A.

Best practice Ecommerce Analysis

First of all, I selected many sites which propose the same services as “Travellary”, that is to say trips,
but for travellers who want to have an unusual experience during their holiday, from eco-holidays to
cultural, sportive, tech-hungry holidays etc.

Then I used the evaluation grids that you can find in the appendices below to select my 3 best sites.

Thanks to the evaluation grid, the 3 very best websites I have chosen are:

www.originaltravel.co.uk (site1)

www.oasisoverland.co.uk (site2)

www.adventuresportsholidays.com (site3)

Summary of best practice lessons:

Content:

- Contact section: very useful for customers who need further information (all three sites). This section is
present on nearly all websites, but what currently stands out is the presence of an online method: site 2
which proposes a Skype discussion through the section “join us online”. Very important, in particular in
tourism, because it allows customers from everywhere in the World to contact the group quickly and for
free.The visitor must easily be able to find the means to contact a person, by e-mail or thanks to any form
of contact.

- A Home section: inevitable for the visitor not to lose his/her way (all three sites).But in the case of
holidays and trips, a “home page for trips” is a bonus point (site 2).

- A login section: useful for customers who come more often than not; they can have access to further
details and get a feeling of affiliation with the site (three sites); a section for company registration
facilitates the access for a boss to book business travel (sites 2,3) and a “wish list” allows the customer to
take in his preferences.(site3)

- A company information section: Though “why us?” or “about us” (all three sites), or “Responsible
travel” (site 2), it is for the visitor one of the most important things which has to be visible: it gives
confident to the visitor, and information about the company, the skills of its staff, the awards or the
actions of the group…

- A help section with FAQ’s, privacy policy, terms and conditions (nearly the three all) replies to the
visitor’s answer, and can reassure him.

- A stay in touch section : creates a reciprocity bond between the visitor and the website. Links to
networking sites, are currently fundamental : it gives opportunities to publicize the website,which can
thus look accessible and open to compliments and criticism.It creates an added-value for the website, and
free publicity (sites 2, 3).The “newsletter” and “latest news” are also a good thing to give news to the
visitor and give him an urge to visit the website again.

- As regards the services proposed by our website, that is to say, trips and holidays, the sections
“destinations” (all three sites), or ”explore”, “experiences”, “activities” are necessary but it depends on
the kind of trips proposed. A section “special offers” (sites 1, 2) catches the attention.

- “Information about the trip” section:

 → To help the visitor who just wants to take a look, and with no accurate idea of destination and time he
wants to go, the sections “brochure online”, “travellers feedbacks”, or ”blog” (all three sites), “our
favorites” (site 1),” trip of the month” (site2), “photo gallery”(sites 2,3) or “videos”(site3) are very good
ideas.
→For a visitor who wants to compare and has an accurate idea of his destination, and the time he wants
to go, “When to go” (site 1) allows him to see the best destinations by month, whereas “Christmas and
new Year availability” help to find something by seasons, and “what you get for your money”, “trip finder”
help people who want to compare their choices.

- A game section, like “only 82 days to go” which is a photo game, is a good way to improve the number
of people on the website.(site2)

Structure :
(on all three sites) :
- Contents have to prevail over the packaging: no virtuosity techniques but information for customers .
- Elements of information : organized into a hierarchy by importance level : most important elements at
the top of the page.
- Sitemap: allows the visitor to know where he is.Overall view of the site, idea of what the site offers.
- Home page - provides the name and the logo of the websites.Accessible in less than 1 clik(just sites 2,3)
or in one click(the visitor should never list his way).Attractive graphically but no to overloaded.Direct
access to return to the top of page.
- Search engine– presence on the home page (just site 1,3)
- Pictures : associated with text, give additional information , quick loading.
- Bar -Progression of downloading at the bottom of the page
- Moving images : slide show, it allows to catch the eye of the Internet user : used for a strong message.

Navigation:
(On all three sites):
The adopted browser system has to be aimed at minimizing the mental effort of the user.
- Information should be accessible within 3 clicks
- Browser bar: location of the visitor and what he can still browse.
- Scroll bar: Vertical (avoid horizontal)
- Links (interactivity): A visitor must be able to guess where a link will guide him without having even
clicked on it. Hypertext links offer vast possibilities in this domain and allow to offer the visitor multiple
possibilities according to his fancy.
- Loading time for a page : has to be the shortest possible because the majority of the Internet users wait
no more than 15 seconds.It depends in particular on the connection of the visitor, on the size of the page
and on its images, as well as on the capacities of the Web server.

Spotting : (on all three sites)

- Logo : present on all the pages, in the same place, and a uniform graphics standard applied to all the
pages to allow the user to know that he is always on the same site.
- URL address: clear, short, readable and accurate: avoid special characters. The user can be able to
return easily on the site.

