Module 2 Assignment - Website Design

I do a lot of online shopping. I'd much rather shop from the convenience of my home (with a cat on my lap) than deal with crowds, driving, parking, picking the slowest checkout lane known to humankind, and all of those delightful experiences.

Without further ado, here are my reviews of five sites that I use for shopping:

ThinkGeek
This is a really fun website that has a ton unique products. This zombie head cookie jar currently adorns my kitchen counter and it's super rad. Fun products aside, they have a pretty nifty website set up.

• There are a wide range of products available which can be searched via search bar OR browsed via categories (products are also listed in multiple categories, if appropriate). It is very easy to search by keyword (e.g. 'zombie') and the search bar has an auto-complete function. As soon as you type in 'zo', all of the products that contain 'zo' in their name appear.
• It is very easy to add an item to your cart, however I dislike that after adding an item, I am taken directly to my shopping cart. If I want to shop more, let me! Don't make it harder for me to give you my sweet, sweet money. Also, at the bottom of each product page are a few suggestions for other products that you might enjoy.
• For a checkout, it's pretty painless and I really like the control that you have when you checkout. You can decide on the shipping company that you want to use (or avoid...DHL, I'm looking at you). Also, it's very easy to enter a coupon or discount code.
• I really like that with each purchase you can accrue ThinkGeek points and redeem them on a future transaction for swag. Other greats features include: on each product page they feature 'customer action shots'; there are multiple photos of the product; the details of the item are very clear; and, at the bottom of each product page is a 'Wanna Chat about it?' option, which gives you multiple avenues to connect with ThinkGeek.

Anthropologie

I love pretty, pretty dresses, and Anthro pretty much takes the cake for selling the prettiest dresses. If dresses were cocaine, Anthro would be my dealer. 

Anthro has recently undergone a website redevelopment, which was very much needed. I'll be basing my feedback on the current site.

• The overarching categories used are appropriate, as are the sub-categories. You can browse the categories and find what you're looking for quite easily, or you can use their search bar. The location of the search bar is at the top left of the page, which is an irritant. Even a seasoned Anthro shopper like myself has trouble finding it when I need to use it, because it's in the header and there's no differentiating colour to draw the eye there. On the upside, once you find the damn thing, you can type in something like 'red dress' and BOOM, there they are. You can also shop by designer, or what's new.
• To look at an item you can either do a 'Quick View' (a pop up appears) and you can view the product (there are usually a minimum of three photos) and add to your cart, or you can go to the product page to view the details, reviews, etc. and add to your cart. The product page includes suggested accessories that you may want to also add to your purchase, as well as a size guide. Some products are 'online exclusives', however I've seen them in store. Don't lie and make me order it online, if it's not actually going to be available in store.
• A couple of things make me cranky about shopping on the Anthro website: 

1. The checkout process is quick, although if an item isn't in stock, I don't find out until I've already hit the 'submit payment' button. Why did you let me get excited about buying something so pretty and then telling me after I've tried to give you my money that you don't have it?!? Bad Anthro! Then, just when I thought that I was finished shopping, I'm not. I have to go back and see if there's something else that I want. If not, I'm probably not going to make my purchase as shipping to Canada is pricey and I want to make it worth my while.
2. It's sometimes hard to find the 'contact us' information. It's in the footer of the website, but if I have a question, I'd like your information to be more visible.
3. The company is based in the US, so more visible information/FAQ for international shoppers would be great. 

Sephora

The Sephora website has a very clean design--the categories and sub-categories are appropriate and the layout is very intuitive. Even though the search bar is in the top left of the screen, it's very noticeable. The search function is interactive. As soon as you start typing, suggestions of what you might be looking for pop up. 

• You're able to do a 'Quick Look' and add the product to your cart or wishlist with the click of a button and then continue browsing products.
• If you visit the product page, they suggest other items that you might like. One thing that I've never liked is that to view a larger picture I can only use a magnifying glass to zoom in on small areas of the photo. Grumble, grumble.
• What Sephora does right: Lets me enter my postal code on the product page and I can find out if it's in stock at my nearest Sephora store; three free samples with each purchase; multiple different bonus samples that you can add to your cart if you spend at least $35.
• Shipping is free if you spend $75 and although it's shipped from the US, the cost of the item is displayed in CDN and all duties and additional taxes are included in the cost. No surprise fees--hooray!
• The only main issue that I really have is the lack of details on the product pages. As someone with skin sensitivities, it's important to know the ingredients of the product. Sure, it's good to know the size and other various things, but if I can't confirm that the product doesn't contain eye of newt or unicorn tears, I'm less likely to buy it.

