[thelist] Site Review

[Nick Bourgeois]

> <a href="issue.cfm/issID/3308" title="Buy Black Panther,
> Vol. 2 #47"><img src="images/th1_64143.jpg" width="100"
> alt="Black Panther, Vol. 2 #47" border="0"></a>
>
> Your image tags of the comics has width but not height, add
> height to speed page layout.

Good point.  It's hard to get the height, though, since the thumbnail images
are created dynamically (with a constricted width) from a much larger image.
I supposed I could store the height for each thumbnail in the database, but
for right now, it's a trivial concern.

> 2) Since you are asking for people money you should have
> address and phone number on bottom of home page. At the
> very least it should be on the contact us page. There is
> nothing to convince me that this site is real.

Yeah, this is a tough situation.  The client wanted the only form of contact
from the customer to be through the email form, but that obviously isn't the
best decision in regards to usability.  The problem is that the address
isn't really relevant since it's an online store only, and the client
doesn't have a phone number, much less a 1-800 number.  The reason there is
no phone number is because Comics Etc is run by one guy who does everything
"on the side."  He has another full-time job and isn't available all day to
take calls.

> 3) http://www.comicsetc.com/issue.cfm/issID/3300
> it say the comic price (but doesn't list cover price
> is this above of below) if below it should feature savings
> to encourage the buyer save with them.

Yeah, I've been trying to get the client to do this, but he doesn't want to
enter the cover prices for all 10000 books he has in inventory.  Plus, for
back issues, he's selling the book for much higher than the cover price
since it was only 25 cents back in 1970.  One suggestion was to have the
value of the books be used instead of the cover price.  The value could be
determine by the grade of the comic.  But sometimes the books are signed
and/or limited edition and are worth more that the industry-standard price
guide.

So, what we may do in this regard is to only show the cover price for the
new books and leave back issues alone.  Either way, the buyer needs to know
there is a discount, because it's usually 15-20% off cover price.

> 4)  http://www.comicsetc.com/register.cfm
> It says "Misc. Information" should be labled what it
> actually is. Opt out email list.

Gotcha.

> 5) http://www.comicsetc.com/register.cfm
> should allow me to create an account with email alone.
> What if I am not ready to buy yet. You should at least
> take my email so you can write me later.

I'm not sure I understand your reasoning in this.  The only reason to
register for the site is to make the checkout process easier by having
everything filled in for you.  Also, the checkout is designed a lot like
Amazon's.  You don't have to be registered to checkout; the registration is
included in the checkout.

But I see your point if they decided to use the registration for other
purposes.  For example, if they did a wishlist-type thing, you will need to
register for the site to be able to track that.

> 6) http://www.comicsetc.com/register.cfm
> there should be a box that allows me to click if shipping
> address is same as billing address

Will do.

> 7) http://www.comicsetc.com/register.cfm
> It allowed me to register with different names for billing
> and shipping. System should allow this but.. it should at
> least give a warning that they are not the same. You can
> use that to get relationship between biller and shipper.
> And you should have different email for both. So for
> example is father is billing then updates should be able to
> send to his son.

I see your point, but at the moment, no updates are sent to the customer
after the order has been placed.  So, I'll leave it as is for the time
being.

> 8) http://www.comicsetc.com/issue.cfm/issID/3308
> Quantity defaults to "0" it shoudl default to "1"

I'm about to change this.  Quantity defaults to 0 because there can
sometimes be multiple grades of the same book.  So if they are all defaulted
to 1, that wouldn't make sense.  So my solution is to have single-grade
books' quantity to default to 1, and multiple grades will be kept at 0.

> 9) http://www.comicsetc.com/issue.cfm/issID/3308
> why is "1" the maximum quantity allowed ?

The client doesn't want other stores buying up all his inventory and
reselling them at inflated prices.  Also, the maximum quantity is 2 per
grade per issue.

> 10) can the "buy now" add it to the cart automatically
> the extra page downloaded is a waste of users time.

There's that whole issue of having multiple grades per book.  Which grade
would be added to the cart?  The highest one?  And what if the buyer wanted
more than 1 of the same book?

> 11) worse part there is no way for me to put in recuring
> purchases which is the key to profitablility in the
> professional comic market. I.E. I want Iron Man,
> Xmen,Spiderman. They should appear in my shopping cart
> automatically.

Yes, I completely agree.  Everyone I know who orders comics online always
pre-orders them.  The client is planning on offering this option soon.
Also, we are going to give the buyer the ability to create a wishlist to put
books on hold (they will be taken out of inventory), where the buyer can
ship them all at once (usually monthly) to save costs.

Do you have any other suggestions on how to make the site more convenient
for the collector?

> :::: sorry if I sound to negaitve, its a beatiful site, it
> pretty and clean, but only a masacist would use it. Way to
> many clicks to get anything done. And there is no value
> add.
> The site owners say they are experts in comic collecting
> but they offer nothing to make it easier to collect.

Yeah, I think allowing for the customers to pre-order their books will
hopefully rectify that.

And you say there are too many clicks ... how can I reduce that (besides the
"Buy Now" add to cart thing)?

> No where in the site are the lower prices featured and
> mentioned.

Yeah, that's the main benefit of the site, but it doesn't look it's
mentioned anywhere except the home page and about us page.

> Why aren't the hard to find/limited editions on the home
> page if its your speciality.

It's not the store's speciality.  It looks like the copy needs to be
re-worded then.

> If these guys are serious and are for the serious
> collectors. first they need to put their names on the site.
> Second they have to offer what other people don't (btw
> there was mention of ebay merchandise, I saw no links to
> the ebay mechandice) such as something simple like email us
> your list of monthly comic purchases and we will set you up
> with monthly delivery in bagged and with backing. Give me a
> reason to wait a week for my comics instead of my local
> shop.

Thanks, Scott, for the excellent review.  It brought up a few points that I
didn't think about.  It's now clear to me that the site needs to be beefed
up a bit.  It needs to find its niche.

Nick