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Something you should never do
October 15th, 2007 in: Usability
I need a new belt, so I went to a few department store websites to find one. The first one I stopped at: Macy’s, gave me a glimpse at what I think could be the worst practice I have ever seen an ecommerce website use.
Does Macy’s really think that they are so important that I will wait, just to see their website?
They without question lost this sale, and if for some reason they think that this doesn’t reflect negatively on their retail presence as well, they can think again. I can understand a website being down, or messed up, or slow, but asking someone to wait until some other shopper leaves, is ludicrous. I think that Ticketmaster is the only other ecommerce site that can top all others in poor usability.
Please don’t ever do anything to hinder your customer’s ability to simply view your site. This includes intro pages, required registration, full-page advertisements, and now waiting for other shoppers to leave.
(Add your own)Comments
Well that makes two strikes for Macy’s this week.
I signed up for a Macy’s account as part of my research for this post:
http://www.getelastic.com/writing-welcome-emails/
I deliberately opted out of email messages beyond account confirmation/welcome emails and I get a telephone call (spam) from an automated voice “someone registered your name at a kiosk in Bloomingdale’s or Macy’s for a chance to win a free trip…” click!
Online retailers beware, you never know when an ecommerce blogger is on your site!
Well, shoot me if u will, but i don’t actually think it’s that bad. I think it’s better than the (probable) other alternatives:
1) a very slow site. so slow u can’t do anything. I’ve seen that and THAT really pisses me off.
2) The standard server error page. That would say to me that Macy’s developer’s are crap, and they can’t even be bothered to test the site.
3) The browser crashes, and I lose all other opened stuff.
The 3 alternatives listed above would be worse, in my opinion, than their chosen polite message.
Awful, just awful. eCommerce Web Designer – how about optimizing the website to run smoother or load faster or implement a better cache system instead?
Oh my gosh!!! I am in complete agreement. I have been trying to get on macy’s site today to shop and its just not opening up. It is sooo frustrating..!!! You would think that with all the money they make (come on we know they have it) and all the money they spend on advertising they could at least have a faster, user friendly website. Geesh..its been 5 min after clicking it and it still have loading nothing on the screen….I’m going back to http://www.ebay.com >: o
Trackbacks
[...] the eCommerce Blog posted a stunning usability sin that occurred when the blogger visited the Macy’s website earlier this week to buy a belt. [...]
[...] Increase Server Capacity: Talk with your web host about how you can increase your server performance during the holiday rush. You don’t want to end up like Walmart or Amazon on cyber Monday. Here’s a sad, but funny example of Macy’s servers getting overloaded. [...]
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