not sure, but what we are sure of is that Terry I., for the Clothing team's potluck, brought in something that we've all wanted at one point or another: a Hot Dog Roaster.

I know, I know, it's not the newest invention in the world, but who would think to bring that to a potluck? Terry would.

This brings up an excellent point that I feel has never been addressed. Something that had never occurred to me until just this moment. For some reason, we really love hot dogs at Zappos, and there have been many signs of this addiction over the years. Whether it be the early days in Vegas when James would roast dogs every few days in the lunch room, or the hot dog eating contests at the picnics, or the Pipeline hot dog social events..we even were visited by the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile. Seriously, I think we need help.

But I digress....Terry, thanks for the Hot Dogs. And thanks for buying Clothing for us to sell on Zappos.com!

How do you Zappos?

With all the great customer service stories and blogs out there about Zappos.com, I haven't really seen anything about how people shop at Zappos.com - How do you Zappos?

From my parents, siblings, and friends, to random people I've met, I've watched them all shop on Zappos.com. Some of them are internet savvy, others are not. Some were eCommerce savvy, others have never bought anything online. The one thing I noticed is that each of them shopped on zappos.com differently. Some of them would search for a brand, others would immediately click on the brands list to see the full list of brands available at zappos.com, others would click on one of the links on the Homepage (i.e. Women's Dress), while others would click on one of the New Feature spots. The one thing that everyone did know were the service offerings from this great company, in particular, Free Shipping & Free 365 Day Returns.

I just wanted to throw this out there. I shop on Zappos a lot. I mean A LOT! If you have ever worked for a retail store, you will understand what I mean when I say every employee shops their own store and they are really the experts at the store. They know what's coming in, they know where everything is, and they can help any customer match items or find a similar item. The same can be said about Zappos employees. The difference is that we have a much larger selection with tons of new things coming in everyday.

I have a routine when shopping on zappos.com. This routine has been "developed" over time "practicing" the site and talking to various fellow employees/experts. What I wanted to do was to let you know what I do every time I go to the site. Here is my routine:

1. Go to Zappos.com
2. From the header, I click on 'New Styles'
3. From here, you will see several links grouped by Women's, Men's, Girls, and Boy's
4. I always start with Men's 'Accessories'. Most people don't know that Zappos is more than just shoes. There are socks, clothes, electronics, backpacks, women's handbags, books, jewelry, watches, hats, laptops, cameras and more! From 'Accessories', I get to see what's new for all things besides clothes, watches, sunglasses, and shoes.
5. I'll browse through the first several pages until I start seeing things that are familiar to me (from the last time I looked)
6. Next, I go through and click on 'All New Men's Shoes', then 'Clothing', then 'All New Women's Shoes', then 'Handbags' for the wife. If time allows, I'll check out the watches and eyewear

Did you know that Zappos is constantly receiving new items throughout the day, almost every day? Since I know this, I'll check the site roughly every 4 hours and do my routine above. You will be surprised how many new things you will see every 4 hours. The other great thing about this routine is that I get to see lots of new stuff very quickly and not feel overwhelmed.

My other routine if I'm looking for something specific, is to use the Search box that is stretched across the top. Typing in a brand or a couple describing words usually does the trick. For stronger search capabilities (i.e. searching by personality - casual laptop bag), I like to go to the Zappos Zeta (http://zeta.zappos.com) site. It works really well. :)

Anyway, this is how I Zappos. It works really well for me and I know others at Zappos who do have a similar routine. So... How do you Zappos? Let us know. :)