Transactional Websites

A transactional website is a type of website where you can buy things from, for example Amazon or eBay. It is called a transaction website because when you buy something you are making a transaction when you give your card details. There is a connection between the customer and the company, therefore a transaction is being made.
Transaction websites all have to:
Collect details form the customer – e.g. card details and address
Collect Payment – Some people use paypal instead of direct credit card payment, paypal is a feature linked up with eBay.
It is an intermediary between the customer and the company.

Databases play a big role in these websites to store all of the customer’s information, like payment details, names, phone number and address. It might be details of what you have already purchased from the company, like a purchase history record, showing how much you have spent as a customer so the company can keep track if the payment hasn’t come through. Furthermore, they could have a database to keep on track of all the stock they have.In order for organisations to function, they need to store and communicate information. Information they need on a daily basis is email addresses to keep their customers informed etc.

Websites like Amazon will also need information such as addresses, what is in stock and what isn’t and the quantity.People say that information is the most valuable thing for a company as it can give them a competitive edge. Business can succeed or fail depending on how effective they are in information handling.Information is extremely vital for hospitals and police as in hospital, if information about patients is lost about previous treatments or allergies, then this could lead to major problems with correct prescriptions and treatments.If police databases were lost, then they would have no record of the criminals they have to keep track of, and all the information they need for detective work. Below is an example of a transactional website for the high street clothing store Topshop.

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The Home Page: http://www.topshop.com/
If you want to buy online with topshop, the website clearly guides you on how to do so. On the home page you can tell that you need to make an account in order to purchase items online, here you can see the image of the toolbar at the top of the page:


Once you have logged in you can start shopping and adding items to your shopping bag. You can also create a wish list to either use as a christmas list for you family or personal reference. As you add things to your shopping, bag it tells you how much you have in there as you browse the website. Here is an example of a wish list:



Along the side of the homepage, there are links to all the different areas such as : Coats, Shoes and Accessories. Also when you click on one of the links, it provides you with a drop down list of the different items, for example when you click on 'Dresses' it gives you the options of : Plain, Printed or Knitted.

Now we shall look at what happens when I purchase an item. I have selected this printed dress to purchase from Topshop.com and have added it to my basket, to do this i clicked on the item, selected my size and quantity, then press 'Add to basket', here is a picture of my shopping basket:



Once you are satisfied with the amount of items in your shopping basket, you can check out and purchase you items by entering your card details and your home address.

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Investigating the role and design of transactional website.

The purpose - All transactional websites have a purspose of selling their product or service. That is the aim of the website. In Topshops' case, its purpose is to sell its clothing and other products, where as with a life insurance online company, their aim is to sell their service. With each site, the customer needs to browse the pages as if they were shopping, so all the items need to be clearly shown on the website with prices. First impressions are very important when it comes to online shopping. Personally, if I come across a transactional website which doesnt look very organised or professional, i will not give it a chance and just shut it down and look at another one. If the website is easy to use and is aesthetically pleasing, then i would continue browsing and perhaps purchase something they have to offer.

Case Study - A well known computer company called 'Dell' has the objective to sell their computers online. The site frely allows customers to browse their products and buy a wide range of stock, from home to business. I am going to look at its site and decide whether it meets its objective, here is the home page: http://www.dell.com/

After browsing the website, i feel dell has met its objective. It offers a wide range of computers and many other peripherals, such as printers. They also provide an ink cartridge refill service. Below i have collected together a collage of the different items available. As you can see Dell, offers their products from homes to large businesses:

Structure of transactional websites - Structure is a key thing for a website, in order for it to be easy to use and organised. Customers must be able to adjust to the way the website works quickly so that it saves time and confusion. Often frames are used in websites to keep the stucture of the website in place, and therefore the customer does not get lost whilst browsing the website. It is common for most web designers to keep the pages minimalistic and easy on the eye. For example, the designer of easy.com Jeremy Gillies, has used a very simple colour scheme of orange and white, to distinguish the company and keep it simple, as you can see from the screen shot below:

As you can see from the homepage, there is a search facility. This is essential on a big website as it allows customers to find what they want quickly without pending hours looking through the website to find it.

Case Study: http://www.ebuyer.co.uk/-
This website sells many thousands of computer-related items. Below is an image of the home page. As you can see it has many large panels with special offer items. Every other day these are changed and updated.

You are able to search for items easily as the website has a 'Product Finder' and navigation bar at the top of the page. Like all transaction websites, it has a shopping basket and a membership subscription. The website has a menu and other components all in a frame.