Shoppers
Demand Decent Design
by Robyn
Greenspan
June 18, 2003
First impressions are
very important to online shoppers, as Genex
finds that consumers are willing to forego low prices
and brand-preference if they have a poor online
experience.
A whopping 65 percent of
the 1,100 U.S. Internet users that were surveyed won't
patronize a poorly designed site — even that of a
favorite brand — and 30 percent reported that Web site
design is more important than a great product. Even
rock-bottom prices only persuaded 4 percent to shop on a
poorly designed Web site.
What's worse is that
nearly 30 percent stop buying from their favorite offline
store if their online experience is poor.
Higher income levels
appear to be less tolerant of poor site design. More
than 70 percent of those earning $75,000+ per year say
that they will not shop on a poorly designed site and
may even discontinue offline purchases from a company
with such a Web site, compared to 60 percent of those
earning less than $50,000.
In addition, more than
75 percent of those between the ages of 25 and 34 say
that usability is a very or extremely important factor
in their online and offline purchase decisions, compared
to 64 percent of those aged 45 to 54.
Genex's findings are
in-line with a Jupiter
Research (a unit of this site's corporate parent)
study revealing that while customers are mainly driven
by price, Web site ease of use is the most important
factor in assessing sites to buy from online.
"Web site design is
not about being pretty or slick — it's about the
customer experience online and that means, ultimately,
that its about sales," said David Glaze, vice
president of creative, Genex. "As our survey shows,
there are substantial financial consequences when a
company does not pay enough attention to the usability
and information design of its web site."
Usability and design
play critical roles in site credibility, as Consumer
Web Watch found through in-depth studies. Nearly
half (46.1 percent) of survey participants ranked
"design look" as the most important component
when evaluating site credibility, followed by
"design/structure."
The Consumer Web Watch
report elaborates on the "design look" of a
Web site with revealing comments from survey
participants. Most notably, respondents said that a
trustworthy site should have a polished, professional
look, without being too slick.
"It looks like it's
designed by a marketing team, and not by people who want
to get you the information that you need,"
commented a survey participant during a test site
evaluation.
Article found on: ecommerce.internet.com
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