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Location: UK
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,602
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I Look Forward to....
I look forward to the day when the UK takes Internet trading seriously. Having been a web developer and designer for some years now, I've seen the Internet trading era blossom, or wilt as the case might be.
Unfortunately, despite the time that UK traders have had to learn about customer service, they just haven't. Indeed, many Americans are genuinely shocked when they visit the UK and receive our idea of customer service. They're not shocked at how good it is, but how unfriendly and how poor it is. I wish I could defend the Brits, but alas, I simply can't. It's true -- we are generally useless at making customers feel special or valued, be it offline or online. However, it is online where we are exceptionally poor at it.
I'll cite you an example from only last night. Armed with credit card, I went to place an order. Luckily, I know the company can be trusted, but their website design does look decidedly "shady" to say the least, with its black backgrounds (a colour that is particularly favoured by online piracy groups). But as I say, I know they're ok and proceeded to enter all of my details.
After entering the details, I receive the online equivalent of the cashier silently pointing in the general direction of the customer service desk:
"We will be in contact later to confirm your order."
That's it? Confirm it? Didn't you just take it? Was there a problem then? Later? As in later tonight? Later tomorrow? Later this week? And how will you be in contact? Do I need to sit by my phone tomorrow? Will you email me? Tell me!
Sadly, this is not an isolated case. Most of my buying is done online these days and I can tell you that if I was a typical shopper with no computer or internet experience, I doubt for a second that I would use many of the stores I do. Most of them fail at the first hurdle -- design. So here's my top five crimes for Internet traders:
1. Not showing which credit and debit cards you take on the very first (home) page.
2. Not showing a contact telephone number clearly at the top of the page.
3. Having poorly designed product pages, especially if they don't show clear and large images of the products or don't contain vital information. (Vital from the user's perspective that is.)
4. Not confirming orders by email with reassuring words that my order went through OK and that things are now moving forward.
5. Hiding delivery times (1 day, 2-3 days, etc. etc.) away in convoluted pages, along with terms and conditions. Show them clearly so I can decide in a moment whether you can meet my delivery requirements.
Oh yes, and for the record, for those who don't get how easy Internet shopping should be for their Customers, take a look at
Sainsbury's to You, the online shopping arm of Sainsbury's supermarket. They meet one core objective better than all others that I know -- they make it easy to use and, more importantly, use again.