E-tail optimism rules!

Dedicated consumer that I am, I have kept a watchful eye on the Web sites of the various retailers I and thousands of others patronize, in the hope of advanced shopping and account management functionality.

There are a few unchallenging guidelines to follow when setting up a Web site, and having relevant contact details plainly visible is one of those.

Basheera Khan, journalist, ITWeb

For a longer time than I would have liked, the sites in question remained to a large extent primarily brochureware, with limited buying options and often very limited information that would otherwise be mighty handy to the online shopper.

A lot has changed in the last six months, both in terms of functionality and content additions to the top retail sites out there - in no particular order - Woolworths, Truworths, Edgars and Foschini. The latter has come online with very little pomp and ceremony - but the site`s overall usefulness and, I must admit, cute and fun appearance, speak volumes.

I`ve been bemoaning the fact that these sites have had no option for consumers to check their account balances online, but that too, is a thing of the past - for all the others, but not in Woolworths` case, I`m afraid.

In fact, the Woolworths Web site lacks even that simple but invaluable tidbit - the telephone number for the customer care centre. I can`t say how many calls have been made into Woolworths` head office, and then redirected at a cost to the consumer, when all he or she may have wanted to do was verify a simple piece of information.

Face it - there are a few unchallenging guidelines to follow when setting up a Web site, and having relevant contact details plainly visible is one of those. This is what gets my goat every time I surf to a number of South African sites - sure enough, there`s eye candy aplenty, but a desperate lack of useful information.

That is shockingly shoddy in my not-so humble opinion - at this stage of local Web development where almost all industry bodies know what makes e-tail tick, a group as well-known and widely trusted as Woolworths can`t get it right.

I hate to sound negative - after all, the Woolworths site has a number of redeeming qualities - but it seems to me that the guys have added the icing without remembering to put the cake down first.

Nevertheless, I am optimistic about e-tail in this country. With the recent addition of Keith Kirsten`s Garden Shop and Pick 'n Pay Home Shopping to our local loop, and the number of major brick-and-mortar companies that plan to splash into online before the end of the year, it`s a good place to be. Now - if only there was a way to strengthen the rand before Christmas...