Last year, I took a spin through the web on an iPhone and noted the results in a post called 52 E-Commerce Stores on the iPhone. Now, I’m doing it again — but this time, with the iPad.
In designing and developing stores with the iPad in mind, there are some unique challengers that will be faced. I’m happy to see that most retailers (except for Walmart) are serving up dynamic, relevant, and functional non-Flash content on their homepage. Walmart was the only store that has a big DOWNLOAD FLASH banner in lieu of a homepage hero.
It’s also interesting to see how the different sized pages scale or adapt to the size of the iPad screen. In the screenshots below, all of the sites were captured in a portrait orientation. I do understand that some layouts are better suited for portrait orientation and some are better suited for landscape. I went with portrait because that’s the way I find myself browsing the web most often. Stores with longer layouts, vivid graphics and large promotional areas seem to really shine on this device. I really like how the American Eagle and PacSun stores look in the screenshots below.
Here’s the first batch of 24 e-commerce screenshots that I’d like to share:
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Abercrombie & Fitch
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American Eagle
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Aeropostale
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Amazon
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Read more about: amazon.com, Design, e-commerce, ebay, ecommr, ipad, kenneth cole, Kohl's, newegg, old navy, screenshots, sears, ui, ux, victoria's secret, walmart, Zumiez
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Thursday
December 4, 2008
ComScore reports that Cyber Monday spending increased 15% over last year. While the November to December period is down 2% from last year, this weekend saw tremendous gains in online sales. Breaking down the data a bit more, ComScore today reports that there was a 22% increase in online shoppers, though a decrease in the average value per transaction. Online shopping sites saw a 33% jump in traffic, with Best Buy seeing a 131% increase in traffic. I hope they were able to reap the benefits of that. More detailed breakdowns available in today’s release from ComScore.
Best Buy recently turned to their retail stores to look for talent to build their new intranet. There seems to be a good focus on breaking down divisions between rank and accelerating communication from the bottom up. Employee feedback is being used by merchants to help make better, and most likely, more timelier decisions. I also really like the fact that they went to the store level to find the skill to build the intranet, essentially allowing the target audience to have a major say in how the site will be built.
Walmart and Coke have released a new commercial called “Joy! Enough to go around“. The commercial pushes the low prices that Walmart has on Coke products; prices so low that it allows the star of the video to throw a holiday party for everyone he knows. It’s a really well crafted video. I love the continuous, one-camera shot of this video. Now, I can’t get the jingle out of my head. Well done, I think.
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Read more about: Best Buy, Black Friday, coke, commercial, comScore, Corporate Communication, cyber monday, intranet, retail sales, traffic, walmart, Youtube
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Focusing today’s Express Lane on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Here’s some articles that I’m reading that I’d like to share:
ComScore estimates e-commerce sales only up 1% on Black Friday. Retail stores only saw a 3% gain, the smallest gain in several years, according to ShopperTrak. The modest sales growth, combined with the deep discounts cutting into profit margins, has already helped send Wall Street into another daily tail spin.
For a further look into the Black Friday numbers, the National Retail Federation released a comprehensive survey into this year’s shopping habits. Seeking Alpha does a great job of digesting and breaking these numbers down.
CNBC has a good look at how Black Friday transpired at one local mall. Good snapshot into the events of this day at one New Jersey mall.
Of course, today is Cyber Monday. Retailers are offering deep discounts and free shipping. Twitter is on fire with people discussing deals and sharing links. Looking forward to seeing the sales figures for today and I wonder what impact social media will have today.
And finally, the industry did have some very tragic events occur on Black Friday when a worker was trampled to death at a Long Island Wal-Mart and two men were killed in a shooting at a California Toys R Us. Very sad and tragic events, indeed.
Wednesday
November 26, 2008
Over at ecommr, we’ve been adding e-commerce elements related to Black Friday. Head to ecommr to see a roundup of the different banners, homepage landing, and e-mails that retailers are using to promote their Black Friday specials. More will be added as we come across them.
As a related note, it appears (to me) that retailers are being more aggressive in their marketing for Black Friday, with earlier campaigns and with more detail. Normally, promoting specific price points for comes right before Thanksgiving. But this week has been filled with “online previews”, television commercials, and e-mail marketing that seems to be more aggressive and detailed than years past. Retailers are trying to step up their game in order to capture a larger piece of the shrinking sales pie.
Walmart and Target both have their Black Friday ads online and featured prominently on their homepages. Kohl’s even has an entire section on their site that allows customers to browse the Black Friday ad and make a printable shopping list.
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Read more about: advertising, Black Friday, e-commerce, E-Mail Marketing, ecommr, Kohl's, marketing, promotions, Target, thanksgiving, walmart
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Tuesday
September 2, 2008
New Orleans has a great mix of local and national retail brands that I think is an example for many other urban areas. Last year, I got to get down to New Orleans and really enjoyed, among other things, the Riverwalk Marketplace. The national brands co-existing with local stores was a nice balance to see With Hurricane Gustav having moved on shore and away from New Orleans, retailers will be allowed back in to the city, on Wednesday, in order to check on damage and assess their properties. I hope there is a speedy recovery for everyone involved in the storm.
As discussed over the weekend, many retailers prepared well for this storm in order to reopen their stores in the wake of the storm. USA Today has more on the post-storm plans in their article, Businesses eye quick recovery effort after Gustav. Home Depot has many trucks staged and ready to roll into the affected area and Walmart really highlights all of the things that they learned in the aftermath of Katrina that made this preparation better, which in turn should make the recovery smoother and quicker.
Speaking of Walmart: In this article regarding the 1200 evacuees that found themselves in Hanceville, Alabama, there’s a good note about Walmart’s local response to the situation:
“Wal-Mart Distribution Center called and asked what we need,” Kilgo said. “They brought a huge truck load of supplies, including drinks, snacks and cleaning supplies.”
If you have any more information on retail-related recovery efforts, please let me know.
