Posts tagged with 'Retail'

Ecommerce accessibility 2010 - report released

By Trenton Moss on 19 February 2010

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Yesterday we released the findings of this year’s ecommerce accessibility report and found that, unlike in usability, not much had changed when it comes to website accessibility among the top high street retailers.

Whereas the average score in usability has been increasing year-on-year, the average accessibility score actually went down slightly this year (although that may be partly because Woolworths was included again this year and only scored 38 per cent, but this time last year it wasn’t around to assess).

There were obvious exceptions to this lack of improvement however. B&Q was the outstanding mover and has clearly invested in its website since last year. It achieved a score of 84 per cent to top the table, up 16 per cent from last year. Other big improvements were seen with H.Samuel climbing from 8th place to 3rd, improving its score from 65 to 75, and Next which climbed from 18th to 11th with an improvement of 9% to 60.

In contrast, Marks & Spencer’s website, newly launched in October 2009, only managed to increase its accessibility score by 1 per cent to 59 per cent, even though it now leads the way in usability.

So, what’s the reason for the general lack of improvement in accessibility considering there’s continual investment in these ecommerce websites? Well this could be down to advances in web technologies making it more difficult for ecommerce sites to maintain levels of accessibility as they provide richer interactions.

It used to be the case that, if you did your usability and SEO work right, you’d be 80% there with accessibility due to the interlinked nature of the disciplines. However, AJAX and Web 2.0 present new challenges from an accessibility point of view and this is no longer the case.

However, some of these mistakes are so easy to rectify it’s amazing that so many sites fail every year. For example, the guideline that gets the lowest average every year is providing focus states for links to make them accessible for keyboard-only users. This can be done through one simple line of code, yet only B&Q, John Lewis, Argos and HMV do this to a reasonable level and the majority of sites don’t even attempt it.

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Online shopping with a twist: Virtual Oxford Street

By Mru Kodali on 13 January 2010

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nearlondon-screenshotLove shopping but hate the crowds? The answer may be Near’s virtual Oxford Street. They’re taking the world’s largest and best loved shopping areas and recreating them in the virtual world, Second Life-style with a focus on shopping. Reports are that big names including M&S and Liberty have signed up to display their shop windows in NearLondon, as they do in their bricks and mortar stores. Users can then go directly through to the product or shop online from this virtual Oxford Street, to view more details and buy.

I found that only some stores, e.g. Accessorize, had their various branches identified through NearLondon’s location search. This is a little disappointing given that lots of chains have more than one shop in the Oxford Street area and you may prefer one over another. I looked up M&S (reportedly part of NearLondon) and the search came up with just one result. This didn’t give me specific address details (other than Oxford St.), so at first glance it was unclear whether I was going to the M&S flagship store near Marble Arch or their other branch, the Pantheon, also on Oxford Street. Additionally, many shop windows appear blacked out with just the Near logo displayed. Presumably these shops haven’t signed up with Nearworld yet; but as a user, my experience is somewhat diminished by this.

Once more shops take part, this could be useful for inspiration, when you have an occasion to buy for but need a bit of help getting started, or when you’re simply checking out which look’s in this season. I haven’t tried it myself but NearLondon also lets you go shopping with your friends virtually, which could work if you’re all in different places.

Personally, I’d miss the delights of walking down Oxford Street in person such as unexpectedly bumping into an old friend or the delectable smell of Belgian waffles by Bond Street tube. But should I ever leave London (and perhaps this is their target audience, tourists who love London shopping), I’d more likely go for a nostalgic trip down Oxford Street virtually.

Are you a NearLondon user? Are you tempted to give up the stress of London shopping? Let us know your thoughts.

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Royal Mail will suffer from lack of innovation, not strikes

By Alexander Baxevanis on 29 October 2009

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Demo of DPD Interactive SMS delivery confirmationThe message in the recent weeks is clear: after repeated strikes more and more businesses, especially online retailers, are prepared to desert Royal Mail for alternative suppliers. However, I think it’s not just the strikes that will drive businesses away from Royal Mail. It’s also that Royal Mail has failed to come up with innovative services that match the needs of ecommerce businesses and their customers.

At Ecommerce Expo last week, I saw a number of delivery companies trying to attract retailers. But what they were advertising wasn’t their lack of strikes - it was services that make life a bit easier for both retailers and customers.

