Cigars City features the best cigars available to today’s modern aficonado – Arturo Fuente, Macanudo, Gurkha, Acid and more!
Target Audience: Men, 18-34
Website URL: https://www.CigarsCity.com
No. of Feedback Providers Requested: 3
Feedback sought:
1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
2) Think of something you want to find on this website. Now try to find it. Did you find what you were looking for? Was anything confusing?
3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which on do you prefer? Why?
5) Please share any additional feedback/comments you may have.
1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
I see a cigar shop website with a very good selection of brands and accessories, my initial impression is good even if i think the picture area is slightly too big and the red sale stamps are too bright and distracting, the background also for my taste is too white/bright
2) Think of something you want to find on this website. Now try to find it. Did you find what you were looking for? Was anything confusing?
When i look at a website i want to know the story behind it, so i always look the “About Us” page, i did find the page quite easily and i had all the information i needed, the process was pretty straightforward
3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
I would be encouraged to sign up or subscribe, mostly because it seems to me that is a legit webshop owned and ran by people who can provide me not only the cigars i need but also pass me knowledge and give me advices.
4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which on do you prefer? Why?
I used google and went to https://www.thompsoncigar.com/ , if i have to compare the 2 companies as a non cigar smoker, seems to me that Cigars City is more confident and a bit more classy, Thompson cigar even if it seems more older and i am assuming more extablished in the field looks to me more screaming, the differencies between the 2 companies looks to me like the differencies between “Whole Food” and “WalMart”
5) Please share any additional feedback/comments you may have.
I like the website overall, i would prolly add a mobile app for the shop, also i would highlight more the “What They’re Saying About CigarsCity.com” part
My initial thought when I first looked at the home page was that colors. I understand that this is specified towards men but I thought that it was a little boring to look at. I’m not a man so I don’t really know how it would appeal to them but to me it was a little boring. I do however like how the the home page is brief. It shows exactly what you want to know. This site sells quality cigars. I also like how it shows how much it is for shipping on the animated portion of the page.
I did notice on the side that it says that if you order before a certain time they will most likely be shipped that day. When I first read that statement I thought it was great. Order before noon and have the order shipped that same day. Then I read it again and it said odds are that it will be shipped that day. I feel like you should either say it will or it won’t. If you order before noon then they will be shipped that same day. I think that is a better offer and that you shouldn’t say odds are. If you are making that claim then you should commit to it.
I am not sure I like the layout specifically. I think that having the reviews for the site before the featured cigars would be better. That way people have a chance to read about the service before they get to see the merchandise. I think that there should be a brief synopsis about the company (more than what you have on the side and not as much as at the way bottom) somewhere on the home page. I know that you sell cigars but I don’t know much about the company unless I dig around.
I do really like the logo at the top and the city scape in the background. I do think the colors are a little dull but that doesn’t mean I don’t like the pictures.
Okay so I wanted to find out more about the specials you offer and I clicked on that link at the top of the homepage. I don’t like the add to cart button underneath the cigars. I think it is too big and demanding. I don’t think it should be hidden obviously but it feels a little bold and it loaded really strange at first. The add to cart box was on top of all the pictures while it was loading. It could be my computer but I don’t know.
I like that you can compare items but it doesn’t say how many you can compare at once. I guess I could find this out by trial and error but it would be nice if it just said it somewhere. Unless, of course, you can compare as many as you want but I still think that you should put a limit somewhere. There are a lot of categories to divide up just the specials into. It makes it look like you have a lot of items when you only have 10 on special.
I like how you can view them all I guess vertically and horizontally. You can view all of the specials at once or just one at a time on the same page and I really like how you can change it up.
I didn’t notice any place that asked or encouraged me to sign up. There wasn’t even a spot that said enter your email to receive news and offers. The only way I can see to sign up is if you were to make a wish list or order cigars. I think you should have a place to enter your email to receive news.
So I went to Google and searched for buy cigars online and clicked on the first page listed which was for thompsoncigar.com. I noticed that their site is a bit more flashy and it automatically gave a popup that offered free shipping on orders $50 or more. I like that it offered that right away. It also had an email sign up on the home page. This site offers quite a bit more than yours does. You can buy samplers instead of just one brand and I think it is a little cheaper as well. I basically like that this site is more flashy and I feel like I would buy from them (free shipping) more than from you.
