This article is again about webshops. Webshops need conversion. Webshops need to sell products. I decided to take a look at my user journey when looking for a new laptop, Adobe software and some shoes. Here's how Zalando, Dell and Adobe made me feel and what they could improve.
Zalando
First of all Zalando isn't responsive. Your mobile experience is different from your desktop experience. The mobile experience is better, because the flow of information is positioned better. When you view a product on desktop format, the conditions of Zalando (about shipping and payment) seem to be the most important - as they are presented first. On the mobile version these are presented last.
It gets better though! You can view a product at a larger format, ideal when looking for new shoes. You can see this in the image shown above. The bigger image is shown over the price and order button! Thats a conversion killer right there. The image below shows the same page if I don't roll over the image.
So you can see that all vital information is gone as soon as I rollover an image. Funny thing is that the mobile version of the website is a lot stronger. My advice would be to create one responsive solution building on the mobile version.
The thing I like about my user journey at Zalando though - expectations. Even though the website is a bit odd at times when we're looking at interaction, they communicate very clear what you can expect. I ordered a pair of shoes which was the last in stock. The site communicated this. After I ordered the shoes, the website communicated it was out of stock.
The delivery date was very clear as well. Before I hit the "order" button I knew when it could be delivered (there's a range of 3 days) and I accepted this as a user. So the communication from Zalando is clear and I end my journey happy, because I know my shoes will be delivered this week.
My verdict: 7
My user journey was pretty good, communication on this website indicates what to expect. Interaction of the desktop website is poor. They should build a responsive solution based on the mobile version of the website.
Dell
As I am starting freelance work tomorrow I needed a new laptop. I bought my previous desktop PC at Dell, so I decided to go for a Dell laptop as well.
The Dell website was clear. I quickly found an item called 'Dell Deals' where I found an overview of standard laptops, many of them good enough for me to use. I didn't have the money to "supersize" my laptop, so I decided to go for one of the deals.
I checked the date on which it would be available for transport. I ordered on Thursday May 7 and the website communicated it would be available for delivery May 12. Excellent! I paid with iDeal, as that is the fastest way to pay - in order to make it May 12. However, on May 12 I received an e-mail that the payment was confirmed and my machine would go into production - to be delivered around May 20.
What a shock that was, as I start my freelance project May 19... I quickly found my way to Twitter to find out if I could cancel the order. The helpdesk of Dell on Twitter is great. They immediately traced my order and gave me better details about the production and delivery. It would actually be delivered May 13, only 1 day later than initially communicated! Can't help but feel that my Twitter contact helped a bit here...
In total, 4 delivery dates were communicated with me. Confusing to say the least. Where the interaction of this website is better than Zalando - the communication is not so strong. The real details I received on Twitter, not by e-mail or on the website.
My verdict: 6
I found my user journey to be less satisfying. Although the website was stronger than Zalando's website, the communication was poor. An unrealistic date is used in the communication on the website and by e-mail - killing my user experience. My advice would be realistic. Don't communicate what you cannot achieve - people will wait for products, but only when they know you can follow through on your promise.
Adobe
Last, but certainly not least: Adobe. I have always used the Adobe Creative Suite (nowadays Cloud). However, I have always used it at employers, so never had to buy it for myself.
The Adobe website was pretty clear. I quickly found my way to the pricing and membership pages showing me all possibilities. I noticed I could go for the Individual package costing me € 60,- a month, or the Business pacakage costing me € 70,- a month. I decided to call Adobe to find out what's the big difference in these packages.
I called during a national day off in The Netherlands so I expected a tape asking me to call back later. Nope! Someone answered the phone and told me about the differences. The person also asked a bit about my knowledge with the software and how I use it. Turns out he was asking me all of this because he could then give me a better offer. Excellent! He also explained about the differences of paying the whole year ahead or pay-per-month.
The helpdesk helped me perfectly. I got a nice deal and have found the package best suited for my needs. If I can make one comment about the journey it would be that it is best to call the helpdesk. The information and offer I received on the phone I wouldn't have received on the website.
My verdict: 8,5
The website offered me a clear view of my options. Calling the helpdesk completed my user journey. I feel like I was helped perfectly and got a great deal. Excellent user experience - though my advice to you is to call Adobe when you're looking to buy. :)
My view
The information on this page is my personal view. I hope it offers some insight in how I look at conversion on the web. I think it's a shame that many webshops aren't conversion driven - for the companies behind the webshops. And it's a shame that very often a webshop is a system where the user journey isn't taken into account.
Thanks again for reading the blog.
All the best,
Corné
Interesting experience, though my logical mind is a little curious about your ranking here. You're not comparing like-with-like. Each supplier is offering a different product, through a different supply chain, two are physical products, one digital.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenThe shoes experience compares desktop with mobile selling; the rating seems to mark it based on that comparison.
The Dell experience, I was most surprised at: you gave a 6 despite getting a rapid response and an excellent service (though one day late) because you (cleverly) used Twitter to chase up the order: I think that might be a little unfair.
The Adobe experience: I'm a little unsurprised you gave an 8.5 -- as a captive customer you can't NOT use their products for your work: yes it's good service to be available on a national holiday, but it's been standard practise to offer a 'buy for a year and you'll get a discount' for years --- if you buy for a decade, you'll get an even smaller price, no doubt.
In these kinds of 'consumer tests', it's usually more helpful / relevant to do a like-for-like experiment.
Off-topic: I once was at a friend's and we couldn't decide between Domino's and NewYork Pizza. There were a few of us, so we ordered from both, at the same time, to see who arrived first.
The verdict: delicious.
Thanks for your input. This blog is an ongoing thing for me and these kind of comments help me grow as a blogger. Thank you for that!
VerwijderenThe grades are actually made up out of various items, such as interaction, visual design, experience, user satisfaction and more. But I wasn't consistent in my grades. Adobe should have scored lower because I had to chase them up too - only by phone. I apologize that I probably wasn't fair because of my high of the excellent deal.
Thanks again!