Drugstore.com is a Seattle-based e-commerce website affiliated with Walgreens and partially owned by Amazon. Given that information, I chose to write about its mobile commerce (m-commerce) site, expecting a higher level of quality. It’s an impressive site and would prove helpful as a benchmark for any e-commerce company looking to expand into mobile.
The site is simple and clear, which is most important for a mobile website. A lot of time should be spent organizing the site in a way that’s understandable to users and beneficial to you, which is what I feel Drugstore.com has been able to accomplish here. They have a banner for featured products at the top, their free shipping offer (which is crucial for a site with low cost items like this), a search bar and a listing of each category that takes up no more than the whole screen.
Allowing customers to see every category without scrolling is hard to do, yet very helpful in terms of getting them to the product fast. The subcategories seem to be grouped according to the product types (ie: eye care comes after contact lenses). Depending on the nature of your products, you can also organize items in alphabetical order, though grouping by type is best here as customers may be thinking of different terms when looking for an item on your list. To group properly, think of a brick and mortar store where these items are sold. How are products grouped there? Typically, these groupings are what customers come to expect from their shopping experience both online and offline.
The success of mobile commerce sites rely on the ability to organize properly. It’s true that any site should follow this rule, though the lack of space on mobile devices leaves no room for mistakes. Like many mobile shoppers, Drugstore.com customers are most likely busy urbanites looking to get a purchase in during their commute home or while at the office. Users aren’t interested in spending time on the site so much as they are to accomplish the task the came for. Keeping this in mind when designing your m-commerce site can save a lot of greif. Always remember the KISS rule. Keep it simple, stupid!