Website of the Week Duty Free Express www.dutyfreeexpress.com | |
 | Content (0-4): 3 |
 | Pricing (0-2): 2 |
 | Navigation (0-4): 3 |
 | Style/Design (0-4): 1 |
 | Supplementary information (0-2): 1 |
 | Overall incentive to shop (0-4): 2 |
 | Total (0-20): 12 |
Scoring system explained – click here | |
Website of the Week: Duty Free Express
US. Duty Free Express is a website offering a pre-order service for selected stores across the US, including Duty Free Americas, Ammex and UETA. Users simply select from the website the items they wish to purchase and pick up and pay for them at the respective stores when they travel.
Duty Free Express currently serves seven duty free stores: four in O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois; two in John F Kennedy International Airport in New York; and Duty Free Americas at Port Huron in Michigan.
Style
The home page makes it clear that it is a dedicated duty free shopping website, with a large image of a duty free liquor section splashed across the page. The colours of the home page and image – orange, purple, blue – add life to an otherwise bare website. Clear margins separate sections on a page, creating a neat and orderly look.
Product thumbnails, where available, are good and can be viewed more clearly in the product details page. However, most products lack images, making the website look plain.
Content and usability
“˜Duty Free Shopping Made Quick And Easy’ declares the home page, driving home the intention of Duty Free Express to simplify the shopping process for the user.
Across the top of the home page is a navigation panel with five links: Home, Products, Customer Service, About Us and Store Locater. There is also a link for login or registration for a new account as well as a product search facility.
The home page states its purpose clearly: “˜We offer the ability to buy duty free goods online from select duty free stores, and be picked up on the day of travel from the store’. There is also a link (“˜How does this work?’) explaining step-by-step how to pre-order items on the website.
The main image on the home page instructs users to first select a duty free store, reminding shoppers that they must be leaving the US to pre-order. A disclaimer states that “˜Stores have more products than shown online’ and “˜Store availability and pricing may differ by location’.
These clear instructions reduce confusion and hassle for customers – a good start to the shopping experience.
Below the main image is the product panel, distinguished by its bright orange colour. Products are listed alongside a thumbnail image by category: Cosmetics, Fragrance, Spirits, Watches, Edibles, Luxury Gifts and Tobacco.
Product keywords act as quick links under each category. For example, under Cosmetics there are quick links to Chanel, Christian Dior and Clarins while under Luxury Gifts are links to Accessories, Collectibles and Crystal. Clicking on the “˜View all’ link will lead users to the product listings page.
On selecting a store, shoppers are taken to the designated product pages for that location. The layout for the “˜O’Hare International Airport Terminal 1-B’ page, for example, is exactly the same as the home page, except the main image is replaced by the store location in large fonts and five featured products. These five products are “˜Vodka’, “˜American Cigarettes’, Burberry Fragrances’, “˜Clinique Cosmetics’ and “˜Cigars’.
There is also a slight change in the top navigation panel. It now displays the store you are currently browsing and a link to change the store location, ensuring you always know where you are shopping.
Clicking the “˜View all’ link under the Cosmetics category will lead the user to a page listing all available brands in alphabetical order. Some 13 cosmetics brands are listed, including international heavyweights such as Estée Lauder and Yves Saint Laurent as well as cult brands such as Hard Candy and Urban Decay. While there are no thumbnails on this listings page, the page is neat, thanks to the dotted lines separating the brand names.
The products under each brand name are also listed neatly in alphabetical order with no thumbnails. Prices are clearly stated, along with the option to add item to shopping cart. Item availability information is also given, either “˜in stock’ or “˜temporarily sold out.’ Clicking the item name will further display the vendor number, sku, volume and country of origin, along with product image (if available).
