Re: [ic] "Buy List" button

[Dan B <db@cyclonehq.dnsalias.net>]

At 10:34 AM 6/14/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>Quoting me:
> > >
> > > The "buy list" function was added over my protests, and I do recommend
> > > that it be removed.
> >
> >Quoting Phillip A. Ryals (support@admiralexpress.com):
> > I'm basically a nobody around here, but I must respectfully disagree.  I
> > have quite a few customers that absolutely love that feature in our current
> > system.  I'm planning to replace our current system with IC, but only if I
> > can recreate the features my customers want.
> >
> > Think of it as a laundry list...  You set up a bunch of items that the
> > customers buys regularly.  They log in, go to their list, add quantities,
> > buy list, and they're done.  With a large list, you could save an enormous
> > chunk of time.  The ability to save time is a major selling point for new
> > accounts.  Granted, this might be a slightly specialized scenario, and it
> > mostly relates to B2B type commerce, but it's definitely useful.
> >
>
>Bear in mind that I am in no way advocating that this should not be 
>allowed --
>the flexibility of Interchange is that you can do whatever you want. And I
>am not against adding features, as should be obvious, 8-) but I am very
>definitely against checkout complexity for most stores.
>
>The buy-list function is something only a purchasing agent can love, IMHO.
>
>Since most IC catalogs are B2C, it should not be a default option, again
>in my opinion. For B2C, simple is best. I am pretty good at this stuff, but
>if an online purchase gets too complicated, guess what? I give it up. I don't
>have time to appreciate the subtleties of a complex interface unless it is
>something I am going to be using frequently.
>
>One thing that would help is if we displayed the cart at the top of the
>results all of the time once someone buys from the list. What is probably
>most confusing is the disappearing cart.

Speaking of shopping carts.

It seems like making the cart permanent rather than transient would be a 
great boon to most shopping sites, specifically if it was located in a 
convenient area.  At DiabeticSupplies.com the cart is on the right side and 
it gets longer and longer each time you add something (I know, it's rocket 
science) -- but it doesn't detract from the central real estate.

For example, it doesn't require the user to scroll down any further in a 
long product listing to see all the products, if they happen to have many 
items in their cart.  But having it on either side allows one to use only 
partial descriptions ([filter limit=8], etc.) for it's contents due to 
space constraints.

However, we found in our usability testing that individuals with little or 
no Net usage did have trouble noticing the basket at all, because of how it 
blended into the overall color scheme.  This prompted us to add a prominent 
button at the top for those users to easily access a bigger shopping cart 
section.  However, it might be advised that one should make the shopping 
cart stand out in the color scheme slightly (we are debating how to 
incorporate that as well).

IMHO,

Dan Browning, Cyclone Computer Systems, danb@cyclonecomputers.com