USER EXPERIENCE REVIEW: PETCO.COM

We received great feedback from our first UX review spotlighting SignOnSanDiego and are really looking to keep the momentum rolling. At dt we are focused on bringing the community together and highlighting the companies and the people that make them up. So for this edition we’re staying local and taking you on a ride through PETCO.com…Brand Strategy 3 Stars PETCO is one of the most recognizable brands in San Diego, and really across the country. As they say on their website “With over 850 stores in 49 states and the District of Columbia, chances are there’s a PETCO store in your neighborhood.” Besides having a large presence in San Diego county, including 22 retail stores, they have their name on one of MLBs most beautiful ball parks.
 Design: PETCO very recently did a design facelift so the site has a fresh look and feel. There were a few confusing elements we ran across related to the homepage design and the promotional boxes that we wanted to highlight. The border design on the large promo box makes it look out of place, like it doesn’t belong with the site.

 It could also serve it’s purpose if it were smaller, a bit too big for the page. The calls to action aren’t clear on these promos. Users may stare at them, but what are they supposed to DO? Nothing looks like a button to click. The blue text on the bottom right should be click-able and it would help if it had an arrow or was a button, so it looked click-able. gift cards The links under the promo box all look like gift cards. Their style and shape make them all look like gift cards even though only one of the link takes you to the gift cards. Style: While the style is not going to win any awards it isn’t terribly bad either. The style is a little bland but consistent with most ecommerce sites – the point is to get you quickly to the product or page you are looking for in the least number of steps. Some of the styles are a little conflicting as in the case of the DIV containers which go from (rounded corners)

Quality of Material: The site has been well planned out and has a wealth of information. PETCO has a lot of products and they have done a good job organizing most of that information for their users to find. It takes a few steps to find it but sections like The Answers Den has specific questions and answers from the community which really add value to overall experience. 

There are numerous product reviews and general comments on the site that help you make informed purchasing decisions. 3 design recommendations Update the border design of the promo box to be consitent with the style of the site Add in calls to action and click-able looking links to encourage flow Promote The Answers Den more to curious shoppers through the large promo box Social 3 Stars While the website is far from a social network, there is a very social (and viral) aspect to the site because of the customer interaction through product reviews and question and answer sections – much like an Amazon. The loyal customer base has created a wealth of content for visitors to read before they buy pet-related products. The Answer Den Community: PETCO ‘s The Answer Den offers a community aspect similar to what you see with Yahoo Answers – post a question about your dog, cat or ferret and chances are somebody in the community has an answer. 

Note: I noticed that there are prizes given away for people that contribute the most content in form of answers. Since they are doing this transparently it does not feel as forced as if they were secretively paying people to generate content for the site.