AlphaOne

list,

[warning] this is a form of advertisement so If dont prefer to read this then hit your back button. [/warning]

anyways, I've been a porsche owner for 3 years just so you dont think im spamming every forum on the web
The site is www.LittleKidsCloset.com which sells none other than kids clothes. I developed the site and even though the interface work is not complete I would love to hear any feedback on it's design. you can post or email me [ unreal_news@hotmail.com ].

Thanks for your support,
.:AlphaOne:.

TonyG

OK... you asked for it :-)

The site looks ok. It's a little on the "plain jane" side...


1. The first real problem I see is that the site owner doesn't have a real merchant account. Using PayPal is a HUGE problem for a multitude of reasons... not the least of which is that it's a pain in the *** to create an account. People won't be bothered to go through the hassle (especially if the prospective customer is over 45) to create an account, go through the verification process via email, just to buy a $4.50 shirt. Tell your client to get a real merchant account.

2. Do not have sections on your web site to describe what you "do not have". Nobody wants to hear that. It's negative info.

Example: Current Inventory Status

"Since we are a new establishment, our inventory is still expanding. Please check back with us every week to see new items that have been added."

Don't ask people to check back often to see what you have. You have to pay money/time to get the eyeballs over to the site in the first place right? Then you want them to come back to see what you have?

Better:

Display your products to a degree on your web site home page with lots of pictures and buy/specials/promotions links. Drive people to the category specific sections with motivationsl pictures etc...

People aren't going to be coming back if they don't see what they want. There's a gabillion sites selling the same product. You have about 7 seconds to get the prospect to click on something. So dump all the text, and give people something visual they can click on to buy or dump them into a relevant produt category, etc....


The site home page is all text. Nobody is going to read that, nor should they read that, until after they have found something they like.

Get it?

Example: Site Requirements

Why is that the first thing you are displaying to the customer?

Rip out all that stuff on the home page. Put it all under a FAQ section or something similar.

3. The cart functionality seems ok with the exception that you are not showing enough product per page.

You have a pic per product which is good, but the rest of the stuff in the Yellow Border surrounding each product is filled with too much "nothing". Reduce the "nothing" and reformat the page to display 2x / 3x more product per page.

Example: The product thumbnail is much smaller than the description, the product line description, the prict, and the add-to-cart link... all of which could and should be about 1/2 to 1/3 the current size. The product thumbnail size is ok.

More product per page!

4. Where is the check out button/link after a product has been added? The "tip" which tells you what to do is OK, but what if the screen is sized such that that "tip section" isn't displayed? The consumer has no idea how to check out.

Make sure there is a check out link in multiple places...


5. How the heck are you quoting shipping charges BEFORE a ship to address is entered?

A bit of a guestimate heh?

Good think you're not shipping to Nigeria.

You need to write an interface to UPS to get real time shipping pricing estimates.

6. How are you calculating sales tax? Are you charging sales tax?

7. Delete the huge empty cart link under the "The Lowdown". Do you really want people to empty their cart? It must seem so because the empty cart link is MUCH easier to find than the check out link.



OK. that's it for now :-)

The site looks good in general. It just needs some fine tuning.

Good luck,

TonyG

AlphaOne

umm, wow, im honored by your feedback. I'll be making all those changes like tonight (it's only 3am, the night is young). you sound like you've done this before. Im actually a programmer and this is the first web anything that I've done. I did this site as a favor to a close friend. Your advice helps allot, but I dont feel so bad because it's only about 70% complete, but it is functional.

the shipping, yeah, I got a chart from usps for shipping within the us. I guess I should make some sort of accomodation for non-us would be customers.

recently i've been knee deep in learning flash because there are so many great things that can be done with it. I'll add an option somewhere on the page to toggle it on/off and allow users to decide if they want the spark on the page or not.

anyways, I cant thank you enough for that review.

take it easy,
-john

TonyG

AlphaOne

Go to UPS and get a developer account. Write the interface so that the package dimensions and destination are transmitted to the UPS interface. The UPS Interface will quote you back retail pricing, which you can pass over to your cart. That way you will never have to update your shipping tables. If you client can ship for less because he has a UPS/FedEx account, all the better. The customer doesn't have to know which carrier method is being used.

Also, make sure you get your tax tables in order.

And as far as you doing a favor for a friend goes: Favors like this will get old real fast as you will have so much time invested, that the favor can't possibly be returned. Furthermore, non-programmers do not comprehend the time that goes into development of stuff like this.

Lastly... yes. We have done stuff like this before.. and before, .. and before.. and before... etc... More times than I care to count. To the point that we could do it in our sleep (which actually occurs in a literal sense!) :-)


Anyway... your stuff looks good. But you have to force yourself to stop thinking like a programmer, and start thinking like a buyer.

The web is tough. Attention span is ultra short. And, people refuse to read, think, or follow instructions. In short, build your apps as if you are building the apps for a 3rd grader (I'm serious!). If you can do that, then the app will work for the masses. We call that the 3rd grader test.

Good luck,

TonyG

W88951

You are not making enough use of your real estate. Plus, your shopping cart does not function very well at all. It appears that there is a maximum of 7 items allowed to be purchased at one time. There is no Quantity field so how can I order more than one of the same item? When I click on add to cart it does not take me to the shopping cart or even acknowledge that I have added anything to the cart.

