Any opinions/advice for new ecommerce technology website?

[Calvin22580]

Hi all

Ive created an ecommerce website that is almost finished. Has anyone got any opinions/advice for the website?

I know I still need to redo/add graphics and add the rest of the products.

Anything would be appreciated.

Here it is www.taketech.co.za

Thanks

 

[Mouse]

Hi all

Ive created an ecommerce website that is almost finished. Has anyone got any opinions/advice for the website?

I know I still need to redo/add graphics and add the rest of the products.

Anything would be appreciated.

Here it is www.taketech.co.za

Thanks

I know it's trendy right now among designers, but that flat squares metro look is still fugly.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

I know it's trendy right now among designers, but that flat squares metro look is still fugly.

Your opinion but that what he wants.

OP, nice site for a work in progress.

Missing: Search bar !!!!

On your products page the sidebar uses a collapsible with mouse over, rather do on mouse click - looks retarded. I had the same problem for a site last year as client wanted it with mouse over till I showed them how much better it is with mouse click.

Like the responsive design, cleaver! Very important part of ecom thats overlooked.

 

[Calvin22580]

I know it's trendy right now among designers, but that flat squares metro look is still fugly.

This may sound bad, but Im not a designer, so what do you mean by the flat squares metro?

 

[Paul Hjul]

Okay two things as it displays on my screen:
(1) The accessories tab (or whatever it is called) only has 1 subitem - flashsticks - this feels bad. I am assuming there will be other categories of accessories but I don't see the division between accessories and peripherals and it currently stands out like a sore thumb for me. Similarly I think there should be consistency so phones and software should be set up like the other tabs.

(2) The free shipping image block stands on a row by its lonesome and creates a big whitespace next to it

 

[Calvin22580]

Your opinion but that what he wants.

OP, nice site for a work in progress.

Missing: Search bar !!!!

On your products page the sidebar uses a collapsible with mouse over, rather do on mouse click - looks retarded. I had the same problem for a site last year as client wanted it with mouse over till I showed them how much better it is with mouse click.

Like the responsive design, cleaver! Very important part of ecom thats overlooked.

Thanks for the response.

There is a search bar, however the way to access it is by clicking on the magnifying glass icon at the top right.

Ill definitely try do that with the side bar, its annoying.

 

[Calvin22580]

Okay two things as it displays on my screen:
(1) The accessories tab (or whatever it is called) only has 1 subitem - flashsticks - this feels bad. I am assuming there will be other categories of accessories but I don't see the division between accessories and peripherals and it currently stands out like a sore thumb for me. Similarly I think there should be consistency so phones and software should be set up like the other tabs.

(2) The free shipping image block stands on a row by its lonesome and creates a big whitespace next to it

Hi Paul, thanks for your input.

Im still busy adding the categories and products, but for now Im just focusing on the overall site. Also waiting for a graphic designer to finish the images.

I also still need to add images next to the free shipping image.

Yeah, I need to differentiate between the categories. Quite tricky, as many people have different opinions on peripherals and accessories, including myself

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

Thanks for the response.

There is a search bar, however the way to access it is by clicking on the magnifying glass icon at the top right.

Ill definitely try do that with the side bar, its annoying.

Should not have to click as I want to see it immediately. Its all about usability.

Takealot got it right and stuck to what worked for them, Kalahari screwed the pooch when they decided to make theirs only visible on a page load. Causes it sometimes not appear.

Use Amazon as your benchmark.

 

[Calvin22580]

Should not have to click as I want to see it immediately. Its all about usability.

Takealot got it right and stuck to what worked for them, Kalahari screwed the pooch when they decided to make theirs only visible on a page load. Causes it sometimes not appear.

Use Amazon as your benchmark.

Yeah, people are so used to Google, that you have to have it available. Ill try work at including a better one.

 

[Calvin22580]

How do you guys feel about website badges? Link the Pricecheck, Topwebsites, Uprice etc.

I really dont like them, however it seems as one of the only ways to gain peoples trust. So they know its not some scam.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

Yeah, people are so used to Google, that you have to have it available. Ill try work at including a better one.

The search is also very small, don't forget about fat finger problem on tablets so it needs to be big. Google has not conditioned people, they just focused on usability.

 

[Calvin22580]

The search is also very small, don't forget about fat finger problem on tablets so it needs to be big. Google has not conditioned people, they just focused on usability.

Thats true. Thanks, Ill work on it

 

[Mouse]

This may sound bad, but Im not a designer, so what do you mean by the flat squares metro?

I mean, the sort of UI that's in Windows 8, all MS sites, all Google sites:
No borders, no gradient colours, buttons that appear flat even when hovered or clicked, a lack of lines showing the separation between various UI elements, use of icons without accompanying descriptive text, which means if you don't recognise the icon you don't know what the button does.

If you use GMail, compare the old look to the new look.
An example from there is they have a dialog for embedding images into a mail. It is draggable, but you cant exactly see what part you click on to drag the dialog, because they've removed anything that indicated "this part here is for dragging" and instead its all plain white. Even a simple line across the top would have helped.

That said, it is a personal preference so don't go changing it just because I don't like it.

How do you guys feel about website badges? Link the Pricecheck, Topwebsites, Uprice etc.

I really dont like them, however it seems as one of the only ways to gain peoples trust. So they know its not some scam.

I don't normally look for badges on sites I already trust, such as Amazon or Kalahari, but if I were looking at a new site, without any friend referrals, it may be important to have.

 

[Calvin22580]

I mean, the sort of UI that's in Windows 8, all MS sites, all Google sites:
No borders, no gradient colours, buttons that appear flat even when hovered or clicked, a lack of lines showing the separation between various UI elements, use of icons without accompanying descriptive text, which means if you don't recognise the icon you don't know what the button does.

If you use GMail, compare the old look to the new look.
An example from there is they have a dialog for embedding images into a mail. It is draggable, but you cant exactly see what part you click on to drag the dialog, because they've removed anything that indicated "this part here is for dragging" and instead its all plain white. Even a simple line across the top would have helped.

That said, it is a personal preference so don't go changing it just because I don't like it.



I don't normally look for badges on sites I already trust, such as Amazon or Kalahari, but if I were looking at a new site, without any friend referrals, it may be important to have.

Yeah, I completely understand. But the reason I went for this (especially the extreme I went to) is that with all the new mobile phone operating systems, this is what it is all tending towards. Just buttons, and I want to focus on the younger market.

Seems as if I will have to go for the badges, even though they look terrible.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

For your trust just use a good payment gateway - thats whay I look out for.

 

[Calvin22580]

For your trust just use a good payment gateway - thats whay I look out for.

PayFast, MyGate, PayGate, PayPal?

Anyone of those maybe? Or an embeded payment gateway?

 

[Mouse]

PayFast, MyGate, PayGate, PayPal?

Anyone of those maybe? Or an embeded payment gateway?

I prefer Google Wallet, but Paypal is the most popular, so you should work on supporting that first.
Also, being a South African site, you might want to consider EFT as well.

 

[_kabal_]

paypal, requires a paypal account, and you need to be verified as far as I know to make a transaction (ie enter the 4digit number appearing on your card statement).
that is quite a barrier to someone who wants to buy someone now, and doesnt have paypal.

 

[Calvin22580]

Well the two methods that I am doing are EFT and PayPal.

Google Wallet is not available in South Africa yet. You can only use it if you have a US bank account, that you link to it

 

[Calvin22580]

Thanks for all the help guys.

If anyone is interested in helping to test our ordering/delivery system in about a week or so and receive all products at cost price + delivery, PM me your email address so I can let you know when we are ready.

P.s There will be lots more products