OCUK Website

Sic · 18 Jul 2006 at 22:52

Al Vallario said:
I believe Spie has stated before that few orders come as a result of the forums. How he knows, we can only guess...

that's what im saying - how would he know? he may own the forums and the shops, but that doesn't mean he'd know. i doubt he went through every order in a year and checked if the delivery name matched someone signed up to the forums.

Beansprout · 18 Jul 2006 at 23:14

Al Vallario said:
I believe Spie has stated before that few orders come as a result of the forums. How he knows, we can only guess...

E-mail addresses plus or minus a margin of error / number of forum users versus number of customers, etc. Not wildly accurate but hey...it doesn't really matter either way so far as I see it

zetec452 · 18 Jul 2006 at 23:37

Sic said:
that's what im saying - how would he know? he may own the forums and the shops, but that doesn't mean he'd know. i doubt he went through every order in a year and checked if the delivery name matched someone signed up to the forums.

Indeed. He would never admit to it anyway. Who knows.

robmiller · 19 Jul 2006 at 21:47

To those decrying a lack of search features, they do exist they're just hard to find

robc123 · 19 Jul 2006 at 21:54

I live locally and because of this I dont need to use the website to order things as I can just go down the shop. Its hard to find a link between sales on the site and forum users

Meatball · 20 Jul 2006 at 13:50

no no no! You don't go on OcUk to look how pretty it is. You go on OcUk to find computer parts easily and cheaply which OcUk does perfectly. Infact, the layout persuaded me to buy stuff on here. Everything is just so easy to find. They could do a search box though.

MagSafe · 20 Jul 2006 at 21:47

Lost-Prophet said:
no no no! You don't go on OcUk to look how pretty it is. You go on OcUk to find computer parts easily and cheaply which OcUk does perfectly. Infact, the layout persuaded me to buy stuff on here. Everything is just so easy to find. They could do a search box though.

They do a search box, its just hard to find

I completey agree the OcUK website is in much need of a full redesign. I know people say its nice and minimalist, but it could be made so much more minimalist given a bit of effort and a good designer and coder.

I remember Spie posting about requesting a web developer so heres hoping a brand new website is on the way

blade007 · 21 Jul 2006 at 00:03

Al Vallario said:
I believe Spie has stated before that few orders come as a result of the forums. How he knows, we can only guess...

The fact is spie cannot know how many orders come from forums. OCUK owes its success to the forum. In that people are chatting about new products and hyping them up, then gibbo posts that they're available just look how many people post "order placed!".

It's a closed advertising community, mostly techie enthusiasts looking for their next upgrade ... and where will they shop? mostly where they know, have good feedback, and spend a lot of their time chatting with other enthusiasts.

zetec452 · 21 Jul 2006 at 00:16

Thats not always true. I don't shop at overclockers.

There's only one man who really knows the answer and I bet he won't be telling us.

blade007 · 21 Jul 2006 at 00:35

you only have to look ...

spie has a yacht and loads of cars. OCUK website can only be described as very functional. OCUK prices are very good, but sometimes not the best ... at least competitive.

So, where does the success come from .......

forums! it's all internet.

robmiller · 21 Jul 2006 at 05:14

Lost-Prophet said:
no no no! You don't go on OcUk to look how pretty it is. You go on OcUk to find computer parts easily and cheaply which OcUk does perfectly. Infact, the layout persuaded me to buy stuff on here. Everything is just so easy to find. They could do a search box though.

The very fact that you don't know about the search engine that exists on the site is a fine example of improvements that could be made

TrUz · 21 Jul 2006 at 07:31

Goto the OcUK front page, click on Products > Search

TrUz

Xez · 21 Jul 2006 at 12:52

Your everyday person though wouldnt be able to find the the search area though

It should be on the front page somewhere

As for the design i dont really care. I come here to buy computer parts. It's simple and fast loading. But a more colourful and graphic design would probably draw more people to the site.

FishFluff · 21 Jul 2006 at 13:06

Badly needs an update.

I wanted a mATX socket 939 motherboard the other day and went elsewhere when I realised I'd have to go through every manufacturers motherboard category manually and eyeball the (often woefully short) product descriptions.

real · 22 Jul 2006 at 13:34

I think the current website is fine. Looks good and the products can clearly be seen. There is no need to complicate it anymore than that.

As has been said, maybe the search could be on the first page. That is the only fault. But to be honest you've got to be a mug not to be able to find it.

Zom · 22 Jul 2006 at 14:18

Some of the comments on this thread really baffle me. You can argue all day about how good/bad the site is but at the end of the day it is any company's interest to improve its website in order to attract more business. First impressions are very important especially when it comes to online shopping. There have been several times I have been put off buying things from online stores just because of counter intuitive product navigation and shoddy coding.

robmiller · 22 Jul 2006 at 21:57

TrUz said:
Goto the OcUK front page, click on Products > Search

TrUz

I know that, but it's far too hidden. It needs a search box at the top, slap-bang where the user can see and use it. Searching should be encouraged as the primary method of product navigation, since it's by far the most effective - I mean, do people actually browses through Amazon's product listings until they find the product they want? Do they 'eck, they type in the product name into the prominent search box and up it comes. The same should apply to OcUK.

GoldenGlory · 23 Jul 2006 at 14:58

I can't believe some of the responses in this thread.
"It's fine the way it is, simple" etc etc..

To those people, have you not visited any other e-commerce websites?
The navigation is appalling, the logo shouts "wows I can do dropshadow and stroke in photoshop", colour scheme a little bland. For a company with such a turnover, you would at least think some profits are ploughed back into the main source of sales: the website.

Web technologies have changed since 2000, "acatalog" is no longer an example of a usable, accessible e-commerce platform. It may integrate nicely with your backend, but that doesn't mean the frontend is fine as well.

Change happens, and any business which does not adapt to these changes is treading on thin ice. Customers expect more nowadays, quick page loads, search function, account, product reviews, stock status to name a few features.

I sincerely believe (as a browser/member since 2001) that these forums have a stake in the success of the shop, having alone purchased £1000's of hardware. Now, I go elsewhere.