Selfridges’ much-anticipated transactional website finally went live last week.
Selfridges’ much-anticipated transactional website finally went live last week. The site certainly fits the brand; it is gorgeously designed. The standard wish list feature becomes the “wish room” - a slick feature that allows users to dress mannequins and suggests matching products. There are high-resolution product shots that users can zoom in on and rotate 360 degrees.
But first impressions count and on the home page and main category pages, at least, functionality appears to have been sacrificed on the altar of brand aesthetics. The web usability purist and mobile internet addict in me was horrified by the over-reliance on a cutesy Flash animation when all I really wanted as an overview of what is available.
On my Flash-free mobile phone, the home page appeared as a nearly blank white page. The same problem occurred when I turned off JavaScript in my browser. Why do retailers still do things like this in 2010? I look forward to version 2.0.
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