I love sciplus.com. Not only because it sells Bomex separatory
funnels, mug warmers, and gallon drums of plastic ants; not only
because they have a great mascot named Jarvis; and not only
because their URL is a clever play on words ("sciplus," sounds
like Bugs Bunny saying "surplus." Surplus is their specialty,
with an emphasis on science. In this short little url, they get
both aspects in thereand turn it into a punchline to boot). I
just dig the whole thing, all around. I visit them to see what
nifty gadgets they're hawking this week, but their hilarious
catalog descriptions keep me coming back just to read the
content. "So," you may be asking, "who are these guys, anyway?"
Sciplus is actually the online incarnation of American Science
and Surplus, which has been in existence (in some form or the
other) for most of the 20th Century. In 1937, Mr. Al Leubbers was
just hanging around Chicago, working for Western Electric. He
happened to be an optics buff, so when he noticed that the
warehouse next door was tossing out large numbers of reject
lenses (Ping! Went the lightbulb over Al's head) he asked the
company if he could buy the rejects. They told him he could have
them if he'd please just take them away. Al and his wife Buddy
spent the next several weeks polishing lenses at the kitchen
table. They placed an ad in Popular Mechanics, and started
unloading them at 10 for $1, and American Lens and Photo was
born. The company expanded to embrace general surplus after World
War II, and became the American Science Center. They officially
became American Science and Surplus in the early 90s, and have
been online since '95. Though they're not a strictly e-business
(they have real stores in Chicago, Geneva, and Milwaukee) I think
anyone who's serious about having an online presence (especially
if you're selling stuff) should take a look at what these cats
are up to-because a business dedicated to "discovery and
invention...[and] having fun along the way," intuitively
understands how to build an almost perfect site.
Want to know what their secret formula is? Well, part of it is an
inborn, twisted sense of humor, but they're also clever
businessmen. Launch your browser, pull up the site, and let's
take the ten-cent educational tour...
1. Navigation: Their first brilliant move? They created a
template page, so that all their pages would have a consistent
look and feel. When you're cataloging as much information as
sciplus, you need to have a template, not only for practicality's
sake, but for navigation's sake. They don't make their users re-
orient themselves every time they click to a new page. But that's
not to say that static is always good. Hit "refresh." Notice
anything? That's right. Their featured products rotated. When you
first brought up the page, you may have seen goo-goo-googly
plastic eyes, hex keys and assorted plastic drums. Now you're
looking at dino stencils, glass bowls and coffee grinders.
They've programmed the page to rotate up different
products...smart!
They've also put their most important links at the top (ordering,
sale items, what's new) and then listed everything else on the
left-hand side of the page. Also notice that these side links are
broken down into categories: the product listings are at the very
top, and then broken off in a box, we get the fun (but less
essential) stuff. We have "Help for the stymied surpie," "Who is
Jarvis?" and "Items flying out the door." Below this are links
for email updates and a check for users to be sure that the site
is secure.
But go back to those product listings. Click on "Containers." In
orange, you'll see a complete listing of pages for every product
that falls under the header of "containers." That way, a user can
immediately jump to the page they're looking for, but not get
lost in infinite sub-pages, because that left-side nav bar is
always there to help them get back out again. Sciplus has
thousands of items, and this is an ingenious way to make their
content "transparent" no matter where a user is on the site.
2. Graphics: If you sell stuff online, chances are you've
already developed an ulcer worrying about the virtues of quick
downloads vs. product photos. Well, take a look at what the
clever sciplus crew has done: they've used simple (but accurate!)
line drawings to represent everything they sell. These little
graphics take seconds to download, but the customer still knows
what they're in for...and I'm sure you'll agree that you would
want to know what a flagellation titration flask looks like
before shelling out ten bucks for it.
3. Copy: It's short. It's snappy. It's funny as hell. Let me give
you an example of a product description...for tape. You'd think
that describing a roll of tape would be very boring, but look
what they do with it:
"Very cool tape, whether you're shipping drugs, storing diamonds,
or sealing boxes of confidential records. Seal a package with
this 2" wide dark-blue tape that has Investigational Drug
Services Venture printed on it in light blue. Any tampering will
be evident, because the tape cannot be removed without leaving a
dense blue stripe on the surface, boldly patterned with the word
'OPENED.' One roll on a 3" core is 250 ft long. Whoever woulda
thought? Peace of mind from a piece of tape!"
Now, I don't know about you, but that makes me want to buy this
tape. No matter what you're selling, finding a unique voice will
keep users in your site. Content DOES matter, no matter what
anyone says. If this tape had been described in a cold, clinical
way, it wouldn't be half as appealing. I want to buy this tape
partly because the description made me laugh, partly due to the
novelty of it, partly due to the fact that I can think of certain
boxes I'd like to seal from potential tamperers. And lo and
behold, right under this lovely description, I see the order
number, the product name, the price, and an orange link that says
BUY ME. I don't have to look for an order page; my impulse buy
will not be dampened by lots of clicking. If I fall in love with
this tape, I click right then and there and add it to my shopping
cart.
4. Order Forms: Sciplus has placed all their ordering information
along the top of the page. Very saavy. Nothing loses a customer
more quickly than an obscure, buried-at-the-bottom order form
link. They also offer customers ordering options, and have coded
each option with a separate color. This becomes a non-text
ordering "language" for the entire site. When you see that orange
BUY ME! link you know that it's option number three, because it's
coded orange. This makes ordering fast 'n' easy, which means they
probably get lots of sales for those googly eyes, among other
things.
5. Other Miscellaneous Smart Moves:
They created a newsletter to update users when new products have
been added to the site; they distribute a printed catalog, and
ordering it is a snap online; their contact info is easy to find,
as are the addresses of their actual stores. And the entire tone
of the site is full of whimsy, good humor, curiosity and
generosity. Sure, they want to sell you stuff-but they don't push
it in your face. What they do push in your face is the
information you want at your fingertips.
So go into the site. Play around with it, learn from it, and I'm
sure you'll find other features that I haven't covered here. And
while you're at it, be sure to pick up a stainless-steel pill
splitter or some rechargeable sealed-lead calcium batteries.
About the Author
Stefene Russell will do a
complete analysis of your site, including personalized
tips on copy and design at http://fixmywebsite.com/analysis.htm
Whether you're an e-business or a content provider, find
ut how to make your site professional and effective.
Read Stefene's free web site tips at http://FixMyWebsite.com
Reach her at stefene@drnunley.com or 801-328-9006.