Some time ago I wrote a review of the new Jumbo.ae e-commerce venture for Jumbo Electronics.
When I say some time ago, I mean back at the end of 2014. I promised to write a follow-up but suffice to say, life got in the way.
So now nearing the end of 2021, I’m back, with my followup.
I know this will be a very different writeup compared to anything I would have written had I done this in say, 2015 or even 2016.
A LOT has happened online. Mobile has become so much more important. Online shopping has seen an exponential rise (even without COVID-19) and let’s not forget the countless Google updates. It will be interesting to see how things have changed with Jumbo.ae in light of all of this.
Clean and Clear
Back when I did my review, I noticed the site was clean and clear. It was uncluttered and had a flat design (remember when that was a thing?). It seems that nothing has really changed with Jumbo. In fact, it’s almost identical to the 2014 version.
You might argue, why fix it if it aint broke? And you might be right. But it’s been almost 7 years. Even Amazon has undergone changes in this time!
Here’s the launch homepage vs the current homepage (October 2021):
Page Speed
Back in 2014, we didn’t worry about page speed like we do now. Certainly wasn’t any talk about Core Web Vitals or anything of the sort. And the most we focused on was being mobile-friendly (what a lovely detailed term that is!).
Fast forward to 2021, have so much more happening when it comes to page speed and making sure our pages load quickly, look beautiful and work as expected on any device, screen and internet connection.
I ran a quick page speed test using PageSpeed Insights and it’s not good news for Jumbo.ae:
This is by no means extensive page load testing. For that, you’d need to test more than just the homepage, employ more tools and dive head first into the data. But given that the homepage is often the most visited page, it pays to get it to load as quickly as is humanly possible. I say this because getting to the land of the green lights is a perilous journey.
Here’s a snapshot from GTMetrix using the UK as a location:
The CWV results aren’t as bad as you’d expect but there’s plenty of room for improvement.
Multingual Support
On launch, Jumbo.ae was only offered in English. It’s now got an Arabic version. I did a few spot checks and the switch between languages is seamless with the site redirecting users to the corresponding page in the chosen language without a hitch. URLs are in English though (not the biggest issue I might add). Also, Jumbo.ae use /ar/ for Arabic URLs but has chosen not to use /en/ for English URLs. This is an interesting choice as I’d have opted to make a clear distinction between the 2 languages using language subfolders.
There is also the presence of the correct hreflang tags but no self-referencing canonical. I guess 1 out 2 is ok.
Meta Data
I lamented the lack of meta data optimisation on my last visit to the site. Not much has changed.
Using the same example as I did last time, this is the URL for video games: https://www.jumbo.ae/gaming/titles
Jumbo.ae refers to them as ‘titles’.
Last time, the page title for this page was: “Buy Titles | Shop Online for Titles | Jumbo.ae”
Today, the page title for this page is: “Buy Gaming Title Online at Best Price in UAE | Jumbo.ae”
It’s an improvement of sorts but not enough.
As for the meta description, this is what it said last time:
“Need Deals on Titles? Check & Compare Prices, Specifications, Features & Prices from the Best Selection of Titles in UAE. Shop Now for Free Next Day Delivery across UAE.”
Today, this is what it says: “Buy Gaming Titles for popular games across UAE at best price, from popular brands Nintendo, PC, PlayStation and Xbox! Shop Now for Free Next Day Delivery across UAE!”
This has been fleshed out a bit more and is close to what I’d recommend for a meta description.
Spot checks on random products and categories shows an improvement in meta data but there’s plenty of room for improvement across the board.
For e-commerce and when you have so many different things for sale, I believe it’s not a case of using a cookie cutter approach with writing your meta data.
If I was managing the SEO for Jumbo.ae, I’d be using the data from my extensive keyword research and understanding of consumer behaviour to write fantastic titles and descriptions that would get pages ranked and visited, and products sold.
Content on Category pages
This is somethign that was absent the last time I checked and is now present onthe site. I recommend this tactic and it’s somethign that has to be tastefully executed.
Here’s what it looks like at the bottom of the Gaming page:
It’s not the best, I’ll be frank. No one’s gonna read this and it’s clearly content written for the sake of it. Lots of keywords are bold, there’s 5 subheadings and a handful of internal links.
But what is more interesting is how Jumbo.ae is using this tactic on other category pages, like the Gaming top level page: 
This is problematic in a few ways:
- It’s obscure. It’s easy to miss this and I would guess that most people don’t even know this is here.
- It’s inconsistent – it’s on the top of the page but when you go to the Gaming Titles subcategory, it’s in the footer.
It gets even more bizarre when you look at the content on the Cameras page. It’s got content that belongs on the blog (which does not exist).
I would give this a re-think and a complete overhaul. It’s not wrong. It’s just not executed effectively and efficiently.
Sitemap
There’s an HTML sitemap! Hurrah. I love these, especially for e-commerce. Very effective for large sites and when you’ve got problematic navigation (like Jumbo.ae has), it does all the heavy lifting for you. If you couple this with proper category page content with great internal links, you’re on the road to success. Throw in some optimised meta data and BAM. Printin’ money, son!
Links to Category pages from homepage
There’s a lot of content on the homepage and there’s subsections for categories, showing products. This is fine, but there’s no links to category pages which is a missed opportunity to leverage the link value locked in the homepage. Yes you could click on a product, then go to the top level page via the breadcrumbs but this is redundant and inefficient.
The checkout process is as clean and easy as it was back in 2014. But what gets me is that it still gives you the option to login using Google+!
I get the feeling that Jumbo doesn’t do any significant sales online (at least at a level you’d expect from a brand this big).
I find the site clean and clear but slow to load. I also find the navigation and filtering to be problematic (as it was upon launch).
Jumbo benefits from a strong physical retail presence and I suspect this is what they rely heavily on. Online still does not appear to be a major part of their business.
Jumbo.ae needs work but it is not beyond redemption. I look forward to doing another review, hopefully in the not too distant future where Jumbo.ae truly owns the online space.
