Website design factor

[zzooti]

Does the way a web store sets up their website influence your decision to buy from them? Personally, I find websites that are difficult to navigate, difficult to find the thing that led you there in the first place, and immedietly bombard you with pics of products they want you to buy, make me want to move on quickly to somewhere else that makes you feel more like a customer and less like a target.

 

[fray]

I tend not to buy anywhere that requires more than 3 clicks to find atomizers

 

[madjack]

...ease of navigation is my first desire in a site..simple and easy to find what you want is the ticket...an adequate description is next(honest reviews a big plus)...I will leave a site where you havvta jump thru hoops to find whatcha want...I also hate dancing pics of batts or bears or kids or anything and absolutely DETEST music and videos that start up whey you get to a site...a quick "X" for them, never to return...........
madjack

 

[mooreted]

As soon as some lady pops up with an infomercial, a flashing window slides over, a survey pops up; I'm gone.

By the way, if you pop up a window asking my opinion; you are not going to want to hear what I have to say at that point.

 

[grandmato5]

I'm a price shopper and I only look at what I'm interested in purchasing not what the vendor wants me to purchase. While I have found some websites easier to navigate then others I've never run across one I couldn't navigate to find what I was looking for. I only purchase from vendors here on ECF with reputations I consider to be good. If a vendors actions here aren't what I consider good then it makes no difference what their website looks like because I'm simply not looking at their website nor making any purchases from them no matter what their prices.

 

[StotheK]

web design is an important factor in any store, not just e-cigs. Let's face it, if a site looks terrible, people tend to think it's not a reputable business. Generally that's not true, but people tend to equate the two. I tend to shy away from badly designed sites unless I know that business very well.

 

[VapApe]

web design is an important factor in any store, not just e-cigs. Let's face it, if a site looks terrible, people tend to think it's not a reputable business. Generally that's not true, but people tend to equate the two. I tend to shy away from badly designed sites unless I know that business very well.

This is true but I have seen sites that put all there time and money, into there web site an marketing and very little on there products. Kind of like used car sales men.

 

[StotheK]

This is true but I have seen sites that put all there time and money, into there web site an marketing and very little on there products. Kind of like used car sales men.

Sometimes I think that happens a lot more than the ugly site scenario

 

[kabonk]

I've never bought from totally wicked because of their website design I don't know I just find the whole concept a little distracting, but I think liberty flights is kind of confusing but I buy from there all the time

 

[Jerry B]

fully agree with you, make it hard for me to get around your site then i will go somewhere else. In fact i was on a site last night and every single click you made it brought up that screen that ask you if your 18. ARRRG i could not handle that so went else where.

 

[zzooti]

every single click you made it brought up that screen that ask you if your 18. ARRRG

Been there!

 

[CCC]

Definatly yes, a site that have very clear pictures and descriptions is one i am more comfortable with, and also they must have paypal, i nearly checked out of a site that was not secure, glad i checked!

 

[Sa Da Tay]

I'm glad the OP brought this up as I think it's another unrecognized (until now) barrier to wider acceptance of the e-cig industry. As noted already in this thread, there are some atrocious vendor websites out there- both from usability and aesthetic standpoints. I have to say that if I wasn't so obsessive about researching this world before entering it and searching out vendor reviews on here and elsewhere, I probably wouldn't have patronized half the vendors I do. I say this not really in offense to the vendors themselves (although as noted some websites are unforgivable) because I know most of them are tiny businesses working with what they have. But the fact remains that an online business is judged greatly upon their facade/website, and bad web design doesn't instill confidence in the uninitiated, especially when they are considering a product with personal health implications.

If I was a vendor without much cash and no access to tasteful design (I'm wording that carefully ), I would concentrate on simple, elegant usability with a minimum of amateurish graphics. I would try as much as possible though to pay a decent graphic designer to brand my company and create a professional graphical aesthetic for my website (and packaging etc). This of course is assuming I'm trying to grow my business. Some vendors are obviously one person ventures who are probably happy with their current customer base and don't wish to expand, and that's fine. On the other hand there are the larger vendors who pour too much money into something that looks just like a .......... Not good.

I would also suggest including very clearly on the home page a description of the company along with a statement of quality. "I only use the best xxxxx obtained from xxxxxx with a commitment to quality etc etc.". Again, this is selling a health-sensitive product and visitors want to feel assured they are safe in ordering from the business. Don't bury this info somewhere else on the site or, worst of all, not include it at all.

And that's my website rant!

 

[Sanity Challenged]

Since I write software for a living, bad software sticks out like a sore thumb to me and I can't stand it. I don't care if its a little ugly, but violating basic principles of presenting information sends me clicking away.

Somewhat related - if your starter kit doesn't include an owner's manual, why isn't there one on your website? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I found the ECF, but don't you want your customers to be successful in enjoying their new product?