Jumbo Electronics recently launched Jumbo.ae which is their new online store set to take the UAE by storm – or so they hope.
It’s a bold step forward for what I believe is the largest electronics chain in the region (or one of the largest!). I’ve shopped at their retail outlets a few times and found their pricing to be on par with other similar outlets and customer service being the same as everywhere else in Dubai (ambivalent at best!).
Their new site has a flat and very clean look about it which is easy on the eye. There’s good use of breadcrumbs and navigation is clear and consistent. The use of negative space is very generous and the lack of clutter and banners is refreshing (though that may well change as they grow):
It’s responsive too – and even passes the newly launched Mobile-Friendly test from Google:
So, I decided to give the website a whirl as a potential customer and this is how it went down:
I’m interested in buying video games for my PS3 so I decide to browse the site to see what their offerings are.
I went through Consumer Electronics > Gaming > Titles to get to the list of video games by hovering over each menu option and this is what I saw:
Note that the brand filter only has 3 options: Activision, PS4 and XBOX – this makes no sense as PS4 and XBOX are console names and Activision is the name of a games publisher. It’s fine to filter games by publisher but at least include that as a separate filter. I know their retail outlets stock a lot more games for other platforms like Nintendo Wii and Wii U as well as PC.
Also note that there’s a PS3 game on the right (FIFA 15), yet there’s no filter option for PS3 games.
Interestingly, the Price filter has a rather incredible range of 0-500 – hardly a filter and especially useless considering no games on offer exceed the 299 AED mark. In fact, I haven’t seen anything come close to 500 AED. When it comes to games, newly launched titles always attract a premium but the older versions are much cheaper so filtering every 50 or 100 AED would make more sense.
The “Lifestyle” filter also makes no sense:
Now being an SEO, I naturally analyse other elements that most people don’t notice, like meta data. The page title for this page is: “Buy Titles | Shop Online for Titles | Jumbo.ae” – this page is all about video games for consoles, this title tag should contain “video games”, not “titles”.
The meta description is also somewhat cryptic: “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.” If you’re after video games, then you won’t be buying them from Jumbo, that’s for sure. If you’re after “titles”, then Jumbo seems to be the place to go! I will give them credit as they do mention ‘free next day delivery across UAE’ – that’s an important USP and conversion element.
Now, the PS3 game in question has been discounted from 269 AED to 215 AED which is great to see however on the actual product page, this discount isn’t mentioned anywhere:
I feel that the discount should be present to remind the customer of the great deal they’re getting.
The product description also seems to be cut short for some bizarre reason. Although a franchise as popular as FIFA doesn’t require a description (in a sense), the fact that this description is incomplete looks unprofessional. It also appears to be the first few lines from the main product description listed at the bottom. Ideally, you’d want this top description to be concise and unique – not just a poorly truncated effort.
The page title for this page is relevant but doesn’t mention the Jumbo brand name: “Buy FIFA 15 For PS3 online” and the meta description is woeful: “FIFA 15 is the latest edition of the FIFA Series from EA Sports. With Messi being the brand ambassador for this Game fans are flooding the stores”. Th
There’s no mention of Jumbo, no incentives (free delivery, same day delivery, etc) – it’s basically boring and unoriginal. Interestingly, this page does not have the USP we saw from the main Games page which mentions free delivery across the UAE so it’s a critical flaw.
They do have a few icons to the side with some incentives (hat tip to JadoPado for this as they did this quite well), like stock availability, free delivery, 5 day free return as well as click n collect (buy online, pick up in store) and although you can’t fit all of this into the meta description, for me, I feel they could at least mention free delivery – that’s a huge drawcard everywhere because let’s face it, who doesn’t want free delivery?!
It’s nice to see Jumbo Recommends and What Others Bought at the bottom of the product page – however, Jumbo Recommends is noticeably bare:
I’m sure they’ll sort that out at some point because it’s a good opportunity to cross sell.
So as a potential customer, I wanted to test drive the checkout process because that’s a hugely important part of the experience and when the item was added to cart, a nice window to the side popped up:
This is great to see because one pet peeve of online shoppers is not knowing if an item has been added to cart.
Once I proceeded to checkout, I was met with this screen which I really like:
Let’s see what makes it so good:
1. It has my order summary on the right hand side – another great reminder and confirmation of what I’ve ordered and the cost.
2. It has social login options (I’ve never used them personally).
3. It allows you to continue as a guest shopper – YES! Sometimes you’re just in a hurry and haven’t got time to register – I know I had this issue when ordering flowers for my wife a while ago – so I can appreciate guest checkouts. I can also appreciate having an account (they have a small note advising you on why you should register).
4. they’ve listed it out as a 3 step process: sign in or buy as a guest, shipping and billing info and then finally payment and billing info. They’re also being a bit cute with small comments next to each process.
5. it’s uncluttered and clean – it’s what a checkout process should be.
Now I didn’t intend on buying anything so this is as far as I went in relation to the checkout process. I’ve read about some issues with the “Click n Collect” option but that may get ironed out in the coming weeks.
Jumbo also offer cash on delivery which JadoPado found to be quite a pain in the proverbial. Since they scrapped it, things have been looking a lot better for them. I know this region is very much accustomed to cash on delivery but there’s so much wrong with the concept which the ninjas at JadoPado have talked about in great detail.
The site is only offered in English which I find interesting given the region – it’s a lot of work to setup and maintain an online store in multiple languages but not something you think would be beyond the capabilities of an entity like Jumbo.
Overall, the site is a step in the right direction for such a prominent brand but there’s still plenty to be done to improve the end user experience and of course, the SEO. They’re doing a lot of things right on the site but success will be measured by sales, ultimately and only time will tell how that goes. I certainly hope they improve quickly and wish them the best as they carve out a place for themselves in this rapidly growing space in the region.
This has been a very quick review but look out for a more in-depth review when I do decide to make a purchase!
Update: 17 October 2021 – a new review of Jumbo.ae
