Tablet shoppers give Amazon's, Wal-Mart's website higher marks for usability, engagement, conversion than Apple's, finds Change Sciences

Cindy Allen

NEW YORK , July 10, 2013 (press release) – Consumer electronics retailers fare more poorly overall than general merchandisers, with some exceptions

Today leading web researchers Change Sciences Group (www.changesciences.com) released all new data ranking e-commerce web sites for usability, engagement, and conversion. Despite Apple's sleek and simple approach to design, people were 20% less successful finding and buying a tablet on its site compared to top performer Amazon, and 18% less successful than on Walmart.com.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130709/CG43642-INFO)

Not all general merchandisers fared as well as Walmart and Amazon. For example, people shopping for tablets on Target were 10% less successful than Walmart, and 12% less successful than Amazon. "In e-commerce, small differences in usability can have a huge impact on the bottom line. This research shows that although finding and purchasing a product is one of the most common consumer activities online, there are still significant differences in how the shopping experience is supported by major retailers," said Pamela Pavliscak, a Change Sciences founder.

Although being fully dedicated to selling consumer electronics, retailers like Best Buy also fared more poorly than Amazon and Walmart. For example, people rated Best Buy 15% lower than Amazon for happiness after they used its site.

The research is based on Change Sciences' Experience Cloud platform, which compares how people experience sites with competitors and with the best sites on the web. The top performers are easier to use, more engaging, and likelier to convert people overall. The bottom performers have usability problems, lack aspects of design that compel people to explore, and are the least likely among the group to convert prospects to customers.

The Experience Cloud platform makes it possible to identify patterns that engender trust and compel people to act. Without the Experience Cloud, decision-makers are often limited to their own internal data about user experience, which will not reveal whether a competitor's site is easier to use or more engaging, and, perhaps most importantly, will not say why. The Experience Cloud measures web sites more accurately than traditional surveys since it captures what people do while using sites and not just what they say.

To learn more about the research visit https://www.changesciences.com/trending/e-commerce-web-site-user-experience-2013 and download the free report. The user experience of the following e-commerce brands are covered in the free report: Amazon, Apple Store, Best Buy, Newegg.com, PC Connection, PCM, Target, Tiger Direct, and Walmart.

About Change Sciences

Change Sciences is a group of qualitative researchers, data scientists, and programmers who are dedicated to helping organizations improve usability, engagement, and conversion. It counts 18 Fortune 100 companies as clients and has completed more than 700 projects in the last five years for clients in financial services, healthcare, entertainment, travel, government, and e-commerce, and e-learning.

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