RETAIL WEBSITE

OBSERVATIONAL STUDY GUIDELINES

I. Objectives
As the expectations of online shoppers rose during COVID typically, their satisfaction
with online retailers has been difficult to monitor and map out. This assignment will help
you to identify, measure and critically analyze the variables needed to ensure that the
retail website of any branded outlet remains relevant and increases customer loyalty.
II. Instructions

1. As a group of 4 you will evaluate the retail website. Identify the category
(perfumes, branded shoes, apparel, luxury items) operating in Pakistan, chose
your brand, inform the instructor and get approval. .
2. Assignment page limit Maximum of 5 pages
3. Typed, times new roman, single spaced, size 12pt
4. Write your observations and critically analyze them using adjectives and adverbs
5. Observe banners and promotions specifically
6. The details of the website should be mapped out for the month of February:
7. The observations will be recorded every day for 28 days (first week of February-
first week weekend of February, Fifteenth till twenty-fifth day of February and last
week of February)
8. Monitor specific season/occasions’ deal

9. A separate excel book of the timing of each visit along with observation details
of the variables to be recorded as follows:
Day Date Duration Ease Product Entertainment Trust Customer Currency Deals,
of Us Information Support promotional
banner

Table 1: Mapping of observations developed by the author

MIP Assignment Guidelines developed by Dr. Nida Aslam Khan Spring 2021
 10. filled excel sheet will be shared via email with the instructor/TA. Refer to excel
book mapped out for the given activity. Retail Website Study Guidelines.xlsx

11. There will be 2 submissions for the assignment, word document and excel book.

III. Web Site Characteristics

a. Ease of Use
b. Product Information
c. Entertainment
d Trust
c. Customer Support
f. Currency
Explanation and details
“Ease of Use
It implies uncluttered screens, clear organization, logical flow, and ease of navigation, in
short, a web design that facilitates one's efficient and effective use of the site. Ease of
use should enhance ability to process product and purchase information, reduce cost of
search, permit after search, increase likelihood of a successful search, and increase
attitude toward the site. Several studies report a positive relationship between ease of
use and attitude toward a web site.
Product Information
It includes the amount, accuracy, and form of information about the products and
services offered on a web site. Since e-consumers cannot examine a product, they
depend on information to identify compare, and select products. Online information
includes text, tables, graphs, photos, audio, and video. Better product information
should help online shoppers make better decisions, feel more confident about their
decisions, increase satisfaction with the shopping experience, and improve attitude
toward a site.
Entertainment
Entertainment involves all web site elements that promote enjoyment while using a site.
These include sensory and hedonic stimuli, like color, music, action, and interactivity.
Site designs that promote fantasy or suspense can also provide entertainment, as might
games, puzzles, streaming video, and virtual tours. Like conventional shoppers, e-
shoppers should prefer experiences that create positive feelings. Past research
suggests that entertainment-related factors (vividness, aesthetically pleasing design
elements, and engaging material) are positively related to attitude to a web site

MIP Assignment Guidelines developed by Dr. Nida Aslam Khan Spring 2021
Trust
Trust is critical for financial transactions. Many e-shoppers fear that personal data will
be misused, that undesirable cookies will be planted, and that endless spam will rain
down on them from cyberspace.
The site factors that drive trust most are likability, credibility, situational normality, and
structural assurances. Likability and credibility are well known from the sales and
advertising literature. Sites achieve situational normality by adopting a ''professional
look" (the web's version of a business suit). Structural assurances include return
policies, privacy policies, and third party assurances. Such policies and assurances
imply that a vendor is trustworthy. If retailers fail to provide them, shoppers are more
likely to leave without completing a transaction.
Customer support
Customer support complements ease of use. Both factors support the shopping process
(search, comparison, choice, ordering, and tracking). But while ease of use involves
design elements that directly support the process, customer support has to do with
contingent resources that are drawn upon only when normal shopping processes prove
inadequate. By analogy, in-store shoppers look for help from salespeople (or other
shoppers) when something impedes their shopping process
Currency
Currency implies that everything on a site is up to date. Currency implies accuracy, an
information dimension, that is, if a site looks up to date, it is assumed to be in proper
order, a precondition for credibility and trust. Currency is more than updated data. It
includes news, special promotions, and announcements of coming events, anything that
refreshes the content or appearance of the site. New page designs, new photos and
new headlines can all signal a vendor's commitment to stay current. To be effective,
salesmen must look and sound current. To remain effective, traditional retail
establishments update their inventory and their shopping environments. By analogy,
web content that affirms the up-to-date status of the site should bolster one's confidence
in the site and reduce switching. Anything that calls a site's currency into question
should reduce the vendor's perceived credibility and the shopper's attitude toward the
site.”
Source : Elliott, M. T., & Speck, P. S. (2005) Pages 41-42

References:
Elliott, M. T., & Speck, P. S. (2005). Factors that affect attitude toward a retail web site. Journal of
Marketing Theory and Practice, 13(1), 40-51.

MIP Assignment Guidelines developed by Dr. Nida Aslam Khan Spring 2021