Constructive Criticism Please!

[gratification.co.uk]

Hi Guys,

I run an ecommerce store www.gratification.co.uk and I am hoping that you won't mind spending 5 minutes havinga quick look and letting me have some feedback on the site.

It was launched at the end of summer just past, and has been doing well in terms of unique visitor numbers, and turnover, and already has a PR of 3.

However, we are not resting on our laurels and believe that we can get our conversion rate up from unique visitors to sales, so are looking on how we can improve this process - we think that its probably a trust issue?

Any help will be most appreciated (and if you like the site, you can sign up for the newsletter and get £3 off your next order too!)

Looking forward to hearing your feedback
Gillian

[MarkPearson]

Hi Gillian,

I really like your site, good layout and design.

Would like to know if your interested also promoting/offering to customers/ or adding our personalised roses to your site.

I think they could compliment your products well 'romance' etc

[MSOMedia]

Nice looking site.

I think if you had more "Buy Now" buttons, you could see sales increase, as it's a call to action. At the moment, you have to click on an image to see more info, but the user isn't prompted to do so.

I produced a site for a lingerie company (I'd give you the URL but they're having disputes over who owns the site so it's been taken down for the mo), and I had a "Buy Now" button next to the thumbnail image of all products. IF it was a "matrix" product (ie: colour/size), a new page would be displayed, offering the relevant choices. If it was a simple, 1-dimensional product, it would be added to the cart straight away.

Just a thought really. Hope it's of some use :)

[hairsoup]

Split test

[gratification.co.uk]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I will talk to the development team to see if we can add more 'buy now' buttons as i think that's a great idea.

As for split testing, what would you suggest & how would i go about it?

[Copyqueen]

Hi Gillian,

The site looks great! From a young woman's point of view, the feel is very contemporary and clean, and avoids the painful black/red combination that I've seen on some lingerie sites.

There's some really interesting research on women's ecommerce by Kelly Mooney - the report is called 'What Women Want'. One of the things it discovered is that for a woman to use an ecommerce site, she must trust the supplier. Other things Mooney found were:

- Women like to be remembered when they visit a site (ie if something's in the cart, it should remain on the next visit);

- Women also like to read testimonials and 'About Us' text. You've got this but it could be more personal - why the store was set up, what market niche it fills, how your customers respond.

- Women, unlike men (who respond to pictures!), are more likely to want details - what size, is it machine washable, will it work with my skin tone? Longer product descriptions would address this problem - I'd suggest descriptions that paint a picture, making the purchase more tempting.

I think it's true that women shop with their imaginations - we buy products that fit into the way we see ourselves, or the way we would like to see ourselves. (I bought a glittery evening shrug last month but haven't had an occasion glamorous enough to wear it yet!) But the point is that women respond well to descriptive, evocative copy.

If you would be interested in reviewing the copy, let me know and I can provide a sample and a quote.

Here's a link to a piece about the research I mentioned - can't find the original report, but this contains the main points:
http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/article.php/3495786

Good luck!
Anna

[quotes4]

Hi,
Just a couple of small points but they will help with your search engine results.
Fistly, you should register the domain name gratificationlingerie.co.uk as Google especially likes to see the subject of your site in the domain name. Second, you need to make sure that the word lingerie appears within a H1 tag preferably very near the top of the home page (if not every page). You can do this by using a sub heading under your logo (use the same wording as used in the Title if you can).
Thirdly, i would move the main text on the home page higher up, perhaps above the main image.
My only other tip is to remember that statistically visitors to the site are drawn to the top right of the screen when they first come to a website. So if you want to promote a special offer, place it on the top right and you'll get better response (apparently).

HTH
Russell

[vdeep.com]

Coppyqueen and quotes4 said pretty much what I would have said (good information), here is a link to Kelly Mooney Blog http://www.mooneythinks.com/.

Not trying promote anyone here but Partnering with roses could be interesting as they are complementary products, you advertise him he advertises you, but try and link them in with products or they will just end up being links off to other sites, what would be a good way if you have the development skills, is to host a feed of each others data and have additional or complimentary items available for view with out the need for the consumer to leave either site, or with the shopping cart add 12 dozen roses or something like that.

Also im not sure if you have seen my site vdeep.com your products would fit in well with us, contact us if you are interested in a free listing. Also Mark you’re a banner link with our gifts and novelties section or fragrance section could potentially work well especially with valentines around the corner.

Any way that’s my little self promotion over back to your site.

I personally would have the menu down the left hand side people browse sites as the letter ‘F’ I believe the latest research shows.

Also under your logo there is a lot of wasted space, I would potentially promote your newsletter £3 deal you going on, or the free shipping or something under there. Those are selling points. Looking at the major players like Amazon, Dabs etc, or other major players in your industry Figleaves etc and see what they have added, they will spend a lot of time researching and analysing data on how consumers shop. There are also lots of research papers out there available for you to read.

That said it is a nice looking site very clean and easy to use.