ict - unit 2 - 2.3!!!!!

Unit 2 - The Digital Economy 2.3 – Investigating a Transactional Website

- Argos ( http://www.argos.co.uk/ ) - The website that I am going to investigate is (www.argos.co.uk).

Argos (www.argos.co.uk) is the UK’s second most popular e-commerce website.

- The Purpose –The purpose of this website is to sell general merchandise and products for home. It sells general merchandise and products for the home from over 700 stores throughout the UK and Republic of Ireland, online and over the telephone. Argos serves over 130 million customers a year through its stores and takes four million customer orders either online or over the phone.

The URL of the Argos website is http://www.argos.co.uk/ and the Domain name is Argos. The URL of the Argos website shows that the website is only for people living in the UK although Argos also has got another website for the customers living in the Republic of Ireland and its URL is http://www.argos.ie/. The target audience for the website is anyone who is over 18 as the over 18s as only the over 18s can make a transaction legally. The URL states that the Argos online shopping is only available for customers living in the Great Britain and therefore the website is only available in one language which is English.

Therefore, this website is obviously targeted towards people living in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Argos is not just only based online; it also has more than 700 stores throughout the UK and the Republic of Ireland so that its customers can visit the stores to purchase things if they don’t have connection to the internet for online shopping or if people are too scared to buy stuff online, as well as that its customers can also order goods over the telephone.

Argos is very successful at marketing its products because the advertisements attract the customers. Argos mainly advertises on TV, Online (Banner adverts on its Corporate, own website and other sites), Newspapers, its own catalogue, logos on its delivering lorry, etc.

- Website Structure –The homepage of the website is shown below:

Main navigation –

From here the customers can browse through

different categories, from

‘kitchen & laundry’ to

‘nursery’ and ‘latest ‘price

cuts’.

Navigation Links –

The customers can browse

through different categories the

same way as the Main navigation but this has the names of some of the things in the category.

NEW! & latest –This makes

browsing for new items simple. It

lets users browse through the latest things offered by

the website, therefore making browsing simpler

for regular visitors.

Helpful links – This helps the customers know all the things that they want to know and get help just by a click of a

button.

This allows the customers to find

out what else they can do.

Offers, deals & competition – This

gives a chance customers look at

the offers available and take part in

competitions (Drawing the

customers to visit the website more

often).

Best offers – This shows the

best offers offered by Argos currently so that their customers

know about what the best offers

are and also that they buy it.

http://www.argos.ie/

http://www.argos.co.uk/




- Category Page -Once the user has clicked on the desired category (Either from the top navigation bar or the main menu category links from the home page). After clicking the desired category page will load up. An example of a category page (Category: Computers, PCs & Phones) is shown below:

Navigation Links –

The customers can browse

through different sub-categories in

the chosen category.

These are some other helpful links that can help

customers with the

category if they need

help.

This reminds the users that the

online shopping is really easy and shows different transactions the website offers.

Best offers – This shows the best

offers offered by Argos currently in

the chosen category.

This tells the users more about their

chosen categories with

pictures and links.

These are some of the well

known company’s’ logos in the

chosen category.

products

- Browsing for a product -From the category page (shown above) that the user has chosen from the category options, the user can select the type of merchandise or product that he/she would like to browse/reserve/ buy in relation to their chosen category.

From here the user can browse for the item which he/she would like to buy. The user can browse for their desired product ‘by type’ ‘by brands’ ‘by price’, etc. Below is an example of a Sub-Category page (Category: Computers, PCs & Phones).

Browser – From here the users

can browse through the

items by ‘Type’, ‘Brands’ or

‘Price’.

Best offers – This shows the

best offers offered by Argos currently in the

chosen sub-category.

Buying guides – This shows the

guidance on the items to buy in

this sub-category.

- Choosing a product -After the user has browsed for a particular item that he/she wishes to buy, a list of products will appear. From here the user can decide which item he/she is interested in by finding out more information and if the user wishes to buy the item then he/she will either ‘Buy’ or ‘Reserve’ the product online.

-Searching for a product-If the user is finding it difficult to browse for a specific product, then if the user knows the name of that item that he/she wishes to buy he/she can search for the item as shown below by typing in the name and pressing the ‘Enter’ button on the keyboard or by clicking on ‘Go’. An example of this is shown below:

These links stay the same no matter which page you go on as it

would help the user if he/she wants to find

out more information.

A-Z Index – This lists all the products

that Argos sells.

Quick shop – Fr quick shopping.

Main menu – This has got all the

category links and this stays on the top

throughout the whole website.

This is the Argos logo with its URL shown on the top right. If

you click on it will take you back to the actual home page. This is easy to do so if the user gets lost or wants to start all

over again

In the ‘Trolley’, you add the items which take your fancy, after which you can sort them out as desired.

This follows the principal of actually picking up an item, and placing it in

your basket/trolley, in an actual shop. This means that the customer

can browse through whichever categories they desire, add as many

items of their choice into their basket, before eliminating and

making an informed decision as to which items he or she would like to

purchase.