I think that your site is good but it doesn’t have the flash that others have and it doesn’t have a good way to really make you want to buy the product. I do like the logo and the background and I do like that most things are easy to find and that you can change the product layout. I also like that you can compare cigars and have a wish list. That way you can make sure of what you are buying.
The use of buzzwords like sale makes me want to subscribe to make sure I’m not missing anything. The search bar is easy to use and gives obvious results according to my search.The use of whit space makes the website look professional and upper market which I feel it is. Im not too keen on the font serif seems a little to old fashioned and the market starts at 18 thus this might exclude some younger men who think its not aimed at them. I also feel that the basket should be bigger because it is small in ration to everything else this also goes for the account, wish list and log in buttons. The font used for the logo is much preferable and I would keep that through out the website.
1) Look around the home page – what is your initial impression of what you see?
My initial impression of the website is definitely positive. The layout of the website is really very nice and the colour choices are amazing. Very bold and bright colours like solid yellow and red has been used to highlight different areas and to draw focus to a particular area. I liked that. The website has a very professional and reliable feel to it. I love how a slide show has been put up on the homepage because it makes the website look more appealing and at the same time, uses very little space to provide a lot of information. The red circles with “SALE” written on it is great because even if a person is not looking to buy something and has just stumbled upon the website, the word “SALE” will definitely grab their attention and they might end up buying something to take advantage of a great deal. I also love how the website interacts with the user. Little effects have been added for this, like, how the red SALE circle increases in size, the text changes colour, add to cart button changes colour etc. when the cursor is put on it. These make the website easy to use and also makes it fun. A search bar has been provided, which I think is really helpful because it helps save time when we know exactly what we are looking for and we don’t have to look for it manually. The delivery/shipping information on the homepage which promises same day delivery is definitely useful. Social networking websites have also been linked, which I think is great as it helps reach more prospective clients and at the same time helps keep the current client base updated with the workings of the company. And lastly, the logo, I love the logo! The colour and the font used for the logo is amazing.
2) Think of something you want to find on this website. Now try to find it. Did you find what you were looking for? Was anything confusing?
I wanted to look for two things. 1) Shipping and Return Policy and 2) Contact information. I found both quite easily. Nothing was confusing and it did not take more than a minute to find these two information. Both can be found at the bottom of the page.
I wanted to look for returns policy because I have faced trouble with that in the past and wanted to make sure that return policy was clear and it was. This information can be found by clicking on the link.
I wanted to look for contact information because I would like to know that I can seek help if need be. I really liked that a telephone number has been provided along with the email address because talking on the phone will help resolve the problem quicker than email as we can never know when we will be hearing back.
3) Are you encouraged to (create a new account, subscribe, sign up for a free trial, etc.)? Can you tell us why (or why not)?
Yes, definitely! I am encouraged to create an account as I find the website to be reliable and trustworthy and I see no harm in signing up. In fact by signing up, I would be receiving timely news about Cigars City and exclusive deal on products.
4) Go to search engine of your choice and find one other company that offers a similar service. Compare the two companies. Which on do you prefer? Why?
I searched for online cigar shop and found http://www.cigarone.com. The website has a very short homepage with a lot of information crammed on it. It is quite overwhelming. The colours used on the website are nice and the information has been well sorted but it is too much to take in. It also looks more like a sales pitch. I don’t find the website to be trustworthy. So, I prefer Cigars City as it is easy to use and understand. But some of the things which I liked about http://www.cigarone.com is that it has a Cigar Advisor and Our Suggestions page. I liked these features. But overall, I definitely prefer Cigars City.
5) Please share any additional feedback/comments you may have.
I think that the website has provided enough information. It is very easy to understand and use. The search page has a lot of features, like, the filters, the sort options etc. which makes it even more amazing and user-friendly. I think that a feedback option should also be added as it will help know what it is that the customers are having trouble with or what their wants are. Although I found the contact information quite quickly, I’d appreciate it if the support information was placed at a much more visible area (like the top of the page or under the logo), so that people know right away that they can seek help if required. This will also help with the trust-factor. It would also be nice to add an Advisor page and a Suggestions page. Overall, I really liked the website and I think that making a few small changes would make the website even more better.
I’d like to thank you for providing me this opportunity to help you. Good luck with the website! Take care! Goodbye!