LCG eCommerce Blog

My JCPenney Mobile Misadventure

I'm a huge fan of The Weather Channel app on my iPhone. Over the weekend, checking to see exactly how freakin' hot it would be, I noticed an ad for JCPenney along the top of the app, offering $10 off purchases of $25 or more.

Interesting. Not a huge fan of JCPenney (or JCP, as they've recently rebranded themselves), but it was a good offer, so I clicked.

Guess what? Could not find that great JCPenney deal anywhere on the landing page:

Or any of the primary links:

"This Week's Special Offers" took me to a laundry list of offers by department - cumbersome and not particularly enticing. Simply too much on the page and too many options. I didn't bother.

Attention retailers: If you're going to take the time (and money) posting a great offer via a mobile app or site, be sure your landing page is relevant.

I should also mention this was my first time clicking an ad on my phone. Sure, mobile is a relatively new realm for retailers, but as a first-timer, I'm less than impressed and likely won't waste my time again.

Universal update for my online info...please

My main credit card expires at the end of this month so over the past four weeks I've received urgent emails from various online vendors reminding me that I won't be able to park, buy music or books, and the sky will fall if I don't update my information soon.

This is frustrating on multiple levels. First off, I don't much like the fact that these sites have my card information in the first place. But in some cases (like with my local monthly parking pass) it was unavoidable. 

Next, it's a pain in the you-know-what going to all these various vendor sites to add the new card information, which I did last night. I'm a huge fan of 1Password for Mac - it's the ultimate solution for keeping all of your passwords, credit card and other secure information in one place. It stores and auto-fills my passwords for every site I visit. 

But it won't automagically update my credit card information for every site I visit and that's what I really want. 

If I'm keeping credit card information stored on multiple websites, then there ought to be a service that pushes out universal updates as my information/cards expire. It would work not only for credit cards but shipping/billing addresses, too. 

But Heather, what about PayPal? Why don't you just use that for all of your online purchases and then you'd only need to update one account?

Great idea, except PayPal isn't accepted everywhere. Certainly not on Amazon, my #1 online shopping site. Anyhow - that's my idea for the day. Universal update for all of your online accounts from one convenient site. Is that too much to ask? I'm guessing no. And if it doesn't already exist, it will very soon.

Do your (web) homework

"I feel bad for the people who don't do their homework," said our friend Chris the other night over dinner.

Chris and his wife just bought a new (to them) truck and he was sharing the standard war stories about haggling over price with the salesman. 

"They offered me $3500 less than Blue Book for my trade in," said Chris. "The poor guy kept coming back with offer after offer and I just kept saying no."

Then the sales guy came up with an excuse.

"Well you know those Blue Book/Edmonds sites always give inflated prices but they're not an accurate reflection of the value of the vehicle once it's here on our lot."

That was when Chris pounced.

"Oh really? Because the truck I'm looking at is priced at Blue Book so that price must be inflated, too. Right?"

He ended up getting exactly what he wanted. 

Here's the point: Even if you're not shopping for big ticket items, do your homework on the web before you leave the house. The balance of power has shifted and it's no longer buyer beware, it's buyer be aware.

What stops me from taking advantage of that coupon code?

A nice coupon code is a start, but it isn’t the solution to an out of date site.   I’m a sucker for a good coupon code in an email.  If I can get free shipping and 25% off, I’m practically begging you to buy something.  So what stops me?

Terrible Navigation – Get rid of the fly-out menus!  If while I select a menu, another menu flies out and then I have to select one of those options and then maybe even another, you’ve lost me.  I’m tempted by the fly-out options, but often, the menus get messed up as I try to select.  For example, Beth Bath and Beyond, lover of coupons in all forms, you lost me when I kept trying to go to Kitchen->Cutting Boards and I kept losing the menu or having the Kitchen Gadgets menu take over.  This is too much menu!  Keep it simple and allow users to drill down within categories.  Don’t conceal your products with crazy menus.

No Reviews – I want to know what others think when I’m buying online.  Is this towel going to really be hotel quality or is it going to be scratchy, fade easily in the wash, rip after 2 uses, or pile?  I’ve had too many bad experiences with towels to buy without a review – even when I can see them in the store and definitely when I’m thinking about making a spontaneous purchase online after a long day of work.  People seem to love giving reviews.  You can integrate with a review system if your products are sold elsewhere or you can add review functionality to your own site. 

