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General Merchandise

Report Summary

The Consumer Experience of General Merchandise Sites
Optimizing First Impressions, Product Selection and Purchase

General merchandise sites account for a significant share of online shopping traffic. The best general merchandise site is more than two times easier to use, more informative and more persuasive than the poorest performer overall.

  • Sites Evaluated: 10
  • The Top Three Sites Overall: Target, Overstock, Macy’s

Three Great Options

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$199.00 gets you all the data, and shows you which sites are most effective and why.
  • Figures: 18
  • Pages: 32
  • Tables: 11

Questions You May Have

Q: Is our site really that bad?

A: Well... Another way of asking the same question is how different is my site compared to the best site?

Consider this. A site with a score that is double that of best site can change at least half of its design to bring it into alignment with best practices.

Sound daunting? Maybe yes, maybe no. Sometimes changing a design means simply changing a label. Sometimes it means changing the layout of a page. Sometimes it means a complete overhaul. We cover it all so you can prioritize, get the low-hanging fruit now, and plan for the big changes tomorrow.

Q: This research looks great but what can I do with it?

A: The research is designed to drive design. So every research report we provide contains complete documentation on the best practices we've identified.

If this isn't enough, you can go a step further and hire us to translate the best practices into a new information architecture for your site.

Q: How are sites selected?

A: The first thing to know is that being included in the rankings isn't a reflection of site quality. We look for sites that have large user bases. We also look for sites that are competing for the same kinds of customers.

Q: Who are you guys?

A: We are a group of people who have been doing web work for the last 10 years. Most of us were working with interactive technology before 1995. We started Change Sciences in January of 2000. Our backgrounds are in human computer interaction (HCI) and information science.