An increasing number of discount stores have invested in ecommerce in the last few years, often providing home delivery only for higher-priced items, or for minimum order values.
At a time of inflationary pressures and increased cost of living, customers may be seeking out these options more readily online. So how do these retailers encourage conversion amongst shoppers who may be new to purchasing in this category online?
Here’s a look at some UX features across the ecommerce websites of Aldi, B&M, Home Bargains, Poundland/Poundshop.com, Primark, Savers and Wilko.
The Home Bargains website is among the most basic in this list, but there are some elements worth noting. First is its promotion of returns, which is often absent among discount retailers (with many choosing to prioritise delivery instead).
Home Bargains puts ‘hassle-free returns’ as a USP on its homepage, as well as on its product pages, where it highlights that items are free to return in stores within 30 days.
Home Bargains’ product pages promote free returns to store. Screenshot via Homebargains.co.uk
Home Bargains Flowers: “it doesn’t say Home Bargains on the box”
One product category that caught my eye on the Home Bargains website header menu was ‘flower delivery’, which is certainly something that differentiates it from its discount competitors. Click and you’re taken to homebargainsflowers.co.uk, shown below, which is operated by Prestige Gifting.
The reassurance that “it doesn’t say Home Bargains on the box” is a clever touch.
The Home Bargains Flowers website assures shoppers that “it doesn’t say Home Bargains on the box”. Screenshot from homebargainsflowers.co.uk
B&M: ‘look for the orange van’ labelling
The majority of B&M’s offering remains in-store only, however, the budget retailer has recently started selling its garden category online.
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B&M aims to avoid any confusion over what consumers can buy online (or not, as is mostly the case) by clearly instructing online shoppers to ‘look for the van’, with all garden items plainly marked for online delivery. B&M also currently drives awareness of its new online category through the promotion of a big garden sale.
screenshot of b&m website with 'look for the van' interstitial
B&M uses clear labelling to indicate which items are available for home delivery, and alerts browser with this popup. Image
Poundland acquired discount retailer Poundshop.com in March this year, saying it “will provide the infrastructure to power a national roll-out of its own pilot ecommerce operation.”