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 there--and 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.
