Look & Listen, the home entertainment franchise that started out more than 20 years ago, recently took its wares online through DigitalMall.com.
Appearance
The site is rather nondescript in appearance. The signature colours are dull and the amount of image content crammed into a very small space doesn`t lend itself to pleasing aesthetics. The front page is definitely in need of a revamp.
Things don`t look up deeper into the site - not only is the information listing process a bit of a serious schlep, the navigation bars stay firmly in place, which means there`s no escaping the uninspired design that permeates the entire site.
Functionality
Irritatingly enough, the site seems rather poorly developed. There seems to be no use of cookies and integrated back-end technology that recognises logged-in users. Once you log in, all the info on the front page disappears, while you`re prompted to start shopping - not invited to browse, mind you - using the categories listed. To find the promotional offers advertised on the front page, you`ve got to click back, and are then faced with the same start-up screen.
Content quality
The site hosts a broad product range - I managed to find some Terence Trent Darby CDs for which I`d been scouting around for ages. Disappointingly, there was no track listing for any of the titles, which could deter someone who wasn`t quite sure of the CD they were after.
I found the presentation of the information very lacking in imagination - instead of being categorised by genre, or, in the case of games, manufacturing house, all the information is listed alphabetically. This could mean having to troll through up to four pages before being presented with what you want.
This could also be a reason why the search engine works as well as it does - it`s fast and accurate - perfectly designed for the shopper who knows what he wants.
A glaring omission from the site`s offerings is a proper feedback form and detailed contact information. As it stands, there is a call centre number, and a generic Look & Listen contact number. The content is strangely unbalanced - you can find the address and contact info for six Look & Listen brick-and-mortar branches, and reams of information pertaining to advertising on the site, but only two fairly faceless e-mail addresses which you can use to contact DigitalMall or someone at Look & Listen.
Navigation
Navigation is fairly straightforward.
Litmus test
I purchased two CDs, and while the transaction went through without much of a problem, I was surprised to see that I was charged a delivery fee of R37.62 - not the R28.50 quoted in the site`s Help section.
In addition, the details of my purchase were limited to the SKU numbers - no title information appeared in my receipt. A little fact, yes, but one of my pet peeves nonetheless.
However, shoddy customer interface and desperately lacking content aside, the site adheres to its promise of delivery within three days. I received my CDs within two days of having placed the order.
The site has a number of strengths going for it - an extensive database, excellent fulfilment through its partners and a very efficient search engine, to name just a few. However, until the customer personalisation and depth and presentation of content are addressed, it will still leave customers like myself wanting more. A design revamp wouldn`t hurt, either.
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