Stevis2002 Posted April 30, 2005 Share Posted April 30, 2005 Please can you tell me what you think of the functionality of my store. I know what you will say about the design, as it's pretty much stock osc, as i am a completely useless designer. THIS UK STORE IS LIVE! Thanks, Steve http://www.console-heaven.net http://www.console-heaven.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KodiakToolseller Posted April 30, 2005 Share Posted April 30, 2005 Hi, Pretty simple and functional. A few things that bothered me personally... The red text on the home page makes me feel angry. When I clicked on GameCube, it took me a while to figure out how to buy game cartridges. Instead of that aggravating joy stick, maybe you could have a nice photo of actual game boxes dispalyed fanned out. The joy stick, much like the red text, draws my attention away and makes me want to leave. Now I am an old guy at 40. Maybe those items listed above make younger folks purchase this type of product. On the checkout page, I find it helps to remove all the countries from the country drop-down menu that I don't plan on selling to. My site only has United States, as I am not set up to sell elsewhere. I went into PokeMan Pinball and clicked on the item to see the description. I then proceeded to click on the image to enlarge the photo. It did not enlarge due to an error on the page. Do you really need my birthday? It's something to consider. A customer does not want to fill out forms all day. Make it simple. Do you really need the refferal source. When I fill them out, I always click on the 1st line item just to get through it. Hope this is helpful good luck & good selling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis2002 Posted April 30, 2005 Author Share Posted April 30, 2005 Very helpful thanks, I will edit the suggestions i think, as i somewhat agree with most of them. Thanks again, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simplyeasier Posted April 30, 2005 Share Posted April 30, 2005 Please can you tell me what you think of the functionality of my store. I know what you will say about the design, as it's pretty much stock osc, as i am a completely useless designer. THIS UK STORE IS LIVE! Thanks, Steve http://www.console-heaven.net http://www.console-heaven.com <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi Steve A few observations for you in no particular order or importance 1) Reduce your store width so ppl surfing on low res DO NOT have to sroooool left and right as well as up and down 2) On your contacts page - add physical contact means - Telephone, land address - you are expecting people to buy high ticket items from you - they will not do it easily if they cannot contact you other than by e-mails - which we all know are never returned B) 3) On your links page you have a Dating link :huh: - Don't fall into the trap of trying to secure links without regard for their relevance to your core product(s) - Link farms will get you nowhere very fast. (Adc to this point the banners you have at the bottom ofg your pages - get rid of non core product related ones.) If you want to get Google adds they might even give you a small return :D 4) Why are you advertising the no of product in your store ? Too few and ppl may think - hmm not shopping here not enuff stuff - too many and so what ? 5) You are clearly targetting a UK market (after all you have gone to the trouble of spelling catalog correctly :D ) - So how much business do you really expect to do in Australia, Euro zone and the US for high ticket, electronic (read if this can break it will), products that run on PAL and different electrical systems ? In the US (not sure about Oz they use that other system don't they ? - Do you need all the currencies ? One of the hardest lessons a marketer learns is that you will never sell to everyone so target and focus ONLY on those that you can sell to. 6) This is a high tech site - yet the pages all seem static html - add some effects without overheads - scrolling specials and bestseller boxes will do for a start. 7) I haven't had time to think it thro in detail but your home page looks like ineficient use of web real estate - A lot of white space and reading material - You have a precious few seconds to hold ppl's attention particularly in the competitive market you are in - Pictures and images well presented do this far more effectively than words. Steve - you have a very good site here - and tweaking is all it needs - but oh how so important are tweaks :rolleyes: - You will be crucified for omitting details without getting equal recognisition for putting the detaisl in. But as an e-tailer this is the price you pay for having a level playing field where if you do the detail you can really play with the big dogs . Charles A kite flies highest AGAINST the wind ! "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a lover in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ~ WOO HOO!! What a ride!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis2002 Posted April 30, 2005 Author Share Posted April 30, 2005 Hi Steve A few observations for you in no particular order or importance 1) Reduce your store width so ppl surfing on low res DO NOT have to sroooool left and right as well as up and down 2) On your contacts page - add physical contact means - Telephone, land address - you are expecting people to buy high ticket items from you - they will not do it easily if they cannot contact you other than by e-mails - which we all know are never returned B) 3) On your links page you have a Dating link :huh: - Don't fall into the trap of trying to secure links without regard for their relevance to your core product(s) - Link farms will get you nowhere very fast. (Adc to this point the banners you have at the bottom ofg your pages - get rid of non core product related ones.) If you want to get Google adds they might even give you a small return :D 4) Why are you advertising the no of product in your store ? Too few and ppl may think - hmm not shopping here not enuff stuff - too many and so what ? 