Something you should never do

October 15, 2007

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.

Macys

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.

Posted by jestep | Filed Under Usability 

Comments

3 Responses to “Something you should never do”

  1. The Worst Practice Used in an eCommerce Site… » eCommerce Cache :: Varien eCommerce Blog :: A blog focused on the design, marketing, and implementation of online commerce on October 19th, 2007 12:17 pm

    [...] 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. [...]

  2. Linda Bustos on October 19th, 2007 10:20 pm

    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!

  3. eCommerce Web Designer on November 22nd, 2007 3:16 pm

    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.

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