RATING: 7/10
Ozbuy had updated its site since we visited last and while there was still the redundant splash page, what lay ahead was a pleasant surprise. Despite a couple of technical glitches that caused us to lose our entire shopping basket before it was processed, we have to say the site is a real gem, with lots of neat features that all serve to make the purchasing process a pleasure. As a result, it's very likely that Ozbuy has loyal customers that are repeat buyers, all due to the ease of doing business with them, the great deals, and the cheap prices.
Hits
- The "Top 10 Sellers" field is a great "at-a-glance" feature, allowing users to see the most popular buys.
- Specials are listed on the front page, which is a bonus.
- The "Buyers alert" is a great feature that allows you to track the price of different items.
- Freight is free for orders over $200.
- Comparison tables, allowing simultaneous comparison of item specs are a great feature of this site.
- It was easy to locate items that were on the shopping list by browsing the product categories, or the specials page (that is, except for the data cable).
- Significant prizes are given to customers who write in and let Ozbuy know what they can do to improve the site--great!
Misses
- Not all items listed on the site had pictures, which was disappointing.
- Unfortunately, the "compare" function is not available on all items.
- A technical glitch of some description meant we lost access to the site not once, but twice! Unfortunately, we lost all the items in our basket--not ideal, and certainly not customer friendly.
- You have to register to purchase, with the registration form suddenly growing in size as you progress. Our testers felt as though they had been tricked and was not pleased to be deceived in this manner.
- The homepage "enter here" is redundant and wastes time, especially when returning to the site.
Member Benefits
- A regular newsletter is distributed.
- Very competitive pricing.
Purchasing Process
- Graphic tiles direct you to "keep shopping" or "check out". These are a great feature as it means you don't have to rely on the "back" button on your browser.
- The shopping basket is visible on each screen, a feature that is highly desired, but obscured by the top-level navigation.
- Item lists are clear to interpret, with features such as "in stock" or "back order", Ozbuy price, and RRP listings, all of which are great. In addition, the "compare" feature is a real bonus for buyers, with a pop-up picture feature that doesn't compromise your ability to read information and view the product. However, the ability to view and compare items simultaneously would be better.
- Removal of items from the shopping cart is not as easy as it could be--why not have "remove item" graphic tiles like the "keep shopping" ones?
- Apart from the extensive and continually growing registration field, the process was seamless and intuitive.
Search Facility
- The site offered results quickly, under the general search function.
- The site also offers an "advanced search" function that seemed to filter searches a little too well--that is, it repeatedly offered "no matches" on the items that were being investigated, something that frustrated our tester.
General Usability
- Moving banner ads made the tester feel a little distracted...and dizzy.
- Navigation could be greatly improved, allowing customers to see the second tier navigation and selecting the relevant field prior to actually moving to the next page. The navigation changed across pages, and was not generally predictable.
- Along the same lines, many great features are hidden beneath the tabbed navigation system and are difficult to read (for example, shopping basket, login, new customer registration, order tracking, and customer service).
- It seems the site might need some technical testing to "de-bug", because of the complications that were encountered whilst shopping. The glitches served to annoy our tester, who felt they had wasted their time.
- Overall, the site is very easy to use and has loads of great features, mainly because of the great prize draws for customers who give Ozbuy feedback on their site and how to improve it.
- The site does not comply with W3C accessibility guidelines.
The Performance Technologies Group is an Australian consultancy with offices in Sydney, Australia, and Boston, USA. Their consultancy services are aimed at assisting in the development of software and technology products that are effective, usable, and technically sound. They can be reached at www.performancetechnologies.com or by phoning 02 9458 6450.
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