5) You are clearly targetting a UK market (after all you have gone to the trouble of spelling catalog correctly :D ) - So how much business do you really expect to do in Australia, Euro zone and the US for high ticket, electronic (read if this can break it will), products that run on PAL and different electrical systems ? In the US (not sure about Oz they use that other system don't they ? - Do you need all the currencies ? One of the hardest lessons a marketer learns is that you will never sell to everyone so target and focus ONLY on those that you can sell to. 6) This is a high tech site - yet the pages all seem static html - add some effects without overheads - scrolling specials and bestseller boxes will do for a start. 7) I haven't had time to think it thro in detail but your home page looks like ineficient use of web real estate - A lot of white space and reading material - You have a precious few seconds to hold ppl's attention particularly in the competitive market you are in - Pictures and images well presented do this far more effectively than words. Steve - you have a very good site here - and tweaking is all it needs - but oh how so important are tweaks :rolleyes: - You will be crucified for omitting details without getting equal recognisition for putting the detaisl in. But as an e-tailer this is the price you pay for having a level playing field where if you do the detail you can really play with the big dogs . Charles <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thank You very, very much. You are an example to everybody. That is how to give constructive criticism, and compliments, without the need of being arrogant and/or nasty about things. Anyway, Thanks Charles, I will now try and get those comments and build on them. I have already removed the currency boxes, and i will now have a play around with a few effects. As for the banners, they are 100% there for the reason you said...to get some link returns. Since reading your comments though, i will now get rid of them, and maybe opt for a few google ads. I am also going to remove the links page, as i half had that in mind anyway. As for the design....Think i may be stuck there.....Stevie Wonder has better design skills than me :( (Still a Legend though) Thanks again mate, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis2002 Posted April 30, 2005 Author Share Posted April 30, 2005 Ok, Took Charles' input and worked on it. So, has it improved? Thanks all, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simplyeasier Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 Apart from the page width - looking much better Have a look at the colour dynamics by visiting MANY competitor sites and seeing what is cool and MORE importantly what is not cool. Also the scrolling boxes on either side of the page pull the eyes outwards - it is better if you force the eyes to one side or the other by having them in the same column. That way you can place important visitor info where it will be seen. This site as it stands will sell - but you need to complete the deal with the final few tweaks . Once that is done we can talk about marketing - I don't know how many visits and hits you are getting but this is part two of the game ad dare I say it - the more important part of the game. If you want ideas and ways to market this - lets talk :D Charles ps - you may also want to consider showing your prices inclusive of VAT - many ppl complain that the prices online are not what they pay A kite flies highest AGAINST the wind ! "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a lover in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ~ WOO HOO!! What a ride!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis2002 Posted May 1, 2005 Author Share Posted May 1, 2005 Superb, Thanks Charles. I have now done the scrolling boxes, to the one side. Just looking for a way of reducing the width of the site, although i will then have to find some details for the 2 outside borders, but that shouldn't be a problem. All prices are already inclusive of VAT, perhaps i will make that known.....in the footer i guess. Thanks again, Your help is very much appreciated. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis2002 Posted May 1, 2005 Author Share Posted May 1, 2005 Have know shrunk the store and i have added on every product page that price includes vat. Just got to do something to tart it up a bit now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simplyeasier Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 Have know shrunk the store and i have added on every product page that price includes vat.Just got to do something to tart it up a bit now <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Sooooo much better Steve Have you got ideas for the header and colour scheme - Do you have anyone who can do a professional looking header for you - if not maybe I can try but my workload means it wouldn't be very soon. For the vat you might want to make it clearer by adding this simple contribution http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,1737/ - do what it says in the readme.txt but when you add the change to your currencies.php you may want to use this code I hacked instead of the one in the contribution. if ($products_tax > 0) { return $this->format(tep_add_tax($products_price, $products_tax) * $quantity) . ' ' . VAT_TEXT; } else { return $this->format(tep_add_tax($products_price, $products_tax) * $quantity) . ' ' . 