No Stock in my size – If you’re incenting with a coupon, you should have merchandise.  If you’re using a coupon to push to sell the last of last season’s merchandise on sale items only, then you need to make it easy for me to find merchandise that I can buy.  For example, allow me to narrow by size, eliminating my need to look at 20 individual products that are only available in XXL before I find the M.  I promise you, if I won’t look at more than 5 that aren’t available in my size before you’ve lost me.

Product image in out of stock color – Similarly, don’t get me all excited about a coral sweater that you only have left in beige.  Change out the main image if the color for the main image isn’t available any longer. 

 JCrew, you do a wonderful job with both of these, especially in Sale:

Just plain out of stock – What really bugs me is a product showing up in search results or a category page and when I click on it, I get an error page.  Ugh!  Ann Taylor Loft, you’re fab, but this gets annoying.

So keep sending those coupon codes but please, make it easier for me to find products where I can use them, especially if your coupon code is only for sale merchandise, it’s imperative to make it easy for your customers to find product they’ll actually want to buy.

Make it easy to unsubscribe

I spent the better part of a Saturday morning unsubscribing from unwanted email newsletters and spam for my work email address. I quickly learned the best (and worst) ways to manage the unsubscribe process.

Big pet peeve: Unsubscribe links that ask me to enter my email address. Here's an example from Microsoft, of all companies:

Really? Shouldn't you know better, Microsoft? You sent me this email and now you need me to do extra work to unsubscribe? 

Here are some suggestions for making it easy for people to unsubscribe:

1) Make it easy/obvious - Always include an unsubscribe option prominently in the email - it typically appears at the bottom of the email. People shouldn't have to hunt for it. 

2) Automagically include my email address on the unsubscribe landing page so that I don't have to figure out which email address you're using.

3) Manage Subscriptions - The best landing pages allow you to manage your subscriptions so you know exactly what you're getting yourself out of or into.

4) Don't ask "are you sure you want to unsubscribe"? I've taken the trouble to click on the unsubscribe link from your email, so don't ask silly questions like this.

5) Include the recipient's email address in the original message. Here's a great example from Ziff-Davis:

 

6) Feature links to your privacy/usage policies - Make sure people know how you're using their information. Do you share it? With whom? And why? Answer all of these questions and you'll find people are more willing to give up their email address. 

5 Tips to Ensure Your Successful eCommerce Site Launch

eCommerce projects can be challenging for a variety of reasons, mainly because there are so many moving parts. It’s possible to have upwards of six different service providers involved, depending on who is handling site design and usability, the platform selection and implementation, the back-end system integration and the hosting. Not to mention the partners providing search, product photography, and personalization support.

Here are five tips for ensuring your next implementation is a success:

Discovery – Your team knows your current systems inside and out, but don’t assume your service providers do. Plan for a full discovery phase before the project kicks off to document all of the business processes (front and back-end), plus the features/functionality tied to those processes so there are no surprises once the project is underway. This will also help your implementation team provide accurate cost and time estimates.

Pragmatic Design - Too often, the design and implementation teams don’t meet, and the site’s functionality ends up being weighed down by an over-designed site, which leads to project delays and worse, a site with poor usability. Take a pragmatic approach to design – get these teams communicating early and often to ensure that your site is the perfect balance of form and functionality.

Integration – Integration issues are one of the most common reasons for launch delays. The front end gets all the attention – of course everyone wants a beautifully designed, feature-rich site – but the truly challenging part is making everything work seamlessly with your backend and third party systems. Choose a service provider with the exact experience you need to connect your platform and your back-end systems. Because they’ve done it before, they will know the right questions to ask. More importantly, they will understand the specific challenges related to integrating your entire system, saving you time, money and frustration.

Customizations – This can be another “gotcha” area. It’s critical to be clear on any customizations that need to be built and how they will be handled. This really speaks to having clear requirements up front and ensuring that any customizations do not limit the ability to upgrade your eCommerce platform in the future. In other words, you will need to upgrade your platform eventually, so the customization needs to be designed with that in mind.

