Online Retailing #5 London 2012 Tickets

London 2012 Olympic Tickets

I saw a bus with an ad for Olympic footy at Old Trafford for next summer, I was keen to see some of the Olympics but didn't want to trek down to London, so the footy at Old Trafford seemed perfect, Boots will also be very excited, and with Team GB entering I thought I'd make the effort.

Rating; Good - so far.

Good for; Clear and structured way of registering for tickets. Easy to navigate. Bus ad worked and made me visit the site.

 

Bad for; Not sure if I've bought anything yet? Lack of inspiration.

 

What did I buy?

Nothing yet, but a possible outlay of £400?

Homepage

Clear on how to find tickets and lots of relevant content, plus the dodgy Wolf Ollinns logo!

Navigation

Very easy system of drop downs and events to select.



Customer interaction
The auto e-mails I received were clear and easy to understand.

Product Pages
The search returned clear results and provided the info nyou need to know. The pages weren't very inspiring and the whole experience was a bit cold. To me this seemed the ideal place to highlight previous Olympic moments that would drive sales into events that upon first read may not appeal to everybody

I did see some links for Olympic merchandise but nothing that made me click through.

Delivery

Not sure yet, will have to wait and see if I've been succesful.

Overall
This was a very easy shopping experience however I still don't know if I'll get any tickets or £400 worth? I expect I could find out exactly how this should work but it wasn't immediately obvious??
As mentioned above I think the site could be more inspirational and doesn't seem to make use of lots of content that must exist, maybe it's copyrighted?

Web Site London 2012

Online retailing #4 Huddersfield Examiner

Huddersfield Examiner

Other pages on this blog will inform you about my fledgling goalkeeping career, however my job and hobby collided when the below pic appeared in the Huddersfield Examiner.

I hope this isn't the extent of my fifteen minutes?

Rating; Good

Good for; Straightforward to use site and easy to find the pic from the code in the paper.

Bad for; seeme expensive; £12 for an 10 x 8" pic?

What did I buy?

10 x 8" photo

Homepage

The site was very easy to use and by enetering the code from the paper I found the photo straightaway.

Navigation
The selection and ordering process was quick and straightforward

Product Pages
Some choice of different products that could be personalised.

Delivery

3 working days for delivery which is fine and I assume the photo will arrive by post.

Overall
tbc, so far so good.

 

Web Site Huddersfield Examiner

Online Retailing #3 - Kitbag.com

Kitbag.com

I received a clearance e-mail from Kitbag.com, I was keen to see what they had to offer for a number of reasons;

1. I was impressed by the kitbag.com World Cup pop up shop that was open during last summers World Cup, the catalogue that promoted this shop was visually great and almost made me buy the Ivory Coast away shirt!!
2. As the Welly goalie I don't think you can ever have enough equipment and thought I'd take the opportunity to combine my favourite past times!

Rating; Ordinary

Good for; large range - although the clearance range was limited on sizes but that's the gamble I suppose.

Bad for; some navigation wasn't very clear and mixed results on customer service.

What did I buy?

A new goalie shirt, new gloves and a polo shirt for Boot's.

Homepage

Very easy to find the clearance section, though it wasn't given full prominence. the graphics are also spot on, very cool and exciting and clear.
The manufacturers obviously spend a lot of time and money on devloping content/brand so it was good to see the site using this in an engaging way.

Navigation

This was a bit frustrating, every time I filtered the results I couldn't go back to the previous set, I had to go back to the start of whatever category I was in - a 'back to results' link would do the trick.

Customer interaction
As i'd not been able to enter my work address for delivery I had to ring customer services first thing and see what they could do, I wasn't that hopeful but the lady I spoke to was very efficient and helpful and sorted it for me.

However, the gloves I ordered were too small and I needed to return them, I was very clear on the returns paperwork for the gloves to be sent to the original delivery address - needless to say they weren't and were sent to my home address, this was a bit frustrating, especially as I'd had to pay £4.50 for postage. I thought this was a bit of a rip off and has put me off using the site again especially for £30 + gloves??

Product Pages
The detail on the product page is great, very clear and the zoom on the image is great, I could see all the detail I needed to on the glove.

Delivery

Delivery was free over £50 which seemed a bit steep for me, though I did of course spend the minimum and qualify for free delivery. My view is that this is too high and would maybe deter customers.
The packaging is simple but effective and on brand, a good effort.

Overall

A mixed bag, great web merchandising, the zoom on the gloves is awesome, some good customer service and some bad. Nearly a great experience.

What would I change?
Free delivery on returns when you've spent the original free del trigger amount.
Improve navigating from search results.
A better way to establish what glove size you are - most screens would accomodate a hand sized image so this could easily be sorted?