Pages: (on all three sites)

It is advisable to take into account the fact that the written information is less easy to read on a screen
than on a paper.
- Police: not to small, bold rather than italics.
-Texts: well-spaced out, structured by means of paragraphs and of titles of various levels, to facilitate the
reading.
- Homogeneity in the presentation of the pages of the site
Homogeneity of the structure : The browsing elements must be situated in the same place on all the
pages, if possible with a uniform display from one page to another.
- Fast loading despite the numerous pictures
- Logo: for the security when you pay

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Avoid:
- Too much information on the home page- Example: www.promovacances.com
- Bad spelling
- Abbreviations
- Advertising Ex: www.nouvelles-frontieres.fr
- Too much animation or sounds
- Think about the difficulties to print (black police on white background )

→We can see thanks to this diagram that the structure of this site, which seems a bit complicated, is very
logical and carefully prepared. Indeed, there are logical links between each part, the most important parts
are on the home page and it links with subdivisions. Moreover, we can see that all the sections are related
to each others, because certain elements have to appear on each section, in the same place on all the
pages, in order to save a considerable amount of time for the visitor.

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Diagram of the most effective site structure:
-Experience of the destination
-View all of the trip selected
-Responsible travel / Volunteer --
-Projects
-FAQ

Middle East South America Africa Peru Egypt, Jordan and Israel

Book your trip HOME PAGE

Home About Oasis About our trips Our brochure Contact us My account

Why choose Oasis?

Our Vehicles
Projects we support What do you get for your money?
Responsible Travel How to book a trip?
Trip diaries and oasis in the Media Volunteer projects and trips add ons
Charters and Hire Travellers feedback
Work for oasis Frequently asked questions
Travel insurance
Terms and conditions

Select a destination About Oasis overland Latest news Only 79 days to go (game)

Traveller feedback Special offers

Join us online Special events Trip of the month

Traveller blog and diaries

Quick trip finder Brochure Newsletter Call us on…

Privacy policy Terms and conditions Sitemap

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 APPENDICES

Appendice 4: Process to find the 3 very best websites

Original Ultimate Nkf-mt Oasis Adventure Travel Paramount-

travel Destinations overland sports bite travel
holidays
First impressions 5 4 2 4 3 3 1
Knowledge of users 4 2 2 4 4 3 2
Quality of 3 1 1 5 4 2 2
content/information
Site structure and 4 3 1 4 3 2 1
construction
Ease of getting 3 2 2 3 4 2 1
around the site
Visual presentation 5 1 1 5 3 2 1
Overall ‘user 4 1 3 4 4 2 1
experience’ rating
Total Site Score 28 14 12 29 25 16 10

The number 1 corresponds to the lowest grade and 5 the highest.

More precisely, I used the evaluation grids below, which are divisions helping me to put the grades and
illustrate them.

Appendice 5: Site content of the 3 very best sites

Content :

Original Travel Oasis Overland Adventure

sports holidays
Content
Home   
Home our trips   
Log into your account   
Agent login/register   
your company
Contact us   
Why us ?   
About us   
About our trips   
Newsletter   
Call us on…   
Join us online   

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Our trib/community   
Questions   
Brochure/plan it   
Destinations   
Testimonials/travellers   
feedback
Time best travel   
Special offers   
Experiences   
Activities   
When to go   
Search   
Trip finder/Quick Trip   
finder
Our favorites   
Original travel shop   
Christmas and New Year   
Availability
Find/select destination   
Holiday Type   
Holiday Reason   
Explore   
Book your trip/book it   
Photo gallery/album   
Trip of the month   
Special events   
Latest news   
What you get for your   
money?
Videos   
My wish list   
Partners   
Journal/blog-Travellers   
blogs and diaries
Responsible travel   
FAQs (What you need   
to know)
Terms et conditions   
Privacy Policy   
Sitemap   
Links   
Only 82 days to go?   
(game)
I like (facebook)/find us   
on facebook, or other
social networks

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Appendice 6 : Site structure and navigation of the 3 very best sites

Original Oasis Adventure

Travel Overland sports
holidays
Site structure and navigation
The Home page is attractive graphically.   
It gives a good idea of the content of the
website.
The content dominates on the   
packaging : accurate information is
given.
The name of the site and its logo are   
present on the home page
The elements of information are   
organized into a hierarchy by important
level. The most important elements
appear at the top of page
Search engineon the home page.   
Acces to home page in less than on clik.   
Fast load in spite of numerous pictures   
Soft colors and low contrasts
The police is big enough and not in   
italics (bold)
The texts are not too long   
and well spaced out
The online Payment is secure   
Images are associated to text
Animations (slide show…) are used   
because they catch the eye of the
Internet user.
Any information accessible in less than 3   
cliks.
Text is structured by means of   
paragraphs and of titles of various levels
to facilitate the reading
THE URL adress of the site is clear,short,   
and explicit

The time of downloading a page is quick   

Hypertext links   
The visitor could easily find the means to   
contact a person, by e-mail or thanks to
a form of contact.
Need the vertical lifts (scroll bar) to   
browse the website but not the
horizontal ones.
Progression of dowloading at the page   
The navigation is easy to understand   
An overall view of the site is accessible   
in the shape of a plan

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