Project Portal - It’s not enough to have good people on your project, they need to communicate regularly and in meaningful ways. An online project portal or wiki is a great way to keep everyone connected, speaking the same language, and on task. A project portal provides built-in accountability, allowing team members to report on their progress and identify any challenges before they become major roadblocks to the launch.

Shhh! It's another silly email campaign

If you're like me, you have a 'junk' email address - the one you use for online purchases, site registrations, newsletters, etc. And you have a personal email address only for family and friends.

My junk address is a Yahoo account I've had since the dawn of email. Every day it's jammed with offers and announcements and the occasional Nigerian banker who, bless him, desperately needs to give me $10 million. 

Here's a shot of my in box today:

 

Do you see that? Both Kohls and Overstock are running "Shhh!" campaigns, designed to make me feel part of a secret club with access to special sale pricing. They must've attended the same webinar. 

So I open these emails, which I'd typically ignore. Kohls first:

Notice the promo code? JUST4U? I feel SO special. Let's see what Overstock is offering.

It's a coupon for a secret item that I may or may not need? Really? Ugh.

Please keep in mind that the only reason I'm clicking through on these emails is to write about it here. I had a gut feeling that neither of these 'Shhh! Secret Sales' would be all that enticing, and I was right.

There's so much wrong with this I don't even know where to begin. First of all, if Overstock reviewed the one and only purchase I ever made from their site, they'd know I'm not a CZ type of girl. 

Next, they're charging $1 to ship a $20 ring? Really? Why isn't it free? 

Last - and perhaps most important - if you're gonna go to all that trouble to create a super secret special sale MAKE THE ITEM SUPER SPECIAL.

Yeesh.

Ultimately, Kohls wins in the battle of the Shhh! campaigns, but not by much. I'd tell them to try harder next time but it's not likely I'll click on these silly emails again. 

The First Chicago Magento Meetup - Wow!

There were about 30 of us tonight at the first ever Magento Meetup in Chicago. Developers, users, e-commerce service providers, and business owners - all there because of this amazing, game-changing e-commerce platform. 

Actually, it was the first Magento Meetup in the United States as far as we can tell. And it was exciting. 

Koby Oz flew in from LA to provide a Magento community update and tell us what to expect in 2010. There were more than a few surprises.

First of all, did you know that there are between 4,000 to 5,000 downloads of Magento each week? Is that crazy?

They get 35,000 unique visitors to the Magento site each day. And according to Koby, the inquiries that used to be mostly Gmail and Yahoo email addresses are now transitioning to major online retailers taking interest in what is without question the fastest growing e-commerce platform on the planet. 

They're planning more big announcements soon, but the biggest involves a Magento developer weekend on the island of Mallorca, Spain in April. Koby said the event should have a page up in the next few days so look for it soon. 

I've been in IT for 20 years, so I've ridden a few very exciting technology waves. Magento is a big, powerful wave that is changing the way people view e-commerce. It's unique because it's raising the bar in terms of features and functionality for commerce platform vendors while lowering the barrier of entry to small and mid-sized businesses who need to be online. And it's starting to turn heads among the bigger retailers. 

Exciting times in the e-commerce space; look for more updates here about future Magento Meetup updates.

Target: When an in-store purchase fuels an online purchase

"That slipcover looks good," said Jim. "I wonder if they make one for the ottoman."

That was Saturday. I'd bought this great big comfy chair/ottoman from a friend last summer but it didn't really match the room. I wasn't up for the small fortune it would cost to have it reupholstered, so I went for the quick fix with a slipcover from the Target store in North Aurora. Slipcovers are an easy, inexpensive way to give old/dated furniture a new look.

"I dunno about the ottoman, but that's a good idea. I'm going to check online."

I grabbed the label from the slipcover package, and before you know it I had more than 73 options for my 'ottoman slipcover' search: 

 

I found the exact brand/style/color I needed within seconds and quickly made the purchase. 

Target stores obviously have limited shelf space. They can't devote aisles and aisles to slipcovers because then the toss pillow people might get miffed.

Incidentally, when did throw pillows become toss pillows? Seriously. 

Anyhow.

I made the 'what if they have it online?' leap but not everyone will.

In a perfect world, brick and mortar stores would feature "If you like this item, there's more like it online" placards on their shelves to encourage people to explore more product options via the web. 

