The Gap Inc. has been busy. So busy that they have lost millions they could have earned online through The Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic. How much they are not saying, but the sites have been down for an average of two weeks. They don’t seem to mind, actually they sound pretty excited about it.
It turns out that they are reinventing the ways of online retail, the customer experience and managing to better replicate the in-store browsing style better than ever before (by anyone). Now, I will let you be the judge of that, and today the only site that is working in this manner is Old Navy, for which I am showing you some examples that “illustrate” the new way:
The main thing is the elimination of excess clicks. It is no longer necessary to click on an item to receive all the information - you need just to roll over.
It all starts rather simple and usual. You select the category you wish to browse, as you would in a store. Say, the t-shirt rack.
A quick scan and you identify something you like and could potentially purchase. You (roll over it) take a closer look, you touch the fabric.
You decide to pick it up (click on it). You like. A quick glance (mousing over) and you can see what sizes, colors and styules are available, without having to pick each one up (or making multiple clicks).
Darn, no aspen blue.
In the end, each item you place in your basket gives you a tiny window with a couple options, and your retail experience is not interrupted by the annoying page showing you how much you are carrying, reminding you that your arm is getting tired, and that you can now check out or continue walking around.
The other interesting part in all of this is that the job was done in house. Writing their own software for all major behind-the-scenes features and systems, while contracting back-office programs. This means that they are the only ones with the information (at least for now). But do they have enough information to handle all of the pending bugs and problems?
I have to admit it is nice to skip the pop-up windows with additional information, color selections, styles, etc. The fact that I am not forced to select between checking out and continue shopping every time I add an item is a plus. Less clicking is indeed more efficient. I am looking forward to the launch of Banana and Gap to see exactly how those are working and if there are any bugs to be uncovered.
It turns out that they are reinventing the ways of online retail
They haven't reinvented anything other than the ability to convince the NYTimes that this is something special.
I'm all for better user experiences, but the Gap is doing nothing new. They're just borrowing bits and pieces from systems that have been around for years.
That said, the in-house aspect is a new thing, and nice to see some companies finally 'getting' the fact that 'enterprise level web software' from commercial vendors usually is overpriced and, well, sucks.
On Sep.13.2005 at 10:27 AM