Manage Subscriptions · Subscribe Now · F.A.Q.'s
HOME · Monday, May 12, 2008
Conversion & Usability
Critique Part Five: Customer Experience & Usability
Do consumers find Daddiesboardshop.com helpful, easy to use?
The Problem: A blob of home-page text greets the consumer.
The Fix: The home page could be improved by relocating its long introduction to either the bottom of the page or, preferably, to the "about us" section. This would free up enough space to display twice as many products as those currently listed, with room left over to promote sale items or the company's offer of free shipping on orders more than $65.
The Problem: Out-of-stock items are not always identified as such.
The Fix: In some instances this useful information is displayed below product photos but in a difficult-to-scan format. Attempting to buy a single keychain resulted in this strident but amusing error message: "Unable to Add Product: Volcom Skibby Keychain To Your Cart (Msg: Not Enough In Stock. Try A Lower Qty!)." In this instance, trying to order with a lower quantity would mean ordering zero -- which would definitely not solve the customer's problem.
Error messages that state the problem in a conversational, polite manner and tell the user how to recover from the problem work better. An example: "Sorry, we do not currently have any Volcom Skibby Keychains in stock; please click here to be notified by email when the item becomes available."
The Problem: Product gallery pages vary in their consistency and style.
The Fix: Some pages, such as "snowboard gear," are well organized. This page features 12 sub-categories such as "snowboard bindings," "goggles‚" and "snowboard videos." Beneath each title are left-justified, clickable listings of all the brands in that range. The visitor can see the full range and quality of the brands stocked in an easy-to-scan, accessible manner. The other product pages with difficult-to-scan, center-justified and misaligned text would benefit from a redesign in this format.
General Advice: With these small changes to the home page and the product gallery pages, Daddies Board Shop could greatly improve the customer experience for its visitors.
The Critique Project
Melanie Loveland and her son Dan built a business together around a mutual passion — snowboarding. What started as a small, brick-and-mortar store in Portland, Ore., has evolved into a full-fledged multichannel merchant. It was a process the owners didn't foresee when the business started in 1995.Their business has seen dynamic change in the seven years since it launched a website. Daddies Board Shop now generates 80 percent of its sales through online channels and only 20 percent at the Portland store.
In February, when Practical eCommerce offered a once-in-a-lifetime complimentary website critique to one lucky recipient, Dan (along with many other website owners) petitioned for the critique — and his site was selected.
As part of the critique, five firms took an intensive look at Daddiesboardshop.com to analyze its problems, the opportunities for search engine optimization, its general Internet presence, site search, pay-per-click advertising and customer experience/usability. The firms were:
• Search Engine Optimization: Netconcepts, Stephan Spencer, President
• General Internet Presence: Red Door Interactive, Reid Carr, President
• Site Search: SLI Systems, Shaun Ryan, CEO
• Pay-per-click Advertising: Key Relevance, Christine Churchill, President
• Customer Experience/Usability: Optimal Usability, Richard Kerr, Usability Consultant
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Reddit | Technorati
Published on Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Comments:
Ecommerce Articles
- Browse All Articles
- Browse our complete archive of ecommerce articles.
- Accounting, Management & Legal
- Ecommerce articles related to managing a small business including ecommerce accounting, business strategy and legal considerations.
- Conversion & Usability
- Online business articles about converting web site visitors into customers and how to gauge and improve your business website's usability.
- Development & Programming
- Articles to help designers, developers and programmers create successful, search engine friendly ecommerce websites and improve existing ones.
- Hosting, Infrastructure & Software
- Articles for ecommerce businesses about ecommerce web hosting, business infrastructure, business strategy and helpful ecommerce & small business software.
- Interviews & Profiles
- Interviews with prominent ecommerce business personalities and profiles of successful online businesses.
- Inventory & Shipping
- Ecommerce articles about inventory management, ecommerce order fulfillment and product shipping considerations.
- Marketing & Revenue Growth
- Articles relating to online marketing, email marketing and using the Internet to growing your business.
- Search Engine Optimization
- Search engine optimization articles for ecommerce business owners, strategists, marketers and developers.
- Shopping Carts & Online Payments
- Articles covering ecommerce shopping cart platforms and options for choosing an online payment gateway.
- Training & Education
- Tutorials and articles providing training and education for ecommerce business owners and developers of ecommerce websites.
Search Articles
Ecommerce Community
- Ecommerce Blogs
- Read our blogs about ecommerce topics written by industry professionals.
- Community Forum
- Connect with other ecommerce professionals to trade advice and answers in our community forum.
- Podcasts
- Check out our ecommerce podcasts covering topics ranging from interviews to tutorials.
- RSS Content Feeds
- Subscribe to our RSS feeds and have fresh ecommerce content delivered to you.
Ecommerce Resources
- Free Email Newsletter
- Sign up for Ecommerce Notes, our free email newsletter for ecommerce business owners and developers.
- Ecommerce Directory
- Browse our directory of ecommerce products and services, or submit your own listing in our directory.
- Ecommerce Glossary
- Familiarize yourself with terminology or submit terms to help others with our Ecommerce Glossary.
- Events Calendar
- Find out about upcoming ecommerce events or invite other ecommerce professionals by posting your own event.
- Press Releases
- Browse ecommerce related press releases and post your own press release for distribution.
- Ecommerce Store & Back Issues
- Pick up back issues of Practical eCommerce magazine along with other merchandise from Practical Ecommerce
About Practical eCommerce
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Look at frequently asked questions regarded using our website, subscribing to our magazine and more.
- Advertising Information
- Information about advertising in Practical eCommerce magazine, on our website, or in our email newsletters.
- Editorial Sharing
- Learn about options for sharing our content with your visitors, customers or employees.
- About Us
- Learn more about Practical Ecommerce magazine and meet our staff.
- Contact Us
- Contact Practical Ecommerce at any time for more information. We'd love to hear from you.
Copyright 2007 Confluence Distribution, Inc. and Practical eCommerce.
All Rights Reserved.
Good critique... especially the feedback on the somewhat cryptic and illogical error message. I often wonder why so many companies fail to think like a customer. A good practice I tell many executives is to think and act like a customer, even go in to the store and walk through a transaction, keeping your experience in mind. For those that care enough to take the time, its usually an eye opener :-)
Posted by: Arshad Merali
Thursday, June 07, 2007