And since I do most of my shopping online, it would be great if e-commerce sites offered more incentives for visiting the store. 

For example, I might like the look of a certain shoe on the DSW web site (which has fabulous product images, by the way). But ultimately a shoe is all about the fit and how it looks on your foot.

So what if I could select that certain shoe in my size and then send an email to my local DSW so they'd have it waiting for me when I arrive? Wouldn't that be great? 

I know it might take away the in-store browsing I'd do, wandering around to find it myself, but if the smart folks at DSW are willing to help out by having the shoe waiting when I get there, wouldn't I have even more time to look around? 

My point is - there's this wonderful symbiotic relationship between in store and online sales - the best merchandisers will find a way to capitalize on that so shoppers like me spend more.

Just in Time Paid Search: Engage and Convert Smart Shoppers

Here at LCG we're thrilled to be partnering with Rise Interactive to host a webinar at noon (central) on March 17 titled Just in Time Paid Search: Secrets for Engaging - and Converting - Online Savvy Shoppers. 

We've built enough web sites to know what works and what doesn't when it comes to smart shoppers. These are the folks who really know how to use the Internet -- they know what they want, they do their homework and they don't waste any time once they're ready to purchase. 

If your web site isn't built with smart shoppers in mind, it should be. Participate in our webinar to find out how to make your web site smart shopper friendly. Click here to register today. 

Here's a bark out to Doctors Foster and Smith

"Gromit needs his joint medication - can you order them today?" 

"Sure from where and what does he usually get?" 

"Here's the catalog. It's joint-something level 3. You should be able to find it." 

I flip through the catalog for oh about two seconds then give up doing it the old-fashioned way to hop on-line at the Doctors Fosters and Smith site. 

First impression: the site is a little busy. My eyes don't know where to go right away, there's so much happening on this page. Or maybe it's that all of the promotional boxes have the same look so it's a challenge to differentiate between them.

  

Plus the little icons next to each category - are they really necessary? They're cute. But are they helpful or do they just clutter up an already busy page?

Moving along, I use the search box and quickly find Gromit's pills. The product landing page is a bit busy, too, but the product photography is fantastic and I really like the add to cart box along the right:

 

 

 It's great because it gives shoppers an easy way to add different quantities of the product without a drop down. 

Prior to checking out, I use the 'continue shopping' button to check out other products since this is my first time on the site. Like I said, the product imaging is fantastic - it's clear and professional and does exactly what it should do: gives shoppers a great idea of the quality of each item.

 

I like the fact that some of the products are shown with pets in the picture. 

 

 

Cute, eh? I add the orange gorilla to Gromit's order and proceed to check out. That's where I'm delighted to see this:

  

This is great. It gives me the option to sign in, register or proceed as a guest. I decide to register so before you know it, they have my email address and most of the info it'll take to make checkout quick and easy. 

Suddenly I'm thinking "Does Gromit really need a $16 orange gorilla?" Not really. The site makes it very easy to delete items from my cart and I'm good to go:

 

I have to say that their helpful 'free shipping' notification probably didn't work exactly as they'd like: it helped my decision to drop the dog toy from my order. Free shipping shouldn't be a disincentive. By killing the gorilla, I carved $16 off my order AND got free shipping. I think if the free ship option was available with the toy, Gromit would be getting a little something extra with his arthritis pills. 

And that's about it - all told, I was in the site, registered, and checked out in under five minutes. 

The only thing missing was a field to enter our customer/catalog number - I'm sure the marketing folks at Doctors Foster and Smith would love to know if their spendy print catalog played a part in my purchase process. 

Overall it's a good solid site with easy to find products, great product images and a quick, clean check out. Check it out.

Design Done Right @ The Company Store

So I'm flipping through Real Simple -- my all-time favorite magazine -- and I see it.

The page is filled with a ginormous, gorgeous bed so comfy and inviting, it makes you want to hop in and snuggle up. 

Instead I hop online at The Company Store, a site that does everything right.

Everything, Heather? Yep. I said it. I meant it. I'm here to...well you get the picture.

First of all, I hit the site because of the full page ad in Real Simple - because of the big beautiful bed but also because of a simple offer:

The Company Store site is so clean and easy to navigate, it's a genuine pleasure to shop. I quickly navigate to quilts - I've been looking for new bedding for our guest bedroom. And that's where I find it. 

