We are able to get your technology working for you if you have any difficulties and also offer a variety of solutions, advice and services in store, at home and over the phone to meet your needs.
The Product Information Provided
The product information provided on the pc world website is very detailed and it also informs you the reasons to purchase the product.
For example;
Microsoft Office for Mac 2008 Home & Student Edition
As you can see the information provided for that product is really useful and it also lets you know the features of the product and what the product looks like.
The product information provided on this page is very helpful it lets you know that the product offers.
And the image of the product is provided on that page too and you can enlarge it if you want.
The types of transactions that can be made and how easy it is to do so
www.pcworld.co.uk is a Tangible Purchase Transactions website which means that a product is bought and then despatched / delivered to your door e.g. groceries from an online supermarket.
Now I will demonstrate how easy and simple it is to purchase from the site.
Methods used to capture customer information (Overt)
The methods pc world captures customers information is by filling in the basic information about yourself and the way they do it depends if you’re a member or a new customer.
For example if you are a new customer this is one of the many ways that captures customer’s information.
- They need to sign up/register
- Then you just enter your email and password
Next step is your personal Details
- Final step is your Payment Details
Techniques used to engage, retain and entice customers
There’s few techniques that uses to engage, retain and entice customers. For example;
A customer or a browser to the site would see that straight a way after going on the PC World homepage, it’s very effective and its also attention grapping with the Sale now on! Bold text and next to it, FINAL REDUCTION, immediately a customer or a browser would think “hey, I don’t want to miss this out!”
Therefore they sign up and become a member of the site.
In my opinion I think that’s just a clever way to get peoples attention because that bold text (Sale now on!) will be there for months.
Usability and accessibility
I think it is important to make a website accessible to all potential users and some sites need to design a website for people with all disabilities and impairments, and for people on all internet devices and all browsers.
Here are some of the topics covered on ;
- Images
- Links
- Page Structure
- Screen size
Images
have provided text to images, so that impaired users and people using text-only browsers do not miss out on information which images on the site provide.
Links
All links on this site open in the same window depending on what you’re looking at, so your browser's back button and forward button will always work.
I have checked all links on the site and all links are accurate and in working order.
The other links I wanted to check was the forward and back button as you can see the back and forward screen shots below.
Page Structure
www.pcworld.co.uk have designed the site with consistency all the way through the site, so that navigation are in the same place on the screen throughout the site to make it easy and quick to find your way around the site.
The highlighted page structure is consistent on every page on to make it easier to navigate.
Desktop PCs
Gaming
Kids Zone
Screen size
www.pcworld.co.uk has been designed to be easy to use regardless of your screen size.
The text flows to the width of your screen, so you don’t have to scroll horizontally to read the text if you have a small screen size and it allows you to enjoy the full width of your screen if you have a larger computer, which also means less vertical scrolling for you.
Could improve on
could improve on few things when it comes to accessibility or usability by adding few extra features for example;
Access keys
Access keys are combinations of keys that can be used to navigate through the site without the use of a mouse, for the benefit of users who find using a mouse difficult.
Text size
could make the site resizable, for example making the text bigger by using a browser's font-size tool.
Audio
Some sites contain audio to help them with their bad eye-sights and some sites are for people who can’t read which makes it much easier for them to shop online or just reading a review on a specific product.
This can be very useful for as some products information text is very small and can be hard to read by others.
The customer experience it offers
In my opinion Pc world’s customer experience isn’t really as good as other websites that offer better customer experience and pc world’s customers wouldn’t really experience that much.
I’m not the only one with that opinion I looked at some of pc worlds reviews and some really didn’t like it either and said that they would never ever shop their again.
“My printer became faulty after less than 2 months with only light use, PC World refused to deal with it at all (no repair, no replacement, no refund) because after 28 days it is no longer PC World's problem but the manufacturers problem.
This is contrary to British law. By purchasing the printer I entered into a contract with PC World and not the manufacturer. I will never use them again, ever.”
I think that can improve their websites by giving customers more experience while their shop online like.
They could add few previews on their latest console games or even have a little video explaining how Microsoft vista works because it’s a new software and it would help customers and maybe even have more internet browsers become members.
Covert data Capture
On pc worlds website is where the privacy policy is and what information is collected and how.
The information that they collect may include:
- Any personal details you submit
-
Data which allows the website to recognise you and this data is collected by cookies from your navigation around the site. A cookie is a small amount of data which they send to your computer. The data is then stored on your browser or hard disk. Most web browsers can be set to prevent you from receiving new cookies.
- Your IP address (this is your computer’s individual identification number)
- Your preference and use of email updates
Customer ID authentication
The information that’s collected from the site will be used to know if you are who you say you are and also the process to your order.
Pc world may pass your details to another organisation to supply/deliver products or services you have purchased and/or to provide after-sales service)
To carry out security checks (this may involve passing your details to another organisations like a credit reference agency, who will check your details and to check if you are who you say you are – this helps to protect you and us from fraudulent transaction.
Evaluation
My overall evaluation on is that it’s a really good transactional websites but like any other websites it has its disadvantages and advantages.
Let me start of with its advantages that has.
Pc world offers good deals when it comes to; pc’s consoles, phones and any other technology device you can think off.
Another advantage that offers is the tech guys, they help you get your technology working for you if you have any difficulties and offer you a variety of solutions, advice and services. They can do this in store at home or over the phone to meet its customer’s needs.
Now let me talk about disadvantage. It doesn’t offer customer experience except the tech guys and they do have many complains of members about their services and that it doesn’t meet it customer’s needs.
In my opinion theirs few things that can improve on is the usability and accessibility of the site.
could improve on few things when it comes to accessibility or usability by adding few extra features for example;
Access keys
Access keys are combinations of keys that can be used to navigate through the site without the use of a mouse, for the benefit of users who find using a mouse difficult.
Text size
could make the site resizable, for example making the text bigger by using a browser's font-size tool.
One of the other features that can add to their site is audio to help members with bad eye-sights and people who can’t read properly which makes it much easier for them this can be very useful for as some products information text is very small and can be hard to read by others.
Overall I think is a really good transactional site to shop from and it meets it customer’s needs and what also makes it a good site is the navigation, it makes it easy to go from one page to another and that makes it very easy and simple to shop from.
I also think that shopping online is much easier then going to the store and buying it from there, however shopping online has it ups and downs for example one disadvantage is that it takes time to receive the product you purchased online, therefore going to the store and buying it, is quicker.
I personally prefer shopping online, as it is simple and it also allows me to find the product(s) I’m looking for much easier and quicker.
I would definitely recommend a lot of people to shop online from pc world as it meets it purpose by advertising (new) products online with the product information and allows customers to collect their product(s) from store or have it delivered to them.
Mohammed Aweys
Shireland Colligate Academy