MBNA eMall

If you're looking for an irksome website, look no more, you've found one of the best! It has it all--multiple web pages to navigate through, many hoops to jump through, and so many unnecessary clicks! What's that, you've been browsing for a while? Oops, better log in again!

• To access this site, I need to log into MBNA. To do this, I click 'Log In' three times (on three separate pages) before my MBNA page shows up. It's a crap shoot as whether MBNA will let me log in, or will just decide that its dealing with technical issues. In human terms, the MBNA website is an emo teenager, full of so much angst and hate. 
• If I manage to log in, I then click on 'My Account'. Then 'Rewards'. Then you have to click about five more buttons to get to eMall. I'd be able to tell you the exact number of click, but ha, I can't log in right now due to 'technical issues'. I tried to click 'Contact Us' to trouble shoot the issue, but double ha, I got a 404 error. Sigh.
• Once you're able to access this magical eMall the search function is good and lets you search for retailers that participate, however it's not intuitive and doesn't offer other suggestions. The categories are well chosen though, and retailers are cross-categorized if they sell multiple items.

If the MBNA/MBNA eMall website wasn't such a Charlie Foxtrot (NSFW definition) right this VERY second, I would perhaps be more positive in my review. However, overall feedback would be if you want me to use your website, make it easy. If I need to log in, let me do so on a consistent basis. If I need to contact you, let me. Don't give me a 404 error and make me angry. If I need to have your website open while I shop to get the benefits of using your site (i.e. cash back), let me know when I've been inactive before you log me out automatically and make me go through the whole process again. *Pops Tums to quell the rage induced stomachache*

!ndigo
I love books. Browsing for them, picking up the ones that catch my eye and reading what they're about. But for buying books, online is the cat's meow. In the last year, !ndigo has revamped their website and it's really streamlined the shopping experience.

• The categories are broad, albeit there are many, many smaller sub-categories. You can also browse specialty categories, like 'Award Winners', 'Bestsellers', 'New This Week', etc.
• I find it really hard to browse for books online. There are millions and millions of books that I might love, but how do I find them? The search bar (which is HUGE) is great for pulling up the item that I'm looking for (and also other similarly spelled titles or authors) and once I find a book that I love, I'll check out the 'Other books you might enjoy' or 'People who shopped for this also bought this:' and get lost for hours.
• It's easy to add items to my cart and to view my cart without leaving the product page that I'm on. Yay for that! Although it would be nice to be able to add an item to my cart directly from the search page. Currently you have to visit the product page and then add it to your cart. If I know I want it, let me add it without having to make an extra click. I swear, you won't regret it, !ndigo.
• Also nice is that I can check to see if an item is in store locally. Sometimes I just can't wait a few extra days to get my paws on a new book and want it immediately! With the website, I can enter my postal code and find out which stores in the city have what I want on hand.
• Checking out is easy. You can chose to do a guest check out if you don't want to commit to an account. Right there on the checkout page is their phone number. Need help with your order? Give us a call, we'll help you give us your money!
• The only thing that I don't like is that !ndigo automatically adds premium shipping to your cart, even if you qualify for free shipping. Just like Gretchen trying to make 'Fetch' happen in Mean Girls, stop trying to make premium shipping happen, !ndigo. Sometimes it passes by my cursory glance at the shopping cart and then I have to go back (irritated, of course) and select the free shipping.

After reviewing these websites, my advice to any business wanting to improve their customers shopping experience would be:

1. Keep your site clean and clear. I want to find your products as easily as possible and I want to give you my money. Let me. Please make it easy for me to do so.
2. Let me find your shipping information, product details and contact information easily. If I have to hunt for it and use Google-Fu, I'm probably going to be lazy and go elsewhere.
3. Don't make me create an account if I don't want to. If I can't find out how much shipping is until I create an account, I'm going to bolt.
4. Make sure that I can use your website in different browsers. For the love of all that is holy, if I can't use your site efficiently on Chrome (I'm looking at you, FreePeople.com) or on my iPad (Facebook Messenger comes to mind), I'm not going to buy from you.
5. I appreciate seeing other items that are similar, or that other users have purchased. I also like seeing product reviews and product details. Don't make me guess, give me as much information as possible.
6. Lastly, if I need to log in to access your site or services, don't have a sh*tty website that's prone to working only some of the time. Don't have 404 error pages that are linked from your home page. FFS, you're a company--have someone review your site on a regular basis to circumvent missing pages. And don't make me jump through hoops unnecessarily. Do I really need to make three or four clicks to add something to my cart? To quote Grumpy Cat, 'No.'