Check out this groovy product landing page, jammed packed with goodies designed to make it easier to shop and more importantly, buy:

 

  

From the upper left: "Need help? We'll call you."    REALLY?

To the upper right: "Haiti Earthquake Relief."         FABULOUS!

To everything in between: Not one, but two options for viewing the product (the zoom provides fabulous detail on the quality of the product). Customer ratings. Share via your favorite social media. Related products in the "You may also like."

How cool is that? 

This is an example of a product landing page that is so unbelievably well designed, it's loaded with helpful information but never seems cluttered or crowded. 

On to check out. While the site doesn't include a mini cart, which surely would've kept me shopping, it does have a relatively clean check out page. There's an option to keep shopping above the items I've selected - I mistook it for a status bar for the checkout process.

 

The Company Store did make it easy to apply the Real Simple discount, saving me $30 on my purchase. 

Ah, here's the status bar (below). Plus this offer to sign up for a credit card. It's a good offer, but I think it's slightly misleading to call it an InCompanyrewards Card - makes it sound like it's not a credit card but a frequent buyer program. Ann Taylor Loft does something similar - they offer great discounts for signing up but it's never really apparent that it's a credit card until they need your authorization to check your credit. I don't like this. Anyhow, I digress.

 

 The transaction goes off without a hitch and YAY, the smart folks at The Company Store included an option to register for an account using the email I provided for check out. 

From start to finish, this shopping experience was smart and easy. Can't wait for my bedding to arrive from The Company Store, my new favorite shopping site.

The Chicago Magento User Group

All of us here at Lyons Consulting Group are excited to announce the launch of the Chicago Magento User Group, an organization for fostering education and networking among open source e-commerce Magento users and developers in Northern Illinois.

The inaugural meeting is happening on Wednesday, March 10 at the Lyons Consulting Group office in River North. 

If your company would like to help organizing, hosting, or sponsoring meetings, please contact Heather Swanson: hswanson(at)lyonscg.com.

To learn more about the Chicago Magento User Group, including meeting registration information, visit http://www.meetup.com/The-Chicago-Magento-User-Group.

The Amazon-Kindle Game Change(r)

Unless you're buried under a snow drift, you've heard about the new book Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime.

It's why Harry Reid is apologizing to everyone. And it's why Saturday Night Live featured a skit about Harry Reid apologizing to everyone. 

But unless you're an e-book reader, you might not yet be aware of the mini-controversy surrounding this book that Kindle owners are stirring up at Amazon.

Background: The Kindle version of Game Change won't be available until February 23, six weeks later than the hard cover. But tech-savvy Kindlers aren't sitting quietly waiting to download a copy, they're posting negative reviews of this otherwise 5-star book to voice dissatisfaction over being treated like second class citizens by the book's publisher Harper Collins.

As of 4:20 (central), there are 34 one-star reviews, all from folks who haven't read this book yet. The situation has created an online war between 'real' book readers and Kindle owners. Mainly because a review written by someone who hasn't actually read the book is about as useful as a Kindle during the 'all electronic devices should be off' phase of a flight.

I've always been a huge fan of on-line reviews but this is the first time I've seen them used this way.

Furthermore, Amazon would like its customers to believe it has little or no control over when the publisher releases the Kindle version of its books:

 

What's the rationale for releasing the Kindle version six weeks later? Many of the commenters believe it's a way for Harper Collins to get avid Kindle readers to purchase the more spendy hard cover version of this extremely popular book. Or it might be that the electronic version simply isn't ready yet - this situation would be a perfect opportunity to blame someone in IT. 

Regardless, the situation is certainly a game changer for publishers.

A few of our favorite things

We've spent the last few posts on some of the more negative aspects of the sites we visit. But today, in the spirit of Julie Andrews, we're going to talk about a few of our favorite things. 

UWantSavings Holiday Shipping Schedule - UWantSavings.com is a great site for amazing discounts on all sorts of household items, clothing and more. We all know nothing can kill an on-line sale faster than holiday shipping issues. But the fine folks at UWS took all the guesswork out of it by creating this -- simply the most helpful shipping chart I've seen on any site, ever. 