WTF is the Lord of the Rings doing on your site??? Are they paying you for that? You are taking up valuable space to add something that adds nothing to the product you are selling.

In the shopping cart, why not display the image, why do I have to click on the image link.

Are you using a Database to store the information on these items. Do you have it Normalized. Is it in 3rd Normal Form.

I hate your search. If I want to go to page 5 of 19 I have to click next 5 times.

Also, you really need to work on your validation routine for the form.

Oh, Order Number KC-22912312003-115327 is FAKE.
And why such a long order number? There is no need to have an order number that long.

You also do not have any Security on the website. No SSL means I am not putting in any personal information. As Tony also said, Obtain a REAL Merchant account and Take Credit Cards. It will cost AT LEAST $1200.00 to set one up that will accept Web Transactions.

I reccomend Entrust for a Digital Certificate because their price is the most reasonable.

I know that you have don a ton of work on this site, but you sitll have a long way to go for a Good Web Store.

Also, you may not be able to use WINSAVE as your hosting provider, becasue I don't see any mention of allowing Digital Certificates for Encryption.

Oh and 'pDsnStr' is undefined

Good Luck

W88951

Oh, sorry if I Ranted a Little.

TonyG

W88951

What do you mean cost $1200 to setup a merchant account? The guy is a programmer, so he can write his own interface to the merchant account provider gateway. Therefore, how do you come up with $1200?

That number is about $1000 too high.

TonyG

W88951

Tony, unless there is a another method that you know of, obtaining an Actual Merchant account costs about $1000.00 to initially set up.

Network Solutions wants even more. If you have another resource for obtaining a Merchant Account I would love to hear it. Then they will require you to have a Digital Certificate to accept secure web orders and that costs about $200.

Tony, who do you use for creation of a Merchant Account?

TonyG

W88951


You are getting ripped off big time.

You can get an Authorize.net account for about $99 setup fee (which you can sometimes find that fee waived as well), about $25 month gateway fee, and a discount rate for Internet transactions of about 2.5%.


SSL certs can be purchased from Comodo (InstantSSL) for $49. (www.instantssl.com)


These numbers are for a real merchant account, using a real gateway that you have to interface to. No big deal if you are a programmer.

Buying anything from Verisign/Netsol is a rip.

W88951

I do use Authorize.net as my payment gateway, but you cannot obtain a Merchant Account directly through them. You have to go through a Reseller. And that is the fee that was charged by my reseller. Compared to what Verisign charges, it was a bargain.

Are you your own reseller? If not, again who do you use?

And I refuse to ever do business with Verisign again.

TonyG

W88951

I understand that you cannot buy directly from Authorize.net, and that you have to go through a reseller.

Search in google for a reseller. There are thousands of them.


I just did a quick search on google. Here's a reseller:


https://www.e-onlinedata.com/modernauthorize

UDPride

Wow an interesting read for someone who has a web site but doesnt do any merchanting!

I found the small text interesting on that merchant link. Looks like they try to ding you every which way (like all businesses). A $99 Risk Assesement Fee? You gotta be kidding me. Im sure its industry practice but jeez, that sounds like a gravy fund ala the disposition fee in the automobile world. Without having ever stepped foot into web merchanting, Im guessing theres all kinds of landmines, i.e. hidden charges and stuff that border on monetary rape.

<<<There is a $25.00 Monthly Processing Minimum on every merchant account. This is the "minimum amount" you must pay each month for your Visa/MasterCard processing fees and includes transaction fees. The monthly minimum does not apply to Discover or American Express or your monthly Statement fee.

Example: If you sell $800 in goods or services during one month, your total Visa/MasterCard Discount FEES would be $18.32 based on a rate of 2.29%. If you had 12 transactions at 30 cents per transaction you would ADD $3.60. The total processing fees of $18.32 plus $3.60 = $21.92 which does not meet the $25.00 minimum, so at the end of the month we will ADD $3.08 in order to round your processing fees up to a total of $25. If you sell $1600 in goods or services during one month, your total Visa/MasterCard Discount FEES would be $36.64, based on a rate of 2.29% so there is NO MONTHLY MINIMUM.

NOTE: A risk assessment fee of $99.00 will be assessed within 90 days of activation to all merchants. The risk assessment fee is charged as an Annual Fee.

When applicable, your checking account will be debited for the setup fee for your Payment Gateway once your account is approved. Once you click through to the Online Application, and are approved, you are agreeing to the Payment Gateway Fees shown above.

turbo951fan

Tony sounds like the man to go to. Great advice!!

W88951

Tony,
At the time I created my first merchant accounts a couple years ago those sites were not available and or I did not trust them. Plus, the percentage points on my account a better than those. It is a case of where do you want to pay the money. Up front or in the back. Either way it costs more money to have a Merchant account and as well, their Web Host may not have or allow those types of transactions on their servers.

That is why I and I believe you as well do our own hosting on our own Private lines.

TonyG

W88951


No matter the case, nobody that's in the 'know' has been paying those types of fees for a few years now.

The bottom line is that there is no excuse for over paying in this day and age.

TonyG