42244 2 3 econsultancy_xml <p>WHSmith managed to top the list with a score of 87%, an improvement of 33% on last year's score, while Topshop was bottom of the pile on 56%, with unclear delivery charges and poor sorting options among the criticisms.</p> <p>It seems that retailers are dealing with some of the major usability issues; the majority had clear search boxes, displaying of prices, filtering options, and clearer basket and checkout buttons.</p> <p>Retailers need to be clearer about delivery charges though. As the report points out, customers should be aware of these costs before entering into the checkout process, as this is a big factor in the purchase decision.</p> <p>Sadly, Accessorise, Argos, H. Samuel, Topshop and Debenhams all make customers enter the checkout before this vital information is finally revealed. The average score is 3.5 out of 5 in this category, but these retailers all score 0 or 1 in this category.</p> <p>This information should be provided on product pages ideally, or the basket summary at least.</p> <p>Retailers also come in for criticism for the quality of help in the case of errors, checkout / basket links being hard to spot, and giving customers help (reviews etc) in product selection.</p> <p>See the report for more...</p> <p> <strong>Related articles:</strong> <br /> <a href="/blog/1853-study-finds-fall-in-etailers-usability-standards">Study finds fall in etailers' usability standards</a> <br /> <a href="/blog/2339-10-things-next-co-uk-can-do-better-online">10 things Next.co.uk can do better online</a> </p> <p> <strong>Related research:</strong> <br /> <a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/user-experience-roundtable-briefing-may-2008">User Experience Roundtable Briefing - May 2008</a> </p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph>WHSmith managed to top the list with a score of 87%, an improvement of 33% on last year's score, while Topshop was bottom of the pile on 56%, with unclear delivery charges and poor sorting options among the criticisms.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>It seems that retailers are dealing with some of the major usability issues; the majority had clear search boxes, displaying of prices, filtering options, and clearer basket and checkout buttons.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>Retailers need to be clearer about delivery charges though. As the report points out, customers should be aware of these costs before entering into the checkout process, as this is a big factor in the purchase decision.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>Sadly, Accessorise, Argos, H. Samuel, Topshop and Debenhams all make customers enter the checkout before this vital information is finally revealed. The average score is 3.5 out of 5 in this category, but these retailers all score 0 or 1 in this category.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>This information should be provided on product pages ideally, or the basket summary at least.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>Retailers also come in for criticism for the quality of help in the case of errors, checkout / basket links being hard to spot, and giving customers help (reviews etc) in product selection.</Paragraph> <Paragraph>See the report for more...</Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Related articles:</Emphasis> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/1853-study-finds-fall-in-etailers-usability-standards" Window="Self">Study finds fall in etailers' usability standards</Link> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="/blog/2339-10-things-next-co-uk-can-do-better-online" Window="Self">10 things Next.co.uk can do better online</Link> </Paragraph> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>Related research:</Emphasis> <LineBreak /> <Link URL="http://econsultancy.com/reports/user-experience-roundtable-briefing-may-2008" Window="Self">User Experience Roundtable Briefing - May 2008</Link> </Paragraph> </FormattedContent> 2008-10-28T12:51:00+00:00 1 1 econsultancy_xml <p> <strong>A study of twenty top high street retailers shows some welcome improvements in usability standards. </strong> </p> <p>There are clearly still a few issues to be addressed, but Webcredible's <a href="http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/ecommerce-usability-2008.shtml">Online High Street report</a> (email required) gives retailers an average score of 67.7%, up from a fairly miserable 57% last year.</p> <FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/"> <Paragraph> <Emphasis>A study of twenty top high street retailers shows some welcome improvements in usability standards. </Emphasis> </Paragraph> <Paragraph>There are clearly still a few issues to be addressed, but Webcredible's <Link URL="http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/white-papers/ecommerce-usability-2008.shtml" Window="Self">Online High Street report</Link> (email required) gives retailers an average score of 67.7%, up from a fairly miserable 57% last year.</Paragraph> </FormattedContent> false 2911 366607 High street retailers up their game on usability false 2008-10-29T08:45:00+00:00 high-street-retailers-up-their-game-on-usability 2009-04-28T23:17:25+01:00 2009-04-28T23:17:25+01:00 611