OOAK Table Tennis Forum

As many of you would know, my Mrs runs the OOAK shop (http://tabletennisshop.com.au) as a full time job, and I help her out by giving equipment advice, and also by maintaining the shop website, both of which I do love doing!

Although the business is running fine, our shop is not that big, and of course there are other bigger businesses in AU, that see us as competitors and would like nothing better than see us disappear. Since we have no interest in playing games or politics regarding the business, instead I've been spending quite a bit of time lately trying to improve the shop website, making it more responsive, more user friendly and more informative. You may have noticed I've not been as active here lately, as it kept me quite busy. I'm hoping some of you can spare a few mins for some feedback to help me along?

Feedback:
Recent site improvement have been (1) much more efficient running speed, (2) more intuitive menu systems (3) highlighting what we specialise in, and (4) more information and articles to help people make informed choices. As most of you have probably bought from an online shop before (ours or elsewhere), I would love to hear your honest feedback on what you do or don't like, and how we might be able to improve?

Testimonials:
I'm told that testimonials from customers can really show that a shop is reputable and offers good advice. If any of you have had a good OOAK Shop experience and would be willing to share a few lines, and allow us to publish this on the shop website (with a name and city where you live), it would be very much appreciated! I guess we'd be looking for comments about (1) shop service (2) advice you received, (3) goods you received, or any other comments you'd like to share.

So if you're willing offer some feedback or a testimonial, please post it here, or PM me or send a message via the shop or Email. Thanks a lot guys!

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OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide

Ok here I go, brutal honesty... To be honest I haven't noticed much change in the webstore site. Are the thumbnail pics new, the rubber and blade etc at the top of the middle of the main section/frame? and the services at the bottom I hadn't noticed them until I looked just then.

Firstly I dont think that the OOAK store is bad, most TT sellers have a similar feel and menu structure, Nexy is one of the best ones I've seen. I think the the site just needs a face lift, basically it needs modernisation. In my opinion, I dont like the colour and textrure of the background and the design looks dated and from the early 1990's.

For example, lets look at these next two sites from the same seller, the later is more modernised then the former.
http://www.affordablett.com.au/shop/
http://www.justtabletennis.com.au/

The content is the same but I find the readability better on the 2nd one. Still its not great, and the logos, and load times are no good. But it looks like its gotten much more TLC and feels more professional because of it, to me anyhow.

This is a template from a seller that sells templates.... Not that I'm suggesting to go this path, but It is an example of smooth flow and readability on a site.

http://livedemo00.template-help.com/prestashop_39498/

This site looks polished and clean, has a good amount space for content and that large 3 picture rotation feature panel at the top is good for highlighting your specials, reviews, new products etc. and then linking though to them. The smaller ones below that can be for rubbers/blades/other and below that the leas important 'featured' products or services can be put in. Think about the hierarchy of the products/services and how some things are more important to display and why. Also rotating these main features is important to maintain the activity of the website so it doesn't get stale to people that regularly visit but may not buy, hopefully this changing feature gets them to purchase as they find something that generates impulse sales.

Link to the masses of sport webstore templates: http://www.templatemonster.com/category ... store-shop

I think that if you have a professional looking site, you will look like you are much more successful then you may be and that will help generate some good will for the viewers. It basically makes it look more professional and less 'home garage' seller. I know that I look for a professional website when looking for stores and there is no TT website in Oz, other then butterfly australia, that looks like its been done professionally. I know that a professional looking site doesn't mean that I get the top service available, but it always makes me feel better viewing the nicer looking sites.

Testimonials are a good thing to have, they can provide the ability to the customer to see the recent reviews of products and how happy others are with the store serivce. I find that I don't take too much notice of all of them though, as they can be a little self gratuitous when you look at a site telling potential customers all the time how awesome they are, but thats the cynic in me and I know that others like them and read them.

In conclusion, overall I don't think that your site content is the issue I have with your store, its just how that content is displayed to the viewer and how dated it looks compared to other modern websites that are out there. Like I said, I didn't notice the changes as it still looks very similar and changes get hidden in the layout of the site and are not as instantly noticable

I decided to post here as the open forum is good for generating a differnet point of view and I know that mine is only one of many... Others may like the design and layout, where I find it far too dated for my liking.

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CORNILLEAU Hugo Calderano FOCO OFF+
FH: ANDRO Hexer Powergrip 2.1
BH: ANDRO Hexer Powergrip 2.1

Thank you apophis, much appreciated!

The improvement I've made so far are mainly in performance and adding information, so it's probably not obvious unless you check the site all the time.
If I continue designing the site myself, it will probably never look completely professional, but I'd like to try and continue to improve, so I'm keen to give it a crack.

Yes I'm hoping for some testimonials, as I think it can only certainly help.

_________________
OOAK Table Tennis Shop | Re-Impact Blades | Butterfly Table Tennis bats
Setup1: Re-Impact Smart, Viper OX, Victas VS 401 Setup2: Re-Impact Barath, Dtecs OX, TSP Triple Spin Chop 1.0mm Setup3: Re-Impact Dark Knight, Hellfire OX, 999 Turbo
Recent Articles: Butterfly Tenergy Alternatives | Tenergy Rubbers Compared | Re-Impact User Guide