Bergdorf Goodman Doesn't You To Buy Clothes
Or, they’re making it a harder for you to give them your money then it should be. Bergdorf’s site structure makes use of the old school trick of using a non-web experience to organize and present content online (ie. the omni-present tabs in a notebook structure), thinking that it will be relatable, and easy to use.
In this case, BergdorfGoodman.com’s navigation/organization structure alludes to their physical stores.
Major sections on this site fall under labels like “Shop by Floor”, “Designer Collections”, and “5F”. While ensuring that the offline and online brand experience are connect is a good thing, making such a literal translation of the offline into the online space can be problematic. For instance, for a neophyte Bergdorf Goodman shopper, who has never set foot inside a store, this kind of site structure can really be a barrier to purchase. They may not know where to find what they’re looking for without working for it: What’s sold on each floor? What’s the difference between Designer Collections and 5F?
Let’s take a look at what’s behind the Shop by Floor option.
Each floor is labeled by number only. There are no cues as to what a customer will encounter if they make the decision to invest in a click on any of these options; there is no on-screen indication of the kinds of product offered by a ‘floor’, either on first glance, or on hover or roll-state over one of the floor numbers. This kind of access point to the shopping flow calls for an investment in exploration by possible customers, and investment in time and interest that they just may not want to take.
The more you make a customer work for something, the less likely it is they’ll stick around to find it, or come back and become a loyal, repeat customer.
How does your customer really think about your offerings? Make it easy for them and structure your site to meet their mental model instead of throwing your internal structure up there for all to see.
Yes, your site should be a way to relate your brand offering, but what you think about your brand can be completely different from the experience that your customer is familiar with. Don’t talk at your customer; talk with them, using the language - navigation labels and structural organization - that they use.
1 year ago