Finisheeed

The customer 'experience' offered

It is important that Joe Browns support their customers from the moment they log onto the site, throughout a transaction and then if there are any future problems with the website, product or service. Joe Browns have a page dedicated on helping customers to use the site. Not many sites do this, and I think this is an excellent feature - especially for those uncertain about using the internet.

There is also a Frequently Asked Questions page, which is aimed to help customers resolve any problems they may be facing.

If there is still a problem, there are a number of ways a customer can get in touch. There is a form to fill in on the website itself, which is good as it has fields clearly labelled as what information is required from the customer.

Also, you can email, phone or write a letter. This makes the company accessible to the customers and so they are well supported in the way that they can easily get in contact with customer services.

Conditions of purchase

Every transactional website has their terms and conditions, which include how to return goods if they're unwanted/damaged, how safe your bank details are with the site etc. Although the terms and conditions are long and difficult to read, it is important that you do and know the company's policy. I could not find the terms and conditions online, which is not very good for customers; if the terms and conditions were available for all to see then they may feel safer giving personal details.

continued.

The methods used to capture customer information

Joe Browns need to collect both covert and overt information. Overt information is information that the customer is aware that they are giving you, e.g. their personal details. If you register as a member on JoeBrowns, you only have to give your details once; i.e. address, email address etc. You may need to enter your security code when buying something, but your card number is stored. If you do not register and choose to make a one-off purchase, then you need to fill out this form every time you buy something;

After giving your contact details, you need to enter your card details.

They also need to keep covert information, which is information that you don't know is being collected, e.g. your I.P address. Joe Browns log your I.P address everytime you make a transaction. This allows them to know where abouts in the world their customers are from, so they can track any fraud and know where to aim their advertising.
Joe Browns also store cookies to your computer. This is for a number of reasons. They allow you to personalise the site, help with online sales and allow the site to keep an idea of users interests etc, allowing them to update the site in a relevant way. Cookies allow the website to remember you - for example, when you sign into a website and it has the option to remember your address. This is not offered on JoeBrowns but is an example of a way that cookies are used.

The customer 'experience' offered

Conditions of purchase

continued

I spent most of this lesson on pictures showing how to do a transaction.

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

STEP 3 - showing how your personal data is kept secure

Types of transactions that can be made
Buying an item requires giving out your card details, so you need to know the site is one you can trust. You can test this in varied ways, depending on your web browser. Once you have selected an item you wish to buy, you need to add it to your basket. Once you've added everything that you want to buy, you checkout. Depending on whether you are a member or not, the process is different. Basically you give the database your personal information and the database will update the amount of stock available.

The methods used to capture customer information
The customer 'experience' offered
Conditions of purchase

Continueed

The techniques used to engage, retain and entice customers

Joe Browns is based online; although there is a catalogue available, there are no physical shops to visit. This means that the website needs to find ways to advertise and make themselves known. The Joe Browns site was launched in 1999, and since then they've had over 300,000 customers. In 2006 they reached number 53 in the Sunday Times 100 Fastest Growing Companies. This must mean that they are doing something to keep their customers. They are not very widely known, and do not advertise much. I heard of them by word of mouth three years ago, and I haven't seen an advert for them since then. They do have a myspace page and an account on blogger.com, which are used to promote the site. Although the advertising is limited, the theme is appealing and well-designed. The colours and fonts attract a certain type of person, with a unique style, slightly surfer, slightly hippy; the kind that would like the unusual clothes of JoeBrowns.



The speed of the website is not a problem; it is not a slow flash website but a simple html that can be navigated around quickly and easily. This is important, otherwise customers lose interest and leave the site. I tested the speed of the website using iwebtool.com, with the following results:

Size of site:

23.93 KB

Time took to load:

0.94 seconds

Average speed per KB:

0.04 seconds



Although this is slower than some of the more popular websites, such as google/yahoo/amazon, it is still quite quick.

Another important aspect of the site is that it should be updated regularly, with the correct prices and information relating to the product e.g. how many are in stock. Many websites have a database running with the site to update the website when stock is low/sold out. We can assume joebrowns.co.uk does this, as most transactional websites do. The homepage is up to date as it is relevant to christmas, which is only 3 weeks away. It gives the last date for ordering if you want your gifts to arrive before christmas. Customers are engaged by the website not only because of its design and products sold, but the pages such as What we like, which are purely for the customers entertainment purposes.


