john lewis - a christmas carol case study (christmas past)

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

CASE STUDY : THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS PAST

JohnLewis.com is an online retail powerhouse in the UK, generating £959m of sales in ‘12/13’ for the retailer. As part of our ‘John Lewis – A Christmas Carol’ piece (a review of the past, present and future of JohnLewis.com) we’ve used Wayback Machine to look at the ghosts of Christmas past in an effort to see what has helped shape the JohnLewis.com of today. Take your time to notice some of the subtleties that define online shopping experiences in the early noughties – as well as some of the obvious no-no’s by today’s standards.

DECEMBER 2000...

Humble beginnings! UX and CRO were not top of anyone’s agenda in 2000. The site was originally part of the John Lewis Now mail order proposition.

DECEMBER 2002...

Wayback Machine is fantastic, but there are sometimes long gaps between dates where a site has been crawled and archived. We jump from 2000 to 2002.

WHEN DVD PLAYERS WERE STILL POPULAR!

ANYTHING OF NOTE?

“Featured shops” would be considered unusual terminology today. Driving footfall to the stores is a stand out message and other prominent positions are given to HR, press, affiliate marketing and corporate messaging.

CHRISTMAS 2004...

TAKEN ON THE 1st NOVEMBER, 8th, 17th and 28th DECEMBER

SPOT ANYTHING?

TAKEN ON THE 1st NOVEMBER, 8th, 17th and 28th DECEMBER

Christmas starts in November for JohnLewis.com in 2004. The new design gives over large space to a timely call to action and free orders Over £150. Although a trusted brand, the Verisign logo was a necessity to demonstrate security in 2004. Homepage was a high level navigation option and the catalogue proposition still played a prominent role.

Christmas starts in November for JohnLewis.com in 2004. The new design gives over large space to a timely call to action and free orders Over £150. Although a trusted brand, the Verisign logo was a necessity to demonstrate security in 2004. Homepage was a high level navigation option and the catalogue proposition still played a prominent role.

The basket preview isn’t present in 2004, but customer service now has a clear, high level position. There is now evidence of more dynamism and perhaps A/B testing on the homepage now with promotional images changing on a daily basis.

In 2004, the last date for delivery was the 16th of December – unless you opted for a £6.95 express delivery.

CHRISTMAS 2005...

TAKEN ON THE 24th OCTOBER, 27th & 30TH NOVEMBER & 10th, 15th ,20TH, 22ND OF DECEMBER

WHAT DID YOU SPOT?

TAKEN ON THE 24th OCTOBER, 27th & 30TH NOVEMBER & 10th, 15th ,20TH, 22ND OF DECEMBER

JohnLewis.com is getting ready for Christmas earlier than ever.

2005 is all about improved navigation into high traffic areas of shopper interest. The Left hand menu is taller and each homepage unit is accompanied by multiple links.

Christmas even features as a main navigation menu now and there’s evidence of micro-seasonality changes as the homepage units given overto decorating the home and hosting guests are replaced with gifts for him, her, kids and everyone else.

Last orders in 2005 were eventually extended to The 21st of December – FIVE more days than in 2004! There’s evidence of more usability testing in the menu headings of the Left hand-navigation menu.

It’s all over... but the sale starts on the 27th Dec.

CHECK OUT OUR BLOG

FOR OUR THOUGHTS ON JOHN LEWIS’ CHRISTMAS PRESENT AND FUTURE:

bit.ly/IVj6U8