The Number

Visitors to home appliance websites who intended to visit store The less complicated, the better. That’s the result announced in late September of a study by Westlake Village market research firm J.D. Power & Associates on websites that sell home appliances. The study looked at four factors that determine a website experience: information, navigation, appearance and speed. It defined “complexity” as being related to the organization, clarity of information and the ease of navigation on the site. For appliance brand websites that were less complicated than shoppers expected, 62 percent of visitors said they intended to follow up with a trip to a brick-and-mortar store. Among websites that were more complicated than expected, that number dropped to 22 percent. Christina Cooley, director of home improvement industries at J.D. Power, said the definition of expectations was up to each respondent. “The question asks how the website did in comparison to their expectations going into the shopping experience,” she explained. General Electric Co. ranked highest among appliance brand websites, while Lowe’s Cos. Inc. was top among retailers. At the bottom of the list, Samsung Group, Frigidaire and Whirlpool Corp. were in close competition for worst brand, while hhgregg Inc. and Costco Wholesale ranked worst among retailers. This is the third year J.D. Power has conducted the Appliance Shopper Website Evaluation Study. During that time, mobile devices have emerged as part of the shopping experience, as buyers consult their tablets or phones to compare features and prices at other stores. “The biggest trend is the development of responsive websites to accommodate smartphone shoppers, as they expect a full experience rather than the limited mobile websites of the past,” Cooley said. – Joel Russell