Feedback and questions from activity 4

Written by: Jonathan Briggs

October 29, 2008 [3148 views]

Thanks again to all of you who finished this week’s activity. I hope that you are beginning to see the difference between good and bad ecommerce sites. This feedback should hopefully help to reinforce some of the messages from your own research.

Sectors you looked at

Fashion 16%
Supermarkets 14%
TV/Audio 11%
Cameras 10%
Health & Beauty 3%
Furniture 3%
Others 5%

A few of the sites you thought did ecommerce well

http://www.tesco.com
http://www.jessops.co.uk
http://www.asos.com
http://www.toysgamesgifts.co.uk/

And a few you didn’t

http://www.mango.com
http://www.cameraworld.co.uk/
http://www.tkmaxx.co.uk
http://www.buyacamera.co.uk/
http://www.primark.co.uk/
http://www.petcompany.co.uk/index.htm

Decision support tools (helping the customer decide)

This was not asking you for all the features that you could find on the site but specifically that functionality that helps a customer make a choice.

Price/product comparision
Talk to an expert
Bluffers guide
Suggested alternatives
Smart search (copes with misspellings)
Product ratings
Product selector
Discussion boards
Articles
How to’s
Complete the look
GIft finder
Managers favorites
Delivery times
Food and Wine matching

Some of your ideas for supporting the customer

Better value suggestion
Show the discount
“Socket view” - rear view of the products
Select my body shape
Recommend a “combo” of products
Recommendations for specific groups of customers such as vegetarians
Student/OAP discounts
“Show me how to use” videos
Local stock availability

Your questions (to be answered in class)

Why some sites do not have store locator?
Why big stores such as Zara do not have online e-commerce site?
It seems that some big fashion stores, which do not do online selling, have better designed sites than the e-commerce ones? Why is that? For instance, tk maxx does not sell online but it has a very good web site.
Why do not all the sites accept payments in Euro or in $? Most sites not do conversion of currency either.
Some stores use models to show their clothes and some are not. Do you think using expensive models make the store sell more? If yes, why the others are not following the same route?
Instead of categories, what if the stores used their catalogues in PDF format. I could have a link taking you to the page number you want. Do you think that would be better?
How much would it cost if an e-commerce site runs a live communication system with the customers like questions and answers?
Why the stores do not mention about their FAQ's like how much money do they make in a year?
Is there an organisation that does reliable reviewing of ecommerce sites? http://www.nma.co.uk