Easy to read and understand - no guessing and no surprises. Pottery Barn, please take note: We purchased a monogrammed blanket for our fearless leader three weeks before the holiday - specifically because your site said it would arrive before Christmas. It was delivered on December 27. 

UWantSavings Free Shipping - Speaking of shipping, it should be free. All the time. On every site. Your customers shouldn't be concerned if the shipping costs are going to push it out of their price range. They shouldn't be concerned about shipping at all - that's your job. Take the worry about the whole process and go free shipping on your site.

Amazon Also Bought Feature - I've been using this for years and it's still a helpful feature that other sites just don't have. I often use it as a research tool prior to visiting brick & mortar shops. As a mission-based shopper, I rarely browse, so this feature helps me find what I'm looking for quickly and easily. It also helps me discover items I would've never considered or found.

Target Rules - I've always had great experiences shopping on-line with Target. I've purchased small furniture, clothing, shoes, and household items from the Target web site. But there are two particularly great things about shopping the Target site. First, I can login with my Amazon.com ID. It's one less login to remember (and ultimately forget). Next, if you need to return an item you ordered on-line, the smart folks at Target couldn't make it any easier. Just sign in to the site, click 'return this item', print your receipt and take it back to your local Target for instant credit. No fiddling around with shipping. No waiting/wondering when the credit will finally process on your card. Plus, having in-store returns got this very loyal customer into the store and of course after returning my items, I ended up doubling the amount I had spent on-line in that one visit.

Damn Yankee

Dear Yankee Candle,

I love your products. We're all about burning candles year 'round, both in and outside our home.

But damn. Seriously.

Your home page is so visually noisy and congested I'm not sure what I want to do first, except maybe leave. 

And did I mention I LOVE your candles? My current favorite is Lavender Vanilla. If I'm not buying jar candles and tea lights for myself, I'm purchasing them as gifts (birthday, hostess, thanks for another drunk/fun weekend at your cottage, etc.) for friends and family.

What's more, your home page makes me squint. The links on the left look - for lack of a better word - fuzzy. Even zooming in doesn't help - they're just fuzzy. Plus the product photos are very small. 

"Well, Heather, they're candles. How much detail do you need to see?"

Good point. But the small photos are just another symptom of a larger design issue - there's almost a stinginess in the design that makes the site feel crowded and claustrophobic - not at all like the open, welcome feeling I get when I'm in your stores. 

Simply put, there's nothing clean or easy about the design of your web site and it makes me less inclined to shop there. 

Furthermore, even though I wasn't logged in, I encountered this odd notification page:

 

I'd understand a session timeout if I were actually logged in, but I hadn't even added anything to the cart yet. Strange.

Worse, the session timeout happened AGAIN while I was in the middle of checking out. It gave me a 'click here to renew this session' option and took me back to the home page. Grrrrr. 

Candles are supposed to be relaxing. 

I guess it was a good thing the session timeout happened, because when I went back to checkout, I realized the nice note I'd written my Mom was too long (only 80 characters allowed) and there was no warning of this when I clicked forward to proceed with my checkout.

Okay, now I'm 15 minutes into this and I'm REALLY frustrated. Because the credit card in my profile expired in August, I keep getting the 'renew this session' link, even when I attempt to access the billing area of my profile to update it with the new card.

It won't let me check out. This hasn't happened on an e-commerce site since I can remember. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I logout/login a couple times but it doesn't help. I switch browsers. Still can't get in to update my billing info. So I decide to do things the old-fashioned way and call. The number is located at the bottom of the screen which is helpful. 

"All members of our customer loyalty team are assisting other customers. Your current wait time is two minutes, 19 seconds."

It was less than that, which is one of the only positive things I can say about the phone experience, even though the customer service rep I spoke with was very friendly and tried to be helpful.

"How would you feel if I just took your order over the phone?"

Yep. I didn't have the heart to tell her I was writing a review of the web site. It just didn't seem fair.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I thought I found a work-around by adding a new billing profile but it still resulted in utter FAIL when I attempted to check out. 

Since I can't purchase the candle I wanted, I'll just move on with the review: 

There's whiz-bang e-commerce technology, and then there's too much. This is too much:

I don't even know which Candle Accessory Collection I want yet, and you're giving me too much information in a confined space. This comes off as technology for technology's sake, not to help shoppers discover more products on your site.

