Sure Fit
Sure Fit Site
Background
Surefit is a US company that sells slipcovers for over couches and chairs. Surprisingly, they have grown very quickly to achieve 85% market share and turnover of US$180 million, appealing to people wanting to redecorate rooms whilst keeping their existing furniture. The web site www.surefit.net is an important part of this - both in terms of direct online sales as well as people that use the site as a catalogue reference for traditional sales.
The product itself is deceptively simple - what could be complicated about selling a slipcover over the web? Like many online interactions, providing basic information is fairly simple, but providing the information that the user needs, in a context that is intuitive requires more effort.
We conducted user testing, and found that the site was having problems in several critical areas. Users were able to find the general product area they were looking for (e.g.: a cover for a 2 seat couch) but were having difficulty refining their search to find exactly what they were after (e.g.: a slipcover in blue tartan suede to fit my deep seated couch).
This inability to find exactly what they were after was resulting in user frustration and abandoned shopping carts. We redesigned the product browsing process so that users were able to begin browsing for a product from a number of different points - e.g.:
- Lifestyle articles that feature a "room makeover", from which a
- User might see something they need
- Google search
- Product name search
- Browse by fabric pattern, colour, sofa size, or type
Once a specific product is found, the other variations and similar products are also shown. This facilitates navigation by association, rather than just a pinpoint search.
Another improvement was to redesign the site to use a CSS layout, rather than tables or Flash (as per previous design) while at the same time making the site seem "visual" rather than text heavy. This has reduced page sizes and downloaded speeds by up to 70%, meaning a considerable saving in bandwidth costs as well as a faster user experience.