Web Site Kitbag.co.uk

Bet Fred vs. Victor Chandler

Having just seen both the Bet Fred tv ad and the Victor Chandler ad I have to say on balance I'd rather lose my money to Victor, he seems much more trustworthy than Fred - and has also made an effort with his suit, Fred looks a bit dodgy. My least favourite gambling ad at the moment is the Ray Winstone fronted ad break bits - bet 365 - "the full time result" - I really don't like that bit! and why does the footy pitch keep moving apart?



Victor

 

Fred?



Ray - the full time result



also I've still not got the connection on the Bill Hill ad between gambling and the Sex Pistols soundtrack, have I missed the point?

I've not gambled online yet, but none of the above ads are having the desired effect so a site review of one of them maybe some time off!

Online Retailing #2 - Domino's

Domino's

Pizza and Curry are my two favourite takeaways, closely followed by Chinese, then Fish and Chips, with the occasional Subway thrown in. Friday night in Huddersfield though is Pizza night.

I'd read in the paper (The Guardian) that Domino's had been doing well as a business and that they'd fully embraced the digital side of the business and so I decided I'd have a look and see what they were doing so well from an online retailing perspective.

Rather than use the web site I decided it give ordering on the ipone app a go.

Rating; Good

Good for; Classic pizzas. Lots of different ways to order a pizza.

Bad for; Small side dishes and fairly pricey compared to the local firm.

What did I buy?

A meateor pizza and two side dishes for £14.99, this was one of the deals on offer.

Homepage

When you sign back into the app, you have to re-enter your post code which seems a bit odd but once in there is then a button to repeat your last order. The interface is clear and of the standard you'd expect from a large chain.

Navigation
Very simple to navigate using the iphone app and all of the usual slides and taps, though it did seem a bit slow but that might have been my wireless?

     

Customer interaction

The delivery chap was polite and I'd paid online so there was no need for any cash to change hands.

Product Pages

The photography was adequate and the descriptions to the point. The pizzas were well merchandised aand looked appetising.

Checkout
The checkout was a bit unclear and I had to double check that I hadn't ordered two lots of chicken strippers!!



Delivery

Delivery was free as part of the deal. The order also arrived very quickly - about 20 minutes or so, which was perfectly acceptable. The pizza was hot and the sides fine - but small!

Overall

A good service and by ordering online there was none of the confusion that can happen when ordering over the phone. As I'd paid online I didn't need to worry about having the right money or change etc.
The product was well merchandised and very clear. The different deals were highlighted but I didn't feel that any potential cross/up sells were taken advantage of.

The app look and feel was corporately aligned and echoed the current TV and DM campaigns that I've seen.

Web Site Domino's 

The above order was placed using the free Domino's iphone app.

Online Retailing #1 - Thomas Pink

Thomas Pink

I'm a massive fan of Thomas Pink shirts but usually wait until the sale is on before I update my wardrobe. This year was no different though I was probably a bit late in visiting the site and I think this impacted on the choice available. However I did buy four rather nice new shirts to sport at the office this year.

Rating; Good

Good for; High quality formal shirts. Sale bargains. A quick delivery service.

Bad for; conveying the brand online. Is the availability 100% up to date?

What did I buy?

4 shirts for work.

Homepage

The winter sale is the key message on the home page and it’s impossible to miss it. Other options are on the left hand nav as text links.

Navigation
The sale section was very easy to find. The search options on the left hand side made finding the shirts in my size and preferred fit (15.5 and slim) easy to find. I liked this evolving way of presenting what was available and did go back and not be as picky with some choices, which in turn returned more products.
The navigation colour scheme was all on brand and the pink and black works well from a brand perspective.

Customer interaction
I've ordered from this site before but I don't recall getting an e-mail re the sale starting? This would have been a good prompt for me and probably driven me to the site earlier where I might have seen more choice and bought more?

Product Pages
The zoom feature is great on the product pages and gives you plenty to look at and lets you make an informed decision.

The graphic at the bottom showing what sizes are available is also clear – although one shirt I tried to order was shown as available on the product page but when I checked out suddenly wasn’t available which was a bit frustrating.

I didn’t think much of the cross sell I was shown, a bit of a dodgy looking pink sweater?

 

Delivery

Delivery was free, but so it should be, I'd spent £200+. The shirts arrived at my work address really quickly, 3 days after placing my order. They did though arrive in a boring box and this felt like a missed opportunity to reinforce the brand/quality experience that I associate with Thomas Pink as a brand.

Overall
A good service and a straightforward shopping experience mean that I'll be back again for the summer sale!
Perhaps a missed branding opportunity from a delivery perspective - I wouldn't have felt right having my order gift wrapped for myself but a bit of TP styling wouldn't have gone a miss.

Web Site Thomas Pink

Online Retailing - Intro

I wanted to start reviewing online retailers for two reasons, one it's the area in which I work and two I saw the Mary Portas Shop! column (Daily Telegrah on a Saturday) which I think is great and have lifted (taken inspiration from) the format for my reviews.

The plan is that rather than shop offline I'll try to where possible and practical shop online, and, review how the whole process was from finding the site to receiving the order.

Thanks,
The Full English