- Choosing a product -As said above, after the user has searched for a particular item that he/she wishes to buy, a list of products will appear. From here the user can decide which item he/she is interested in by finding out more information and if the user wishes to buy the item then he/she will either ‘Buy’ or ‘Reserve’ the product online. After searching for a product, the following page will show up:

The user can compare two or

more products to find out the

similarities and differences.

The green colour shows that the

service is available for the product and

the white colour shows that the

service is unavailable.

The user can sort out the

items depending on

what they fancy.

- Finding out more information about a product -

- Logging in/Registering -

- Registering -

- Email confirmation on registration details -

- Goods/services offered -

- Steps on purchasing at www.argos.co.uk -

1. Select the desired item that you wish to buy. Then click on ‘Buy’ or ‘Reserve’.

2. Add the Breakdown Cover to buy along with the purchases. Then, agree with the costs shown on My Trolley and the user can also add /remove the ‘Breakdown Cover’ (Optional) for the item that they have bought depending on their preferences. The Argos website like most other online stores offers a Shopping Basket known as a ‘Trolley’ on the Argos website, in which the user can basically add the items which they fancy. Afterwards, the users can sort out which items they would like to buy and which ones they don’t like (In this case the user would have to remove the item/s from the ‘Trolley’. This follows the principal of actually picking up


an item and placing it in your shopping basket/trolley in an actual shop. Also, this means that the customer can browse through whichever categories they desire, add as many items of their choice into their ‘Shopping Trolley’, before eliminating and making an informed decision as to which items he/she would like to purchase.

3. Click on the ‘Buy or Reserve’ button to bring up the ‘Shopping Trolley’ summary. (The Trolley summary is shown on ‘Page 12’ of this document)

As you can see (From Page 12), the checkout process is split into 5 sections; the ‘Trolley Summary’ being the first section. If you confirm that all the costs incurred (i.e. cost of item(s) and postage and packaging costs) are acceptable, then click on an option ‘Buy or Reserve’ and then click ‘Continue’ (where it says Checkout/ Middle of the page on the bottom right hand corner), or else go back and make the necessary amendments if you’re not happy with the choices or have changed your mind.

4. When everything seems correct, and once you click the Continue button, you are asked to either ‘Login’ (if you have used the website before), or ‘Register’ (if you are a new user). If you are an existing customer then all you need to do is enter your ‘Login Name’ and ‘Password’. If you are a new user then you have to enter some personal information and then click on ‘Create new account’ to continue creating your account and adding some more personal details. After the new/existing user had logged onto the site he/she can then confirm the purchases that are to be made and also he/she has to select the delivering options depending on the individuals’ preferences.

5. The user has to either ‘Login’ (if he/she is an existing customer), or ‘Register’ (if he/she is a new customer). The Login and Registration page is shown below:

When the user registers, he/she is notified that their personal details will not be passed onto anybody else except for the organisation (only when needed). This is a way of confirming that the information entered into this website is safely stored and is away from the hands of hackers/fraudsters, etc.

6. Once you have created your account, you are prompted to enter your full name, address, phone number and e-mail address so that it can help with the delivering process to deliver and track the goods.

These details are securely stored on the company’s database, to prevent you from having to enter these details every time you make a purchase from this website.

7. Once you have selected your delivery methods, the penultimate step is to enter your debit/credit card details to make the payment for the

transaction taking place. Although this information is stored in a database by the company the Argos policy confirms that all the information is secure from hackers and potential fraudsters, etc.

This is done similarly to the steps above.

8. After all of your payment details have been entered, the final step is to check through and confirm your order. You will see a confirmation of the items you’ve ordered along with the shipping and handling costs added. At this point, you can still change your mind or go back and add more items to your shopping basket. When you are sure you want to send your order press the ‘Send Order’ button. This will transfer your payment details to the Argos server “Over a secure connection” as described on the ‘customer service’ > ‘security section’ of the website.

Should the customer not feel comfortable with ordering goods from the website online, there are two other options either to buy items from stock

Should the customer not feel comfortable with ordering goods from the website online, there is also an option to ring the sales team, to place orders. This is an incentive to people who do not have faith in online shopping. It is also possible to pay via cheque or postal order, if placing orders via the post. To do this, you must create your order online in the normal way, including creating your account (as described above). When you get to the final payment details page, instead of entering your payment details, you can press the Print Order button. You may then print out the specially formatted page and post it to WWE Euroshop, along with the cheque or postal order. However it must be noted that delivery can only be made once payment has cleared (in up to 10 days, according to the website).

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/StaticDisplay/includeName/Security.htm

ordered, with shipping and handling costs added. At this point, you can still change your mind or go back and add more items to your shopping basket. When you are sure you want to send your order, press the Send Order button. This will transfer your payment details to their server, “over a secure connection”, as described in the customer service section of the website.

- Product information provided -

- Methods of capturing customer information -

- Techniques used to engage, retain and entice customers -

- Usability and Accessibility -

- Customer experience offered -

ict - unit 2 - 2.3!!!!!

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