Website of the Week: Aer Lingus Sky Shopping – 01/03/07

Website of the week: Aer Lingus Sky Shopping

Founded in 1936, Irish airline Aer Lingus flies to and from nearly 70 destinations across Ireland, the UK, continental Europe, the US and the Middle East. The Sky Shopping site is accessed via one of several right-hand boxes on the Aer Lingus home page.

The Sky Shopping front page greets users with an encouraging welcome

Style

Aer Lingus wears its national colours proudly with green text on a clean white background, and a green and orange logo. The site is neat and orderly, using pleasant fonts and user-friendly, simple alignments. Product images are available, though only in thumbnail size.

Content and usability

Directly below the words ‘Sky Shopping’ reads – “20% discount on all Jewellery and Watches!” A winning opening gambit for an online shopping site, as the user is immediately shown they have nothing to lose in taking a closer look. The Sky Shopping site is separated into two sections: UK & Europe and Longhaul (USA & Dubai).

UK & Europe offers fewer product categories than Longhaul, with four menu options sitting below the Sky Shopping title: Fragrances for all, Cosmetics for her, Gifts for all and Jewellery & Watches.

The site design is such that all the contents of each flight sector are packed into two corresponding pages. It is thought to ease navigation and cut out slow page loads, and in order to do so Aer Lingus has chosen a web device called anchoring. Small upward arrow icons are anchored below each section to provide a quick route to the menu. However, this design can also involve a fair amount of scrolling up and down the page.

Goods are neatly enclosed in a frame, illustrated with thumbnail images and price in Euros. Clicking on Fragrances for all hones in on the precise spot on the page displaying said items (thanks to the anchors). The fragrances are framed by gender, with nine options for women, including old favourites like Chanel No 5 (€55) and newer additions such as DKNY Be Delicious (€31). Meanwhile, the men get a choice of six, such as Calvin Klein Obsession Night (€35) and Prada for Men (€39).

Cosmetics comprises 12 make-up and skin care items from top brands, including Clinique Shimmer City (€24), YSL Radiant Touch (€23) and L’Oreal Wrinkle Decrease Duo (€22).

If you’ve chosen the scrolling route, the next stop is Jewellery & Watches. Divided into their individual frames – which are both red, to highlight a -20% discount – Jewellery offers six items, such as Pilgrim Necklace (€36), Swarovski earrings (€20) and Irish designer Declan Killen’s Children of Lir pendant (€27). Watches includes four timepieces, such as Sekonda Dual Time Men’s Watch (€52) and D’alton Ladies Paris Watch (€79).

Sky Shopping Longhaul leans heavily towards Irish labels

Gifts, the last product category of the UK & Europe sector, has the most extensive list and as a result has been divided into three sub-categories: Gifts for Children, Aer Lingus Souvenirs and Gifts to Savour. Gifts for Children includes a Sudoko game (€14) and Irish Rag Doll (€5). Aer Lingus Souvenirs include an Aer Lingus model plane (€10) and Aer Lingus playing cards (€4). Gifts to savour features a few useful travel accessories such as Mini Travel Speakers (€22), Skytel Ireland Travel Call Card (€10) and Beverly Hills Polo Club Binoculars with free compass (€30).

Longhaul Sky Shopping, while offering mostly the same products as the above described (some items have been replaced by others), has a few extras – Sweets, spirits, liqueurs and cigarettes. Confectionery includes both Irish and international brands, including Butlers Irish Chocolate selection (€6) and Toblerone (€6).

Spirits and liqueurs lean heavily towards Irish labels such as Jameson Irish Whiskey (€10), Cork Dry Gin (€8) and Irish Mist Liqueur (€10).

Cigarettes include Marlboro, Benson & Hedges and Silk Cut, all at a special offer price – €19 for a 200-pack.

There are no other features included on this two-page shopping site, which is disappointing, but to the credit of the Irish airline, special attention has been given to local products and brands.

What we like: