Just released my Code Lab redesign. Let me know what you think.
Scary Move!
Staples.com launched their new site yesterday. At first glance, it looks great. However, big and drastic changes during the holiday season is a brave move for the nation’s largest office supply retailer.
Most web professionals would hold back on such heavy changes because customers are in critical shopping mode. Consider the typical stress of bargain hunting and time constraints that most customers face around this season. Now, throw a monkey wrench that forces them to learn how a site works. The added benefit of a major site redesign should outweigh the extra-limited patience of a stressed-out customer.
Now What?
What are the possible roadblocks faced by the retail giant and its mid season launch?
- Browser Compatibility Issues
- Brand and Navigation Aversion or Unfamiliarity
- Cart Abandonment
- Search Fallacy and Resolution
< before and after > 
Browser Issues can leave a wonderful redesign in the gutter. Whether it’s IE 6 or the latest android browser, the web site must work and sell. A large established site may have several browser related issues weekly. Imagine a brand new redesign. Extensive testing and precautions should be performed if major problems occur during the site’s roll out. A detailed and tested rollback plan is of essence during this sensitive time.
Brand Recognition is of utmost importance when shopping online. Navigation and site aesthetics also play an important role in a shopper’s confidence to shop online. This is especially important in times where online fraud is at its highest and shoppers are at their weariest.
If the site redesign is complex and includes the checkout process, cart abandonment percentages may increase. A carefully crafted checkout process takes time and is usually customized for a particular site’s needs. Consider an international site with complex business logic for foreign customers. Holiday shopping time is scarce and errors are not acceptable; especially in shipping time frames. If the wrong message is portrayed a customer may be too confused and prefer to continue shopping elsewhere.
Allowing customers to easily find the right gift should be an online retailer’s number 1 priority. Everyone is competing for attention when the economy forces lower prices.This is good news for customers and an opportunity for online retailers to fill their home pages with great deals and top sellers. However, when the front page fails to catch a customer’s attention, online stores must rely on their site’s search capabilities. A change in search result pages and technology can cause search fallacies and prevent customer recovery. Incorrect search results without suggestive recovery action words can cause a customer to quickly leave to a more reliable site.
IMOO
Staples.com did a great job at aesthetically improving their site. However, their search results for terms like “paper shredder” and “paper shredders” are returning substantially different results. “Paper shredder” returns 2 items starting at $1,149 and “paper shredders” returns a better result. Although, this could be a previous problem; some customers might find it unworthy to recover from “paper shredder” and continue shopping elsewhere.
All in all, good job guys!!! You showed courage! Just keep an eye on your searches!
