1. Product photograph carousels in listings
Yes, there’s a quickview functionality (click the eye icon) but there’s also the option of cycling through product shots on the filter page in a mini slider, as shown in the GIF below.
Great stuff. They work nicely on mobile, too.
2. Filter products by stock in your local store
This is smart. Oasis allows me to filter my search by stock in my local store.
So, if I’m setting off in ten minutes to go shopping, I can see whether the item I want will be available when I get there.
Yes, I can order a product to store, but that takes time. This feature allows instant gratification, making the website a tool for offline shopping.
Oasis is also promoting what it calls ‘seek & send’. If a product is out of stock at the distribution centre, Oasis will source it from remaining stock in stores.
This is what the best retailers do (Schuh has been doing it for a while), so plaudits to Oasis for enabling it.
What’s slightly strange is that Oasis doesn’t go the whole hog and consolidate store and warehouse stock on the website. Saying ‘good things are hard to find’ could be seen as an indictment of operations.
I’m being picky – it’s a definite improvement.
3. Best-sellers and ‘loved right now’ carousels on the homepage
There’s debate in ecommerce about whether it’s a good idea to put products on the homepage.
Some say it reduces scrolling below the fold and diminishes user momentum on entry.
Personally, I’m not so sure – if users are looking for something specific, they won’t necessarily hit the homepage, but casual shoppers might.
4. Chunky predictive search includes commerce and content
I really like the search bar. It’s chunky, predictive and easy to use (aside from a tiny bug where rollover of a two-word suggested search term only underlines one word).
As you can see in the screenshots below, not only are products surfaced as I am typing, but once I hit my search results page, I can toggle from products to content.
I haven’t seen this functionality before. It could arguably distract from ecommerce, or perhaps further integrate content to increase dwell time.
All will depend on the quality of the articles – which I didn’t think worked particularly well on mobile, with small font and no clarity of message.
Predictive search
Search results include articles
5. Shoppable user-generated content (UGC)
This feature is becoming increasingly common, and I think Oasis has done a good job here.
There’s plenty of content already loaded and it seems genuine, giving shoppers a better idea of what pieces look like on a ‘real’ model.
Photos can be uploaded from Facebook, Instagram or from your hard drive / photo library. The section also promotes the hashtag #destinationoasis for shoppers to share their looks.
Excuse my ill-timed volume control
6. E-receipts added to your online account
This hasn’t been implemented yet, but soon offline shoppers will be able to request an e-receipt, not just on email, but saved to their online account.
7. Clean and clear product pages with UGC included
The product pages are well laid out on desktop. I particularly like the fact that the user can see each thumbnail photograph clearly, before they select them.
User-generated content is included in these thumbnails, too.
We’re familiar with product video by now, but Oasis does it well here, with a full 18-19 seconds of footage.
8. Silly rollovers
I’m all for micro-interactions to spice up a desktop website (these rollovers are redundant on mobile), but these feel a little pointless.
Yes, they’re twee, but the more annoying thing is that when I rollover them, I forget what category I’m hovering over.
A minor quibble on a lovely website.
9. Slightly weird copywriting
In some places, I do get the feeling that the copywriting has been done by someone who doesn’t quite have an ear for fashion speak.
Here’s a good example – ‘anyone for tennis?’ – not quite sure what relevance that has for the little black dress, gown or mini. Perhaps I’m nitpicking.
10. ‘Why create an account?’
More best practice done well, giving users reasons why they should register for an account.
Further reading:
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