1) For this weekly task our group decided to choose two eCommerce websites – the Amazon.com and the bookdepository.co.uk. In our opinion these two projects allowed us to analyze good and bad in the eCommerce websites.
2) As an example of bad eCommerce site we have chosen bookdepository.co.uk. The first and, as we think the most important reason of it’s’ badness is narrow specialization. This site is known only for selling books and nothing more. This is the problem when it comes to entering new markets. Also this site has a little bit complicated interface, so it’s a quite hard to start working with it. Moreover this site doesn’t have some payment methods and the prices are shown just in few currencies (USD, EUR, and GBP). Besides that, we have found some technical problems in the website. Order tracking is not quite easy to use, since you need to enter the order number and your name every time when checking the order status. And even more, sometimes the name is not recognized when entered, and one way to solve it is to copy-paste the name from the order confirmation e-mail.
Amazon.com is a good example of a successful eBusiness website. Every day this web-site is visited by thousands of people. One of its main features is usability and intuitive intelligibility. On the main page the visitor can see the segments of the products that help to search the concrete item and a list of the most popular or most relevant to the concrete user items. Sophisticated users will be satisfied with the fact that every search can be tuned to the minutest details like different types of sorting etc.
A visual simplicity of pages is also a good feature of the site. The user does not get the feeling of congestion; due to soft color eyes do not get tired. Besides, visitors can take part in optimization of the web-site. In order to optimize the search procedure of the goods in addition to the standard system on Amazon (left menu) acts function «Search Suggestion» (Search Tip). It allows users themselves to participate in the process of creating connections between brands and determining keyword.
Mobile version of the website looks good as well, which allows ordering products and tracking your orders anytime with your smart phone, which is quite important today.
3) We will start off with bookdepository.co.uk. The website could be improved in few different areas. First of all, since it has free worldwide delivery it could be really good to add some other currencies to display the prices (RUR, JPY, CNY). As well the design and the interface should be completely reviewed. The design of the website should attract the user and make him or her to remember the company and come back again in the future. But in this case the website has some problems. It doesn’t look appealing: dark colors take the focus away from white zones, where customers’ eyes should be. The interface is really confusing not just for a first-time user, but also for a person who was on the website before. It has so much text everywhere - you can’t really get away from it!
In our view the picture below expresses our emotions when working with this kind of design/interface.
Adding a mobile version would be a good advantage as well. All major online stores provide their customers with mobile versions because mobile browsing is really common nowadays and many people use their smart phones to order different products online. The last, but not the least – the technical stability. Order tracking page needs a fix in the blank fields for entering the order number and the customer’s name.
Talking about Amazon.com we came up with a though that the website doesn’t really need to improve anything. It is built by professionals. It is built for customers. When you are on the website you feel yourself comfortable and you feel that there is someone who cares about your pleasant shopping experience!
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