With regard to search, it's very slow. A search on 'berry and cedar' resulted in 67 items, with no way to refine the search or view. The 'we also recommend' items were boring - more jar candles - none of the jazzy cool Illuma-Lid thingies or toppers.

So guess what? I really need to wrap this up because a) I couldn't actually purchase a candle from the site and b) my head hurts from squinting at the fuzzy links. 

That's $40 in sales that YC missed out on, 40 minutes of my time struggling to get it to work, and of course no candle for my Mom.

I sincerely hope Yankee Candle gets help for their site. They have fabulous products and I'm a huge fan but like I said, damn...Yankee Candle.

Black Friday? Try Black Thanksgiving

It was early afternoon on Thanksgiving day and we were camped around the kitchen table enjoying that glorious lull between food prep and dinner (when everything is either cooking or about to be cooked), when my good friend Wanda asked to borrow my laptop.

"I heard some of the special savings for Black Friday are actually happening online today," she said.

We were skeptical. No 3 a.m. alarm? No crowds waiting in the cold? No craziness? What was the point?

So we dove in - with the newspaper ads in one hand and the laptop in the other - comparing deals. 

Sure enough, a lot of Best Buy's Door Buster savings were already available on the web site. A Dyson Animal Vacuum (normally $599.99) on sale for $450. An orange iPod Nano (normally $149.99) for $95. Plus free delivery. 

So Wanda whipped out her credit card and did a little Black Thanksgiving shopping with no hassles and no crowds. And her husband was VERY grateful he didn't have to get up at 4 a.m. on Friday.

Building the Case for Business Intelligence

Here's an article written by Denise Olson published in today's Illinois Technology Association newsletter. If you'll be near Chicago on December 10 and would like to attend the CAMP IT Conference on Business Intelligence & Performance Management Strategies, LCG still has complimentary tickets available.

Just contact me at hswanson@lyonscg.com. Thanks!

The gift basket question

It's that time of year again. Time to purchase gifts for people you appreciate but don't know particularly well. 

That's how I ended up at Nana's Cookies yesterday.

This is a pretty good site. It's a little busy from a design perspective and the font usage is iffy, but overall I didn't find what I was looking for very quickly.

Huh?

Exactly. 

Because of the extremely convenient "Shop by Department" drop down in the upper right, I was able to learn almost immediately that there were no actual gifts to be found under Nana's "Holiday Gifts" category.

The cupboard was bare except for these rather lonely-looking cranberry orange and coconut chip cookies at the bottom of the page.

It actually looked as if something was amiss on the site -- all that odd empty space was akin to seeing empty shelves in a store. And I don't care if you're Nana or Mrs. Fields, this is never a good sign. 

Good e-commerce platforms actually hide categories when they're empty. So if there's nothing left to sell in the "Special Offers" category, shoppers don't see it on the page.

At this point, I decide to do things the old-fashioned way and pick up the phone. Again, the site makes it relatively easy to give Nana a jingle because her phone number is on the lower left of each page. 

I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe the whole "Nana" thing had me thinking I'd be chatting with some kindly old grandma-style lady who would be more than happy to whip up a nifty gift basket for me and bring it on over along with some hot cocoa, a cozy warm blanket, and a bedtime story.

Not so much. I got a young person, quite possibly working in a big anonymous call center somewhere far, far away from Nana's quaint little cottage on the hill.

"Hi there, I'm wondering if you'll be selling any gift baskets for the holidays?"

"Um, I don't know, I think all we have is what's out on the web site right now."

"Really? Because I'd love to purchase a gift basket filled with Nana's fabulous gluten and sugar-free products."

"No, all we have is what's on the web site."

"Okay, thanks."

What she could've said:

"I'm sorry, right now all we have is what's on the web site. But how about if I add you to Nana's newsletter list so if we do update the holiday gifts, you'll be notified?"

Another minor disappointing issue on the site: the Nana's logo in the upper left didn't take me back to the home page as expected. This should be standard functionality on any e-commerce site. 

So kiddies, my quest continues for a gift that says "Thank you for another great year, we appreciate you, AND we respect your healthful and unique dietary preferences."