'No VAT'; } This will display prices with the words Incl VAT whenre the products attracts VAT and No VAT where it doesn't thus making it crystal that your prices are up front. Charles ps just one other thing - rather than asking ppl to make your page their home page (not many will - ask them to bookmark instead - far better response ) If you need codfe to add the bookmark link - let me know A kite flies highest AGAINST the wind ! "Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a lover in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming ~ WOO HOO!! What a ride!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis2002 Posted May 2, 2005 Author Share Posted May 2, 2005 I haven't got many ideas for header and colour scheme, but i kinda like the blue, i just don't like the standard nav headers etc, but beggers cant be choosers. I have my own matching favicon for the site as well, although as you can guess, this is no major design. I don't havbe anybody to make me a header, hence my own header....pretty basic, but better than simple text i guess. Thanks again for the input...I have put a marquee in, but i don't know whether to leave it as it is, or have it bounce from side to side? Thanks again, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis2002 Posted May 2, 2005 Author Share Posted May 2, 2005 Can i have your opinions on another thing please all? Would the store look better with a 1 point border around it? Thanks all, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 FYI, I used the VAT Incl. and Excl Contro and it works superbly.......Nice site and good amendments well done m8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis2002 Posted May 2, 2005 Author Share Posted May 2, 2005 Thanks Barry. Any tips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 Yes, I do not like the wangling gamestick (animated gif)!!!! what about this : http://www.alibaba.com/photo/50113182/USB_Joystick.jpg Have a look at my site and ask me anything you want about the hacks and mods I have installed..... www.putabitz.com :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis2002 Posted May 2, 2005 Author Share Posted May 2, 2005 Ok, I have bowed to the pressure of my peers......The joystick has now left the building...................Or at least the website! Hey Barry, Your prices are good...I think i might well buy stuff off you next time i get an upgrade or system order. Give your logo an alt tab.....extra keyword density...just a quick tip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 Thanks Steve, what do you mean Alt Tab the logo??? Do you think we should design a new one ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis2002 Posted May 2, 2005 Author Share Posted May 2, 2005 Thanks Steve, what do you mean Alt Tab the logo???? Do you think we should design a new one ???? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No, ...not sure why i put tab, i mean't tag....e.g........logo could be say, img src="logo.jpg" alt="Putabitz.com", or even better alt ="putabitz : forall you computing needs" But better words. The when you hold your cursor over the logo, that text will show up....Yes, who cares? Not me, but when i was seo'ing my site, iread tip after tip after tip, and had 4 free reports done, where pro companies advise what could or should be changed to gain that little extra in the search rankings. The search engines then add those words into found keywords on your main page/site, and it gives you a slightly better rating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 <a href="http://www.putabitz.com/shop/index.php?language=en"><img src="includes/languages/english/images/icon.gif" alt="English" title=" English " border="0" height="15" width="24"></a> Do you mean changing the alt="English" text to alt="Putabitz.com - For all your Computing Needs" ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis2002 Posted May 2, 2005 Author Share Posted May 2, 2005 This is how i have it in includes/header.php <tr class="header"> ? ?<td valign="top"><?php echo '<a href="http://www.console-heaven.net">' . tep_image(DIR_WS_IMAGES . 'logo.gif', 'Console Heaven') . '</a>'; ?></td> But that is using the osc php linking. If i was doing it in normal html, i would do it the way i said previously. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 <TD width="415" style="background: url(images/design/logo.jpg) no-repeat left top;" valign="middle" align="right"> This is the code for my top logo....I just need to add href link in so that it is clickable....but I do not know where to put it ???? Any ideas... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis2002 Posted May 2, 2005 Author Share Posted May 2, 2005 Not sure to be honest with you as you seem to be using a different version of osc to me, but maybe try this...back up first.... <TD width="415" style="background: url(images/design/logo.jpg) no-repeat left top;" alt="Putabitz" valign="middle" align="right"> Try that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis2002 Posted May 2, 2005 Author Share Posted May 2, 2005 BTW....it doesn't need to be clickable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 <TD width="415" style="background: url(images/design/logo.jpg) no-repeat left top;" alt="Putabitz" title="Putabitz.com - For all your Computing Needs" "valign="middle" align="right"> Nope, tried the alt=Putabitz part.....no effect, then I manually added the title="Putabitz.com - For all your Computing Needs" and still no effect...??? Back to the drawing board... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevis2002 Posted May 2, 2005 Author Share Posted May 2, 2005 Just about to sign up with 2checkout. Has anybody got any thoughts or warnings/tips on this please? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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