Types of transactions that can be made


The methods used to capture customer information


The customer 'experience' offered


Conditions of purchase

continuedddd

How it is structured & the sites usability and accessibility

On the homepage there is a navigation bar down the left hand side, advertisements down the right and welcome text in the middle column. Along the top is the website banner, your shopping basket and the different tabs a member of the site may use; e.g. Log In, Track Order and Contact. Wherever you are on the site, you will have the banner across the top and a navigation bar down the left hand side. In addition to this, there is also quicklinks to each section and subsection at the bottom of the page, which is useful as you don't have to scroll all the way back up a long page to navigate to somewhere else. The links aren't made to look attractive, they are just there simply for navigational purposes, and making the site easier to use.

To browse through footwear, you can go to clothing> footwear and then browse through all footwear or by looking at mens and womens seperately. You can also use the search facility to search footwear quickly; the search tool also allows you to find a specific product quickly by typing in a keyword or the product code. Although the website is not that big, it is still useful to find a product quickly. Something I quite like about the search tool, is that if you search something that gets no results, instead of the usual 'sorry, we cannot find what you are looking for' message, you have tips on how you can improve your search. There is also a contact number if you are still struggling to find what you are looking for. This is what appears if your search is unsuccessful;

It is easy to navigate round, especially if you are browsing for a particular type of item, as you can sort clothes into sections (e.g. shirts, jackets etc) and then view these by subsection; male and female. You can see both men and women's clothing at the same time, but you still can only view clothes by section. I think there should be an alternative, because it is quite irritating if you are looking through and you have to keep going back to change which category you are looking at. However, I do not think that this way of navigating should be replaced entirely, as it is still useful to look at clothes by category if you need something specific; e.g. looking at all female coats in one place. This is how it looks when you browse clothing;

JoeBrowns do not only sell clothes, but other items too. Gifts/Accessories are sorted under the following headings;

There is also the section of the site named Adventure. These are divided into categories listed below, and have a safety notice below them.

The safety notice below reads;

Whether you are looking for an inspired gift, trying to arrange the ultimate hen or stag weekend or are in need of a corporate team building exercise, our activities are guaranteed to give you a real buzz. All have been fully researched for safety standards and are run by qualified pros.
Check out the info button to find full details about locations and any restrictions for each activity. Please feel free to give us a call on 0113 234 6070 if you have any further questions.
Once you’ve chosen the activity you want we will send you a presentation gift voucher pack within 5 days. It will contain all the activity information you need.

This is a good idea as many customers may feel wary about using these 'adventures' as they are worried about the health and safety, etc. Each category contains the different activities available with product information such as price, with a short description of what the activity involves and anybody it may not be suitable for.

The site is fairly user-friendly; The layouts, fonts and colours used are attractive and aiming at a younger audience. The clothes sold are not suitable for the middleaged/elderly, and the colour scheme shows this well. Not only does this help people realise that the clothes sold would not be to their liking, but it helps attract those who would like the items sold.

Ctd

The goods and/or services it offers

This website sells clothes, accessories and gifts as well as adventure days. Adventure days include activities like paintballing, makeovers and bungee jumping. You cannot tell from the name of the website or the url what products are sold, but the homepage makes it fairly clear. However it could be clearer; the thing that draws your attention is the picture of two jumpers. Then, at a closer glance you notice the navigation bar, and read the introduction which gives some information about the products in season. I think the homepage could be improved as it is not extremely clear about what is being sold straight away. The clothes are listed under male and female, and there is a product list which shows every product available to buy. (see picture, right)

The product information provided

As you are browsing through clothing, basic product information is provided next to each product. This consists of price, materials used, length/width etc. There is also a short description of the product; this is written about a necklace:

Stunning glass heart - brilliant for any outfit.

Glass, Cord - Nickel and Lead Free.

17Inch Expandable, Pendant 1.5Inch x 1.5Inch

colour of beads may vary slightly..
Price: £9.95

For adventure, product details are a bit different. The language used is to entice you to take part in the adventure. I will look at this more closely later. Here is an example of product information for bungee jumping.

3, 2, 1, BUNGEE! These are the last words you will hear before launching yourself from a 170ft platform and plummeting rapidly towards the ground. Once you have jumped, a euphoric sense of achievement fills your body with the knowledge that you have jumped with nothing more than an elastic band to save you!

You can look more closely at clothing product details, checking whether it is in stock in your size or not. You can view the size chart, e-mail the product to a friend, choose which colour/pattern you want (if applicable) and add it to your basket to buy. You can also view the product more close up by looking at a larger image; but this could be improved by looking at different angles and zooming in.

How it is structured

The sites usability and accessibility

The techniques used to engage, retain and entice customers

Types of transactions that can be made

The methods used to capture customer information

The customer 'experience' offered

Conditions of purchase

Continued

Continued.


