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."
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