On December 31st 2010, Ocado launched its new website. This is at least the third incarnation of the Ocado website I have used since my first order early in 2008. The new site is glossy, busy, and completely different from the old one. Again. I don’t understand why Ocado has needed so many brand new sites in the last 3 years. I can see that there is some new functionality added with each new version of the site, but also some old functionality has seemed to disappear at the same time – or if it is still there, one can not access it in the same way. Things move – so the way one navigates around the site becomes completely alien. The way in which products are organised seems to change from one version of the site to another – at one stage there was a very helpful detailed breakdown of different groups of products at the high level navigation stage which in the next version of the site was reduced to a much more limited overview. I use the web a lot, but I have yet to find the move from one version of the Ocado website to another intuitive. I believe many of the upgrades in functionality could have been made without such extensive changes to the look and feel of the site, which would have left many customers feeling more comfortable and secure in their shopping.
I choose to do my grocery shopping with Ocado for a number of reasons: it is quick, it is convenient, the delivery slots are only an hour, I can buy Waitrose goods, it is reliable, I can see if the goods are in stock for delivery at the point of ordering. The time-saving nature of the shop, and therefore its convenience, are principal drivers in my using the service. Over the weeks/months it takes me to get used to yet another new website, the speed of the process is compromised. While it is compromised, I feel more pre-disposed towards change. Mostly, I am loyal to Ocado, partly because I like the service I get, and partly because I know what I am doing and don’t have to think about it too much. It is easy. When it is not easy, for example the website changes, or a product I have always bought ceases to be available, I am more willing to consider other options.
Initially, I signed up to Ocado because Waitrose did not offer a delivery service in my area. However, now it does. The service includes free delivery, Waitrose goods, is reputed to be reliable, quick and convenient – most of my requirements except for 1 hour delivery slots (they offer 2 hour slots) and the ability to see the stock levels of my chosen products. With free delivery to boot! Yet again, just like the last time the website was radically overhauled, I have seriously considered trying the Waitrose Delivers service.
The new Ocado site looks fine, but feels like it has been specified and designed by people who are not Ocado customers. It feels like a victory for form over function. I am sure this is not what Ocado intended, but I feel strongly that significant input from actual users of the site would have made a real difference. Even the designers and developers of a new Ocado website really need to sit down and shop several times on the old site to get a feel for the current customer experience, before making changes. (Not testing, proper shopping). They need to do the same when a new site is built, before it is live, as do some actual customers. Without customers, Ocado has a problem. We need to be on board when changes are made. I appreciate that you can not please all of the people all the time, but I think that Ocado would do well to apply a slightly different strategy next time they apply changes to the website. Low-key changes made by people who really know the site, asking for and listening to customer feedback, and an end to flashy make-overs, please.