Website of the Week Peace Bridge Duty Free www.dutyfree.ca | |
 | Content (0-4): 2 |
 | Pricing (0-2): 2 |
 | Navigation (0-4): 3 |
 | Style/Design (0-4): 2.5 |
 | Supplementary information (0-2): 2 |
 | Overall incentive to shop (0-4): 1 |
 | Total (0-20): 12.5 |
Scoring system explained – click here | |
Website of the Week: Peace Bridge Duty Free
CANADA. Peace Bridge Duty Free is a duty free outlet located at the border crossing between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York in the US. The outlet takes its name from its location at the foot of the Peace Bridge on the Canadian side of the border.
The Peace Bridge Duty Free outlet is said to feature more than 20,000 items, including product lines usually available only at specialty stores and boutiques. Customers can purchase designer apparel lines such as Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, as well as fragrance, fine crystal and premium cigars. Gourmet food items, imported collectibles and fine jewellery, and wines and spirits are also available.
The Peace Bridge Duty Free website (www.dutyfree.ca) is the dedicated online facility of the store.
Style
The website adds a touch of patriotism by featuring small red maple leaf motifs – the national symbol of Canada – on parts of the home page. The white background is contrasted with the red colour of the navigation buttons.
Product thumbnails are evenly spaced out, creating an orderly look. Thumbnail images are rather small but can be enlarged; however, the larger images are of low resolution and at times cannot be seen clearly. The small fonts are also difficult to read.
Content and usability
The home page opens with a flash animation depicting a black-and-white outline of the Peace Bridge Duty Free outlet, which slowly fills out with colour to form a complete image. The short animated sequence injects a sense of interactivity as users are then redirected straight to the Merchandise section of the home page.
Peace Bridge Duty Free pledges its non-stop service by declaring that it is “˜Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year’ across the top of the home page. A toll-free contact number is also prominently located for the convenience of users.
Navigation is restricted to the left side of the page, where there are nine red buttons with links to Merchandise, Specials of the Month, Customs & Allowances, Location Map, Travel Services, Motorcoaches & Trucks, FAQ & Club Email, Contact Us, and Peace Bridge Camera. Below the buttons are two more links: one to Peace Bridge Duty Free Rewards and the other to GivingGallery.com.
The Merchandise page organises 14 product categories into three neat rows of thumbnails, including New Arrivals, Liquor, Wine, Beer, Tobacco Products, Body and Bath, China Crystal and Giftware, Fragrance for Her, Fragrance for Him, Skin Care, Jewellery, Watches, Sunglasses, and Souvenirs (the page adds another dash of national pride by depicting a Canadian sports jacket as its “˜Souvenirs’ thumbnail).
The extensive Liquor section stocks 11 different types of spirits, including four types of whisky – American, Canadian, Scotch and Irish – rum, tequila, vodka, liqueurs, gins, creams as well as Brandy & Cognac.
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The Peace Bridge Duty Free website channels national pride by featuring red maple leaf motifs – Canada’s national symbol – and a matching red colour theme |
In comparison, the Wine section only carries five brands (Cave Springs, Henry of Pelham, Hillebrand, Inniskillin and Peller Estates) while the Beer section stocks four brands (Labatts, Molson, Sleemans and Upper Canada). The Tobacco Products section has an equally small selection, carrying only five brands, including Ashton and Don Tomas.
Body and Bath presents only two brands, Vitabath and Yardley. Similarly, only two brands – Elle Essentials and Laurentian Chief – were found under the Souvenirs section. Only one brand was featured in Sunglasses – Ray Ban.
The fragrances section didn’t disappoint, as both men’s and women’s fragrances were well-stocked with familiar international brands. Women can choose from brands such as Chanel, Givenchy, Clinique and Giorgio Armani, while men can select from brands such as Davidoff, Hugo Boss, Dolce & Gabbana and Calvin Klein.
Users looking for a gift would have a dozen brands to choose from in the China, Crystal and Giftware section. Precious Moments provides a range of collectible porcelain bisque figurines that come with inspirational messages perfect for wedding and birthday gifts. Teddy bears from Boyds Bears and Swarovski crystals make equally good presents.
Besides crystal and china, users may also find gifts in the Jewellery section, which features brands such as Hot Diamonds and Majorica Pearls.
Skincare included products from Biotherm, Clarins and Clinique, among six other brands, while eight brands were featured in Watches, including Gucci, Guess, Movado and Wittnauer.
While the product selection isn’t spectacular or particularly extensive, the site does offer a disclaimer stating that only a sample of products are featured on the website – and urges customers to browse the stand-alone outlet for the full range.
Product information is minimal, and all users are given are the model name, a one-line product description (volume, availability of his-and-hers choices, etc) and the price in Canadian dollars. Users are not given the option to order or to request delivery – the only option they have is a link to “˜Tell a friend’.
Information for visitors to the Peace Bridge Duty Free outlet is comprehensive, thanks to the dedicated Customs & Allowances page as well as the Location Map page. Visitors are given clear instructions on how to get to the stand-alone store and a toll-free number to call.
Visitors planning to drive down to the store may also view the current traffic situation leading to Peace Bridge by clicking the Peace Bridge Camera navigation button. Users can then view road conditions through webcams installed at major traffic junctions.
Users may also reap benefits through the Peace Bridge Duty Free rewards programme, simply by registering online. Rewards members get a 10% discount, exclusive invitations to events, as well as frequent updates on sales promotions.
Overall, the Peace Bridge Duty Free website is an information portal for users to learn more about the stand-alone outlet. It does not allow pre-order or home delivery but offers a sample view of the product selection that is available at the store. Nevertheless, it does so in a neat, clean-cut manner but could do better in terms of maximising the potential of the internet. Animation and the online rewards programme are good starts, as is providing the webcam monitor.
The Specials of the Month section, as well as New Arrivals, still deserves more prominent placement in order to create more incentives to shop. The FAQs section could also be more useful if it featured more questions and answers.
What we like:
• Neat presentation
• Ability to view traffic conditions
• Easy navigation, thanks to single navigation panel
• A sense of place (though room for improvement)
What needs improving/adding:
• More products
• The ability of shop or order online
• More incentives to shop such as promotions and special offers
• Livelier atmosphere
Website of the week scoring system explained:
Content: How wide is the range of items on offer? Are there good quality photos and product descriptions?
Pricing: Are product prices listed? For all products?
Navigation: How easy is the site to use?
Style/Design: How does the site look?
Supplementary information: On allowances, currencies, after-sales service, useful tips and so on.
Overall incentive to shop: This includes tone, promotions, offers, competitions and, importantly, pre-order.
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