DPD, a parcel delivery company, was advertising their “Interactive SMS delivery notification” system. When a retailer provides them with the parcel recipient’s mobile phone number, they send a text message to the recipient to confirm the delivery day. If recipients aren’t available to sign for the package on that day, they can reply by text message to arrange an alternative date. For customers, this means greater transparency and less of the disappointment of receiving the usual Royal Mail “Sorry, you were out” card.

Home Delivery Network, another parcel courier, have partnered with PayPoint to create Collect+, a network of neighbourhood convenience stores that can accept parcel deliveries. As many of these shops are open until late in the evening, customers can collect their parcels when they come home after work, and avoid a trip to the local Royal Mail delivery office. Some major online retailers, such as Littlewoods and Woolworths have already signed up to offer this delivery method to their customers. Royal Mail could have found a way to use their Post Office network in a similar way, instead of closing down Post Office branches.

With delivery often being one of the biggest customer concerns in an ecommerce transaction, retailers are likely to be looking for advanced delivery services that will differentiate them from their competition. If Royal Mail can’t keep up, retailers may not return to use its services even after the strikes are over.

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Ecommerce Expo and ecommerce usability

By Ismail Ismail on 22 October 2009

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Ecommerce ExpoFor the past couple of days a few of us have been over at Earls Court manning the Webcredible stand at Ecommerce Expo. Trenton ran a presentation on improving online conversions and we got plenty of interesting people to the stand. So, all-in-all it was pretty successful, you can check-out some photos from the show on our Flickr photostream.

To coincide with the show, on Tuesday we also launched our 4th annual Ecommerce Usability report, looking at the usability of 20 of the top UK high street retailers. Marks & Spencer’s new website (launched last week) shot to the top of the rankings alongside last year’s winner WHSmith with 83 per cent.  John Lewis, Woolworths and Boots also boosted their scores to make up the top five, all gaining scores of 80 per cent or more.

It’s clear that many of the top retailers are now really focusing on the user experience of their websites, but there are still one or two basic usability guidelines where many are still coming up short. However, with the average scores increasing substantially every year (73.3 per cent this year), we may have to look into adding some more advanced usability guidelines in the future, as ecommerce sites look to continue developing their user experiences.

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Do you need high-street advice to buy online?

By Alexander Baxevanis on 14 October 2009

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Step into middle England’s best loved department store, stroll through haberdashery to the audio visual department where an awfully well brought-up young man will bend over backwards to find the right TV for you - then go to dixons.co.uk and buy it.

1926310454_e19d38395aThe text above, one of a recent series of advertising messages by Dixons won’t come as a surprise to those of us at Webcredible who’ve been through countless usability testing sessions with ecommerce websites. Especially when purchasing large, high-value goods or goods where design is an important factor, customers are right to want to “try before they buy”. And this often means browsing the high street, coming up with a shortlist of products and then looking for the cheapest price online.

Dixons’ campaign hasn’t gone without a reply from some of their high street competitors, who rightly point out that Dixons doesn’t even sell many of the upmarket products found in high street stores. And does Dixons really want to highlight that their competitors can provide better advice than they do?

So, apart from creative advertising, what can online retailers do to make consumers more confident to buy online without browsing through the high street? Here’s some tips:

  • Showcase the product online from as many angles as possible. ‘Catwalk’ videos for clothes and demo videos or 360° views for gadgets can replicate (to some extent) the experience of seeing a product up close.
  • Add product reviews and, even better, Q&As with your expert staff. If customers can ask you a question and get a satifactory reply (or even find that their question has been already answered) then they’re more likely to buy without seeking advice from your competitors.
  • Put a generous returns policy in place, and let your customers know. If customers know they can easily return a product they don’t like, they’ll be happier to checkout even when they’re not 100% sure about their purchase. On the other hand, if they get stuck with a product they don’t like they’re less likely to come back.

In our e-commerce usability report, due out next week, we’ve seen that some sites do better than others in helping consumers pick a product. How well does your site perform in this area?

P.S. Come meet us in Ecommerce Expo at Earls Court, 20-21 October.

Photo credit:  Indiana Stan via Flickr / Creative commons

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