Second Attempt - Shopify Site - Review / Advice / Quickwins or Redflags

[oakfurniture]

Good Afternoon All,


I hope you all are doing fine - We have just launched (yesterday) our new site from Open Cart Platform to Shopify - Please can you review the site below and let me know what you like or don't like - are there any key areas we have missed ?


Thank you again for your time -

www.gardenfurniturehouse.co.uk

Thank you again and hopefully there will be more plus points then negatives !

Regards
tfman

 

[WebDesires]

Was you not told already that site reviews are for paid members?

Anyway as stated already, your site is in very poor shape and worse the Core Web Vitals are atrocious.

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[oakfurniture]

Thanks for your reply - I am taking all the points on board and welcome all the points.
Core Web Vitals are atrocious ; can you please elaborate.

Thanks
tfman

 

[fisicx]

Thanks for your reply - I am taking all the points on board and welcome all the points.
Core Web Vitals are atrocious ; can you please elaborate.

Thanks
tfman

Run your own tests:

PageSpeed Insights

web.dev

But as it's shopify - not much you can do to fix this.

 

[Ozzy]

Was you not told already that site reviews are for paid members?

He is a paid member .

I'm going to offload TL;DR bullet points of things I notice on the site. No technical research on core web or the tech behind the site. Just what I see, and I'll only pick on things I don't like intentionally, I'm not being intentionally grumpy

• The animation slide show moves way to quick for me to properly read and take in anything, and the text is blurred and pixelated which isn't great.
• Personally I don't like the live help popping up and trying to speak to me. I'd rather it be there (as I know it works for my wife's site) but wait for me to click to ask, don't speak to me.
• Product grid below the animation is nice and clear, and works.
• The top menu jumps when I'm trying to use it, especially as I move along the menu. Makes my eyes hurt a bit, genuinely I do struggle with that sort of visual jumping.
• I like how the search works, nice touch.
• No I take that back. I can't get rid of the search drop down to use the site now. Actually quite serious now, I cannot use your site any more as the search drop down window is covering the whole site and there is no [X] or close button to get ride of it so I'm stuck.

Refreshed the site and starting again...

• Newpay Finance page is broken and gives a 404 error
• I would suggest losing those massive images from the drop down menu. I'm already shopping so why ask me to shop when I'm shopping.

Bit lame perhaps, but if I was actually going to place an order one of the first things I'd so is click your "Our Showroom" option as I'd like to see you're a real company, see your location and see your showroom. However this page doesn't show your showroom which would put me off, it actually did put me off.

The shopping process is simple and straight forward, no complaints there.

 

[fisicx]

It's cluttered. You have filled site with all possible bells and whistles and ended up with a right dogs dinner.

People use their phones a lot to browse and it's not a good UX.

The images are all stock and not very good. The zoom doesn't work.

The descriptions are the same as on your competitors sites.

The huuuuge menu is really annoying. Go anywhere near it and it fills the screen.

Why do I need to book to visit the showroom. Why can't I just turn up when it suits me?

Popups keep appearing along with the chat and other alerts.

When you start moving at speed though the site lags badly. But that's because of shopify.

Tried to pay with Shop and got a blank page.

I tried to get finance but you give me repayment info but no means to appy.

If I'm spending £3K+ on some garden kit I want feel like you care about me. This just feels like a quick dropship site.

Shopify isn't the right platform for this.

 

[oakfurniture]

Thank you for your replies,

I am making a note of and perhaps learn from it.

 

[Lucan Unlordly]

Some strange terminology in FAQ's

Q: Can I expect your collections (?) to be waterproof?
A: All of our outdoor furniture is fully weatherproof, we recommend keeping any removable cushions indoors when not in use as they are not always weatherproof.

Q: When is the best time to buy garden furniture?
A: You can use our garden furniture at any time of the year, although you might need a heater in the winter. It is best to get your orders in early in spring so you can make use of it throughout the spring and summer.

On a general note the questions range from, 'I and my furniture to ' your garden furniture'

Spelling mistake: Warrenty

 

[oakfurniture]

Dear Lucan,

Thank you for pointing these out - I am committed to fix everything (I hope I can) from these feedback.

Its been difficult that's all I can say but the commitment is there to fix / improve / and carry on.

Keep them coming please.

Regards
tfman

 

[fisicx]

On a positive note. The products are good quality and the sort of thing I would buy.

But it's no good just showing me the the goods, you need to sell me the goods. This means getting your own photographs, writing your own descriptions, changing how you display the products, simplifying and building a theme that match the price.

The hero image is just pointless. It adds no value. You have a benefits bar below the menu and another one below the grid. There is just too much information the eyes don't know where to look. Font sizes are inconsistent and there isn't enough whitespace. Continue to scroll down the homepage and there is no focus, the content heads in all sorts of directions.

As I said before, using Shopify you are locked into their business model. Getting something bespoke will give you so much more freedom.

Have you also considered your target customer? Are the people spending £3K on some garden furniture really buying online? I would want to see and sit in the chairs before I spend that much money.

 

[antropy]

It's not fully comprehensive by any means but our Ecommerce Website Grader is totally free, doesn't require an email address and is worth a go:

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www.antropy.co.uk

Paul.