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“˜Duty Free Shopping Made Quick And Easy’ declares the home page, driving home the intention of Duty Free Express to simplify the shopping process for the user |
The Fragrance section is livelier in comparison, thanks to image thumbnails displayed for (almost) all brands. Some 51 brands are listed in alphabetical order, including international names (Burberry, Chanel and Calvin Klein) and celebrity scents (Britney Spears, J Lo). It would make for easier browsing if the fragrances could be classified as men’s or women’s: men’s lines include Hugo Boss, Kenneth Cole and Ermenegildo Zegna.
The Watches section comprises three categories: Casual Watches, Fine Watches and Luxury Watches. Eight brands are listed in the casual section: AK Anne Klein II, Andre Piasso, Bijoux Terner, Fossil, Kenneth Cole, Nike, Swiss Army and Tommy Hilfiger. Fine Watches includes brands such as Fendi, Gucci, Movado, Omega and TAG-Heuer. Luxury Watches spans Bvlgari, Hermès and Montblanc. Several brands did not have products listed.
Under the Edibles section are two categories: Candy and Chocolate. Eight brands are listed under Chocolate, alongside their logos: Anthon Berg, Godiva, Guylian, Hawaiian King, Lindt, M&M Mars, Nestlé and Toblerone. In comparison, Candy only listed one brand: Jelly Belly.
A dozen categories are listed under Luxury Gifts: Accessories, Collectibles, Crystal, Handbags, Handkerchiefs, Jewelry, Leather, Luggage, Pens, Scarves, Sunglasses and Ties. Each category contains brands best known for the respective categories, such as Hermès scarves, Swarovski crystal, Montblanc pens and Hot Diamonds jewellery. Unfortunately, no available products were displayed for most of the categories at the time of viewing.
Due to the age restrictions on liquor and tobacco in the US, the website requires users to enter their date of birth for age validation in the Spirits and Tobacco sections.
Upon entering the Spirits page, users are presented with 15 types of spirits: Aperitif, Beer, Bourbon, Brandy, Cognac, Gin, Irish Rye Whisky, Liqueur, Rum, Rye, Scotch – Malt, Scotch – Premium, Scotch – Standard, Tequila and Vodka. The respective image thumbnails are arranged in rows of four. Product thumbnails are also available on each of the brand pages, enhancing the visual aspect of the shopping experience.
The Tobacco section includes American Cigarettes, Canadian Cigarettes, Cigars, Imported Cigarettes and Specialty Tobacco. Fifteen brands of American cigarettes are listed, including Camel, Lucky Strike, Marlboro, Virginia Slims and Winston. Matinee is the only Canadian brand of cigarettes listed while ten cigar brands are available, including Davidoff, H Upmann, Montecristo and Partagas. Imported cigarette brands include Chunghwa from China, Gauloises from France, Lambert & Butler from the UK and Prince from Denmark. Product thumbnails are available on almost all tobacco pages.
The Customer Service page contains information on privacy and security on the site, as well as the chance to send feedback to Duty Free Express. US Customs declaration forms are available for download, along with instructions on how to fill them out. Information on allowances is found on the About Us page, a spot users might miss easily.
The Store Locator page displays a map of the US on which shoppers can click a state. They may also select a search type from the top of the map: by State, by Airports or by Northern Border. There are also options to search by postal/ZIP code or by mile radius (15, 25, 35, 45, 55).
Overall, Duty Free Express is a well-organised and neat site. Its easy navigation and clear instructions ensure that users do not get lost or confused. There is more room for improvement visually; right now it seems only certain product categories – namely Spirits, Tobacco and Fragrance – contain image thumbnails. Several categories had broken images and many did not have products for display.
What we like:
• Fairly extensive product selection
• Clear step-by-step instructions
• Neat and tidy look
What needs improving/adding:
• Image thumbnails for all products
• More incentives to shop such as promotions and special offers
• More colours or animation to jazz up the site.
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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PREVIOUS WEBSITES OF THE WEEK
Website of the Week: SkyMall – 17/01/08
Website of the Week: Beirut Duty Free – 10/01/08
Website of the Week: The Tax-Free Shop, Copenhagen Airport – 20/12/07
