Ecommerce has come a long way in the last decade. Lucy Fisher finds out which retail sites are leading the way from the customer’s perspective.
Most people will be able to recall a thwarted attempt to buy something online, whether it’s an out-of-stock message, a confusing checkout journey or lack of product information.
Such missed opportunities are frustrating for consumers and lead to lost revenue for retailers. Ensuring sites are easy to use is fundamental. John Lewis head of online delivery and customer experience Sean O’Connor says: “There are a few absolute basics that online retailers have to get right. They sound simple but if a site doesn’t have clear pictures, accurate product information and isn’t easy to use it will struggle to keep customers’ attention.”
Nearly every retailer could improve their site in some way. Paul Rouke, head of usability and conversion at web services firm PRWD, says small things can make a big difference.
“I hardly ever see anything really good in terms of a ‘delighter’ on the order confirmation page. You could offer 10% off if you come back within 30 days,” he says.
Easily available information is critical. Rouke says: “Users expect delivery and returns information on the product page and they don’t want to have to go looking for it.” He believes that this year there will be a strong focus on sales conversion - something that he thinks is still in its infancy in retail.
So who is getting it right online?
John Lewis
John Lewis’ site comes up again and again when user experience and ecommerce experts nominate their favourites. Not because it does anything particularly new - more that what it does do, it does well.
Recently the retail giant surpassed £1bn in online sales, a year ahead of target. Cecilia Sylvan Martin, associate director of market research agency The Big Picture, says: “Customers come away feeling like they’ve received the same level of customer service as they do when they step inside a John Lewis department store.”
The retailer continues to innovate. O’Connor says that, as click-and-collect orders more than doubled last year, John Lewis will be testing a new service with courier Connect+ in some UK regions that will enable customers to pick up deliveries from corner shops and petrol stations.
Fab.com
Ian Monk, chief executive of Bathrooms.com, agrees that John Lewis does a great job of offering clear product information and easy-to-use navigation. But he says that, while he took inspiration from its site, he also learned a trick or two from smaller retailers when designing his own site.
Fab.com, for example, has placed integration with social media at the heart of its site design. “Fab.com has inspirational and original blog content,” Monk says, pointing out that the editorial is genuinely useful and interesting, as opposed to being there to boost search engine optimisation.
“I think it’s important to take inspiration from content providers as well as retailers,” he says.
Asos
According to Experian Hitwise data, Asos came in at number 8 in the top 10 online retailers in March with a 0.75% share of all UK internet visits, above big names such as John Lewis and Debenhams.
Asos is frequently cited as an example of a brand that offers high-quality imagery and clear product information online, including size information and free returns - critical in fashion.
“Asos uses video to good effect,” says Marcus Mustafa, global head of user experience at marketing and technology agency LBi. “It’s about showing how the clothes look in real-life.”
He adds that Asos is also good at harnessing the power derived from what people say about its products on social media and in reviews.
“It’s not always about blatantly trying to sell stuff,” he says.
Ocado
Darci Dutcher, head of user experience and design at Photobox, is an Ocado fan. She finds the site useful because it remembers her regularly bought items. “Ocado has changed the way I shop for groceries,” she says.
“My usual necessities require very little effort or thought anymore. I can spend time looking for new items that are interesting, rather than worrying if I’ve forgotten the milk.”
According to Mustafa, Ocado offers a good customer experience on mobile as well as on its desktop website. “It should be a given that a site works across channels, that brands are creating unified content across all devices,” he says. However, he cautions it’s also a mistake to assume what works in one medium will automatically work in another.
James Lodge, mobile director of retail advertising agency Gratterpalm, agrees and suggests retailers shouldn’t necessarily replicate their transactional mobile websites in mobile apps, for instance. He says retailers can differentiate the channels by providing different services in each. “Retailers need to acknowledge what consumers are doing both in store, such as browsing and sharing photos, and away from store,” he adds.
Amazon
“Amazon’s one-click process is great,” says Lodge, and many agree. What’s more, he points out, customers can easily cancel orders on Amazon, too.
For Mustafa, the key is to think in terms of customer loyalty, and remember that customers are loyal to brands that make things easy for them, such as Amazon. “Most consumers are loyal to brands that are loyal to them,” he points out.
Fiona Harkin, vice-president of content at insight consultancy Stylus and former launch editor at luxury etailer Cocosa, says: “I never thought I’d like using a one-click purchase process as I dislike storing credit card details with retailers but Amazon’s system is very convenient, especially when buying Kindle books on a mobile device, which is not ideal for filling in credit card details.”
Net-a-Porter
Net-a-Porter has used editorial content to build its brand. “It’s part publisher and part retailer,” says Graham Charlton, editor at Econsultancy. “There’s a lifestyle element to it.”
Charlton points out that the etailer sets out to identify high-value customers and treats them particularly well.
Gracia Amico, director of ecommerce at Hobbs, is a fan of Net-a-Porter, too. “It tells you the size of the model, provides a link to customer services and offers alternative products,” she says.
Amico believes it’s important for retailers to replicate the customer service shoppers would expect in a store online, and that consumers will be loyal if they do.
These six retailers provide a snapshot of some of the best ideas in UK etail today - and with shoppers more likely than ever to abandon annoying sites, it’s worth working on.
How to create a great online offer
- Cater for the shopper who knows what they want as well as for those who like to browse with easy navigation and filtering options.
- Make product information and delivery and returns options as clear as possible.
- Use high-quality imagery or video. This is particularly important in fashion.
- Make sure the site’s user experience is regularly tested.
- Ensure brand consistency and ease-of-use across devices and consider how and when consumers use different devices when designing new services.
- Little touches such as unexpected extras or free gifts with deliveries can increase customer loyalty.
- Harness the power of social media and reviews. Increasingly reviews are being filtered for extra relevance - for instance, reviews from those travelling alone or with children on travel sites.
- Avoid an aesthetic-heavy focus at the expense of usability. A site must be practical as well as good looking.
- Refreshing content regularly is good for search engine optimisation. But ensure any content is useful and relevant to consumers or it will become a barrier rather than an aid to purchase.
- Know your customer. Use their personal data and shopping history without being intrusive in order to provide a more relevant and personalised digital experience.
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