The gift basket question

It's that time of year again. Time to purchase gifts for people you appreciate but don't know particularly well. 

That's how I ended up at Nana's Cookies yesterday.

This is a pretty good site. It's a little busy from a design perspective and the font usage is iffy, but overall I didn't find what I was looking for very quickly.

Huh?

Exactly. 

Because of the extremely convenient "Shop by Department" drop down in the upper right, I was able to learn almost immediately that there were no actual gifts to be found under Nana's "Holiday Gifts" category.

The cupboard was bare except for these rather lonely-looking cranberry orange and coconut chip cookies at the bottom of the page.

It actually looked as if something was amiss on the site -- all that odd empty space was akin to seeing empty shelves in a store. And I don't care if you're Nana or Mrs. Fields, this is never a good sign. 

Good e-commerce platforms actually hide categories when they're empty. So if there's nothing left to sell in the "Special Offers" category, shoppers don't see it on the page.

At this point, I decide to do things the old-fashioned way and pick up the phone. Again, the site makes it relatively easy to give Nana a jingle because her phone number is on the lower left of each page. 

I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe the whole "Nana" thing had me thinking I'd be chatting with some kindly old grandma-style lady who would be more than happy to whip up a nifty gift basket for me and bring it on over along with some hot cocoa, a cozy warm blanket, and a bedtime story.

Not so much. I got a young person, quite possibly working in a big anonymous call center somewhere far, far away from Nana's quaint little cottage on the hill.

"Hi there, I'm wondering if you'll be selling any gift baskets for the holidays?"

"Um, I don't know, I think all we have is what's out on the web site right now."

"Really? Because I'd love to purchase a gift basket filled with Nana's fabulous gluten and sugar-free products."

"No, all we have is what's on the web site."

"Okay, thanks."

What she could've said:

"I'm sorry, right now all we have is what's on the web site. But how about if I add you to Nana's newsletter list so if we do update the holiday gifts, you'll be notified?"

Another minor disappointing issue on the site: the Nana's logo in the upper left didn't take me back to the home page as expected. This should be standard functionality on any e-commerce site. 

So kiddies, my quest continues for a gift that says "Thank you for another great year, we appreciate you, AND we respect your healthful and unique dietary preferences."

Dear Mary Kay

Dear Mary Kay,

First of all, I know you're no longer with us but I'm assuming someone over there in Dallas is carrying your rosy little cosmetics-related flame and might find this of interest.

I've been a customer for nearly 20 years and love the fact that I now have the option to purchase your products on-line via my regular rep without having to go through the whole "let me give you a make over" song and dance. 

You've made it very easy for me to find my rep's personal site and I really appreciate it.

However, since I'm not a Mary Kay cosmetics rep, I haven't memorized the product names/categories and this is where your web site comes up a little short. For example: 

Under skin care, I was looking for Creamy Cleanser. A logical person would assume Cleansers. But no luck. Then I remembered this particular product is part of your classic skin care group and found it there. 

Next, body lotion. Same thing. I assumed it was under moisturization. The body lotion was not under moisturization. It was under Age-Fighting. Which is irritating for many reasons, not the least of which is that I am 42 years old and thought I'd have another three or four years before I'd need to be shopping in any Age-Fighting category. Anyhow.

My point is, this site is more Mary Kay centric than it is customer-centric. You've made it difficult for customers to find items because it assumes they will remember under which category their favorite products exist. 

After I've successfully found and added these products to my shopping bag, I get this:

 

Which is okay. Not great. It would be better if at this point your site suggested other popular products I might consider. Instead, when I click "Keep Shopping" I stay on the product landing page with no suggestions or up-sells.

Back on the home page to check out the promotions one last time before checking out, I have to admit the "On the Go" option in the lower left caught my eye:

 

Really? It's all about me? On the go? SWEET! A mobile app for my iPhone would be fabulous!

Not so much.

"Maybe you're a constantly connected mobile mover and shaker. Well, quick and convenient ordering is just a phone call away."

Really? I can actually CALL and PLACE MY ORDER? Wow. It's good to know I have that option...the same option I had 20 years ago.

In summary, I remain a loyal Mary Kay customer and sincerely appreciate your fine products. But your web site needs "a little help" - might I suggest something from the Age-Fighting category?