The year so-far has seem a lot of new websites introduced or re-launched onto the market by traditional high street retailers. Most of these examples show that its not just the pure-play companies that can build their digital sales offering, but also those who have a very visible presence in our physical lives.
Yes, there are noted examples where this hasn't been the case, such as H&M's highly criticised implementation, and some site are still poorly designed, fail basic accessibility criteria and leave their users to the hard work. But the majority of sites launched this year show is that it is possible for retailers to learn from the past (and their peers) and implement a site which is a much better example of best practice eCommerce.
Sure, most of the UK-focused high street eCommerce sites aren't actually ground-breaking and hardly any seem to be implementing Social Commerce functionality right now.... but its fair to say the bar is being raised all the time. This not only means a potentially improved visitor and conversion rate for the retailer, but a better experince for the site visitor.
3 comments:
Fully agree Hayden that the eCommerce bar is being raised all the time but I do wonder if we should be thinking in terms of parallel bars?
A higher bar certainly for larger exceptionally cool branded sites such as www.hestragloves.com for example or big brands like www.next.co.uk, www.fatface.com & www.next.co.uk with their significant online budgets.
But do we perhaps also need a lower level bar (still rising all the time!) to benchmark the good practice of online SME retailers who have still have a part to play in this ever expanding marketplace albeit often with more modest funding.
The UK is afterall often considered to be "a Nation of Shopkeepers"...
Alan
Thanks for your comment, however I’m going to stick my neck out on this one and say there should be one level that everyone should aim to meet, regardless of budget/resources/etc.
For the last 10 years or so I’ve been using the motto for eCommerce sites “do the basics well first and only then consider the bells & whistles”. By this I mean that everyone should aim to deliver the optimum site they possibly can and follow best practice. There should be no excuse for mediocre design, poor usability, insufficient content, etc. even if clients are on a shoestring.
For example, we at Ideal Interface consult to large high street stores and global organisations on their digital presence. But we also provide ad-hoc advice to much smaller operations and start-ups who do not have the resources of the big players. There’s also a lot that we give away such as on this blog, etc.
Sure, the amount of bells and whistles may vary depending on your budget, but there are so many basics that need to be done first. Or to use your shop-keeping analogy, you may only have a small corner shop in a local part of town…. But you can still keep the shop windows clean, the aisles clear of obstructions and the assistance smiling & responsive to customer demands.
Hayden
I believe we are essentially saying the same thing in different ways Hayden. I certainly wasn't suggesting for one minute that the basics shouldn't be ignored at all and standards shouldn't slip.
But - yes - the bells & whistles will have to come later for those on a more modest budget. I'm all for our Nation of humble Shop-keepers still being proud and presentable.
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