Good Reviews Online Hints
Online shopping is undoubtedly the future of vast segments of the retail trade, even established high street stores have been forced to make the investment of a substantial web presence due to the fear of being left behind. The names of once famous retailers who failed to spot the seismic change in consumer spending habits makes for sobering reading.
Yet the high-street retailer still has an advantage in some ways, it manages to offer the consumer a retail experience that the internet store can't. The knowledge of visiting a retail location where the business has almost complete control over the buying environment is extremely powerful. It subtly sells not just the products on sale, but also the ethos and values of the brand - the best example of this really is the attention to detail a serious store places on every element of their customer interaction.
If it sounds like the new online shops have their work cut-out, well that is only one side of the story. For all the ways through which they cannot compete with a physical retail outlet they have one very powerful advantage - convenience. Alternatively, the internet presence of a highly styled and sculpted brand cannot control the surroundings and atmosphere of the place where the consumer is browsing their products - it could possibly be a quiet office or busy internet café. So careful attention must be paid in an attempt to immerse the website user in as much of a retail experience as is possible, when you can see right now, this isn't the best product reviews (blog post from Designnominees) of tasks. As much detail as is lavished on embellishments for example music and animated elements it's actually the small obstructions to the retail experience that cause most disruption to that coveted immersion. Any hiccups within the path from browsing to basket to checkout need to be ironed out.
Thought must also be given to the sometimes random path the user desires to take around the shop. One example will be the 'basket' page, many sites do not allow the user to click on the items in their basket to navigate to the individual product pages. This, although partially understandable due to the retailer trying to 'guide' the user to the checkout, can be very frustrating to the user that simply want to review a product description before purchasing.
So the on-line shop has some way to go, it has inherent strengths and yet suffers some conveniently avoidable weaknesses. There isn't any stopping the future of retail and with some care and attention it may be the effortless experience that both retailer and consumers want.
