8 February 2007
Valentine's sites failing to win the hearts of online shoppers
Specialist retailers are failing to romance online shoppers looking for Valentine's Day gifts, according to the latest benchmark usability study from Webcredible. Figleaves tops the list of most user-friendly websites with a score of 68 out of 100, followed by Ernest Jones (60) and Interflora (59). However, the study, which looked at the online experience offered by 20 chocolate, flower, lingerie and jewellery retailers, found that their basic seduction techniques left much to be desired. Only six of the 20 retailers achieved even a basic standard of usability.
Far from helping lovers find the perfect gift for Valentine's Day, the report found that many sites are actually getting in the way of the shopping process! Hiding links to the checkout, hitting shoppers with hidden charges, and not giving shoppers enough help in choosing and buying products were some of the biggest blunders identified in 'Valentine's Online: Love or Hate?', published today by usability specialists Webcredible.
Webcredible evaluated the specialist websites against 20 key usability criteria, awarding each a rating out of 100. Overall the online jewellers provided the best online experience, followed by flowers and lingerie. However, the chocolatiers were in melt-down with an average score of 35 and three of the four chocolate retailers appearing in the bottom five of the web usability index.
The top three online Valentine's retailers were:
- Figleaves - 68
- Ernest Jones - 60
- Interflora - 59
The bottom three online Valentine's retailers were:
- Brownes Chocolates - 31
- Chocolate Trading Company - 30
- Knickerbox - 29
Trenton Moss, director of Webcredible, commented: “Faced with the looming Valentine's Day deadline, many people will turn to the web for a quick, hassle-free way to buy a present, but our study reveals that shopping online for flowers, chocolates, jewellery and lingerie is far from easy. It's a daunting task to find the perfect gift when you're not buying for yourself, so online retailers must work harder to provide useful information and guidance to convert their visitors into customers.”
Three of the most common mistakes were:
- Not giving shoppers help in choosing products (average score of 1.7 out of 5) Physical stores are doubtlessly good at helping shoppers find the most appropriate products, but there are no shop assistants online. Online retailers should provide special offers, recommendations, buyer's guides, best seller lists and/or user reviews to help their visitors.
- Sort and filter options are not available (average score of 1.4 out of 5) Faced with a bewildering array of products, online shoppers may struggle to find one that suits them. Sorting a product listing allows users to bring products with certain criteria to the top of the page whereas filtering is very useful for users who want to focus on products with specific features.
- Users are not provided with sufficient help when an error is made (average score of 2 out of 5) Users will make mistakes during the checkout process and if they can't immediately work out the error and how to fix it, they may be unwilling (or even unable) to continue with the checkout process and buy a product. Provide them with visible and informative error messages to help them correct mistakes.
Other crucial errors included:
- Hitting users with hidden delivery costs at the end of the checkout process
- Not providing clear links to the basket and the checkout on every page
- Not offering similar and complementary items
Trenton Moss added: “While retailers such as Figleaves and Ernest Jones performed reasonably well, it was shocking to find that not one of the 20 retailers achieved a score of more than 68. At a time of high demand for their products, these specialist retailers can do so much more to enhance the online experience for their visitors. The websites that get it right will not only be successful in the run up to Valentine's Day, but will reap the benefits of customer loyalty, as shoppers visit again for occasions such as Mother's Day, anniversaries and birthdays.”
Webcredible evaluated the websites of 20 chocolate, flowers, lingerie and jewellery retailers against 20 key usability criteria and awarded each a rating out of 100. The 20 criteria used to evaluate the websites take into account the complete ecommerce experience, including browsing and navigation, the checkout process, searching, and product display pages. The full Web Usability Index for all the websites is included in the full report, which can be downloaded from www.webcredible.co.uk/valentines.
About Webcredible
Founded in 2003, Webcredible is a user experience consultancy, dedicated to making websites easy to use, accessible to all and ultimately more effective. The UK-based consultancy offers a wide range of services, including user-centred design, usability & accessibility testing, accessible web design, an accessible CMS, as well as a comprehensive training programme.
With almost 200,000 monthly website visitors and a long list of global clients in the private and public sector, including T-Mobile, Norwich Union, eBay, the BBC and the World Health Organization, Webcredible is widely regarded as one of the most respected consultancies in the user experience industry.
The consultancy brings an unrivalled passion and enthusiasm to their work and their uniquely open and collaborative approach to projects ensures clients can fully understand and contribute to the process while gaining on-the-job training and knowledge transfer.