The goods and/or services it offers
This website sells clothes, accessories and gifts as well as adventure days. Adventure days include activities like paintballing, makeovers and bungee jumping. The clothes are listed under male and female, and there is a product list which shows every product available to buy. (see picture)

The product information provided
fdg

How it is structured

The sites usability and accessibility

The techniques used to engage, retain and entice customers

Types of transactions that can be made

The methods used to capture customer information

The customer 'experience' offered

Conditions of purchase

www.JOEBROWNS.co.uk

Introduction
Welcome to my analysis of the website Joe Browns. This is a transactional site that sells mainly clothes, accessories and gifts.

Candidate Name:
Candidate Number:
Centre Number:


eCommerce
A transactional website is a site where you can buy things from; perhaps a service (insurance) or goods (a book etc). Money is electronically transferred when something is purchased, and personal details are taken by the company from the customer.Databases play an important role on these transactional websites, as they keep personal information about their customers; e.g. name, address etc. There may be a separate database for bank details, and another for product details. There may be a database for items in stock, and a database of past purchases.

The purpose of the site and how successfully it meets this objective
The website is one offering goods rather than services. When you first look at the homepage it becomes apparant what kind of audience the site is aimed at. The colours are bright, and eye-catching, and there are stars and patterns to attract younger people. [see pic 'homepage print'] At first it looks as though there is a lot going on, and it all looks a bit busy; but when you get used to the bright colours you can see that there is a simple layout. See How is it structured.

The goods and/or services it offers
include: gifts/accessories, clothes, adventure - check if adventure is a service?

The product information provided

How it is structured
There is a navigation bar down the left hand side, advertisements down the right and welcome text in the middle column. Along the top is the website banner, your shopping basket and the different tabs a member of the site may use; e.g. Log In, Track Order and Contact.

The sites usability and accessibility

The techniques used to engage, retain and entice customers

Types of transactions that can be made

The methods used to capture customer information

The customer 'experience' offered

Conditions of purchase

What pages are needed; what subheadings are needed; what I need to research.

Introduction
a) ecommerce
b) diagrams
c) security
d) database
e) evaluation

Introduction:
Quick welcome, candidate information.

a) ecommerce:
pages 132-140. See below.

• Give a definition:

A transactional website is a site where you can buy things from; perhaps a service (insurance) or goods (a book etc). Money is electronically transferred when something is purchased, and personal details are taken by the company from the customer.Databases play an important role on these transactional websites, as they keep personal information about their customers; e.g. name, address etc. There may be a separate database for bank details, and another for product details. There may be a database for items in stock, and a database of past purchases.

• Describe main features, give examples, evaluate it - overall effectiveness of design.
• Screen shots which are numbered and so easy to make reference to.
• Consider strengths and weaknesses throughout, but also have a section on improvements.
• Talk about the design, fonts colours etc.
• NEXT links.
• Good navigation.
• Consider:

* What is the purpose of the site? -selling goods or services?
* Is it good at fufilling its purpose?
* Easy to navigate around
* Not too cluttered, well organised and nice to look at- simple.
* If it is a large site, a search facility is essential
* Products easy to find
* Clear categories of what services/products are being sold
* Good advertising: So people know that it exists (banner adverts on websites, tv/radio/newspaper
* Website is not too slow - otherwise people will leave, and it is unlikely that they will return.
* The website should be kept up to date; with prices, images etc
* Should be easy to use and understand, and the visually impaired should find it easy to use.
* A good website should support their customers in many ways. It should have a call centre and if there are physical shops, you should be able to go there for advice and help too.
* Terms and conditions: How to return goods, how safe your bank details are with this site etc. These statements can be too long and difficult to read, but it is important that they are there.
* If it isn't clear what the website is selling, then it is failing its objectives and badly designed.

• Consider, but don't give too much detail (include in part e, evaluation)

* What is good about the site?
* What could be improved?
* How does it get customers?
* How does it advertise?
* What is its target audience?
* How does it differ from a traditional shop?
* How is it the same?
* Does it use special offers?
* Does it use promotional codes?
* Does it also have a traditional outlet on the highstreet or is it only online?
* Does this make any difference?
* Any other interesting points about it?

b) diagrams:
flow chart


2.1... information goes in but not headings
2.2... information goes in but not headings
2.3... titles go in
2.4... titles go in
2.5... information goes in but not headings

Possible headings:
The purpose of the site and how successfully it meets this objective
How it is structured
The goods and/or services it offers
The product information provided
Types of transactions that can be made
The methods used to capture customer information
The techniques used to engage, retain and entice customers
The sites usability and accessibility
The customer 'experience' offered
Conditions of purchase