Nike Website Audit - Case Study Example

Website Audit Report (Name) (University Affiliation) 1.0 Introduction Incorporated in 1969, Nike is involved in the design and development of Athletic footwear, equipment, apparel and accessories. The company is also engaged in worldwide marketing and selling of products (Lozano, 1995). The company’s focus product offering is based on seven main categories: Basketball, Soccer, Running, Men’s Training, Women’s Training, Action sports and Nike Sportswear. Similarly, the firm also markets products designed for children as well as for other recreational and athletic uses. Apparently, the company transitioned its activity to E-Business in order to improve its services and add value to customers’ satisfaction. As such, this report is going to evaluate Nike’s website and its prevalence in the industry. Equally, the report will evaluate Rebook’s website as well as its other online activities. 2.0 Corporate ID and Design Corporate Identity can be defined as the overall image of a company in the minds of the diverse customers, investors, employees and the general public. It is task of the communication of the company to build this image through the consistency of the different websites. Looking at the Nike website, there is some general consistency in the design of the website of different regions. Although there is some variance in language and the photos being displayed on the website, the design is generally similar, in all the websites, the primary navigation is place at the top with drop down menus indicating different products that Nike Inc. offers. There is also a search site on the top right of every one of this websites and a secondary navigation that has a language tunnel, privacy policy section, terms and conditions section and get help section. Below are images of Nike Australia, Nike Brasil and Nike USA websites respectively. From the above analysis, it is clear that the communication department of Nike has ensured that their Corporate ID is maintained even though they are operating in different markets. 3.0 Conventions Nike’s website has met the users’ expectations. The primary Navigation is right on the top and it allows the consumers to easily identify the products they want to purchase with a lot of ease. There is a search button on the top right just in case the user want to locate a product or information that they cannot locate. On the top right of some Nike Websites like USA and UK there is a shopping cart and in some other Nike Websites like the Australian one there is a tab indicating ‘Shop online’ which immediately identifies with the online shopper on accessing the sites. On the bottom, there is a secondary navigation that has several features including, Get help which enables the user to contact support team and get help with shopping the product. There is also a feature that allows you to place orders and another feature that allows you to create and account with Nike. At the bottom navigation, there is a privacy function, language tunnel which allows you to change region and terms and condition. 4.0 Customer focused – 5 IS Nike’s website targets all sports enthusiasts and casual wear lovers. The site caters for all ages and gender as the products are categorized according to the users’ gender, and age group. For example, the website has a category for women wear, mean wear and kid’s wear. All its sites, which are connected with its homepage, offer detailed information that leaves the user satisfied. The user is navigated through the type of products, size, the prices how to purchase it and shipment information. Unlike other sites such as the U.S Nike website, Australian Nike’s website does not display media oriented articles or rather press releases. Instead, it is focused on giving its audiences updates regarding the potential community event under the feature “Nike+.” Additionally, the site “Nike+” also seeks to challenge sportsmen and women’s fitness capability by offering them a platform to measure their speed thus helping them to become better athletes. Equally, the site seeks to offer guidance, motivation as well insights to athletes through availing phone apps that can help them exercise better. Consequently, the consumers feel close to the company since their needs are being taken care of. Through the page, ‘Nike+’ the website targets potential athletes who have the desire to be professionals as it recommends users to the firm’s best coaches around the world. The website also caters for dynamic young people who would love to keep fit through downloading “a personal trainer app” from the site. The website also targets tourist who love touring different parts of the world through providing them with maps and information on the routes. The site provides an option for over ten languages thus targeting both regional and international clients. The website does not have different sites for women and men, but combines all their needs in all Nike’s websites. The Australian site does not provide investor relations information, but directs the user to the official Nike site. On the other hand, the U.S site gives information regarding the investor relations, careers as well as the latest news in the sporting arena. 5.0 Community Nike Inc has a large social network presence. The Company website has on its homepage links that direct the visitors to various social sites including Facebook, twitter, Youtube and Instagram The Nike websites of different regions direct the consumers to the main Facebook fan page which has 21,906,318 likes. Unlike other Nike websites, Australia Nike website has links to its own fan pages as indicated. On the twitter page, Nike has 3.99 million followers having posted 16800 tweets since November 2011. On Instagram, Nike Inc has 7,170,012 followers with 737 posts. On YouTube, Nike has 240931 subscribers with additional links to its other channels on the platform. As indicated, Nike has quite a large presence on the social media with large numbers of followers and subscribers. 6.0 Customization Nike Inc has ensured that customers can customize their search results by selecting their preferences so that they get results for only the products that they need. On its websites, there is a customize feature that allows users to get search results for only the products they are looking for. This is as indicated below. For the Nike USA, Europe and China websites, users have ability to customize their products before purchasing them using the NIKEiD feature. Moreover, the Nike website allows consumers to customize their search by selecting their language using the language tunnel feature. 7.0 Business Model The Australian Nike website uses the Business to Customer model (B2C). Accordingly, the company posts the products on the websites for the user to see and purchase 8.0 Communication For user to site, Nike websites have 2 contact features, one with the social networks and the other one with the contact us tab. The contact page give a toll free telephone number which customers can contact the company, an email address where user can send messages to the customer and an online chat with Nike experts. However, Nike Australia website does not have an online chat and directs user to Nike Inc website for company information and online order assistances. Moreover, for NikeiD products, the website directs its users to USA, Europe and China websites. For site to user, Nike website has facilitated users to sign up as members or sign up for email to receive news of new products. However, Nike Australia website does not these features. For two way communication the users can contact trough twitter and Facebook. 9.0 Connection The Australian Nike site has few links to other site as it concentrates on its products and communication. Some of them include: Other Nike sites: https://secure-nikeplus.nike.com/plus/support - directs the users to Nike+ products http://www.nikestore.com.au/- Directs the users to Australia online shopping platform http://www.nike.com/language_tunnel -this link helps the user to select the country of his or her choice together with the preferred language. Social Media https://www.facebook.com/nike - this link directs the user to the Nike’s Facebook page, where he or she can interact with other users as well as the company. https://www.twitter.com/nike - this link directs the user to Nike’s twitter handle, where the user can interact with the company as well as other user. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nike+ -this link directs the user to down several of Nike’s apps such as the new Nike + Running App However, its US counterpart has several links that connect the user to other social networks such YouTube and Instagram. 10.0 Commerce The site has an online purchasing option where a user can make an order, make payments through PayPal, Debit and Credit cards. For a deal to be sealed, a user goes through the typical online purchasing. First, the user will log into the Nike site and identify the product of his or her choice; this is done through browsing on the toolbar at the top of the site. Second, the user will add the product to his or her shopping cart. Third, the user is supposed to check out by clicking the shopping cart at the top left of the page. Next, he or she will review the items and edit accordingly. Fourth the user will click on “Checkout with PayPal” if he or she is willing to pay via PayPal. Fifth, the user will choose the delivery location and then enter the payment information required. Lastly, the user waits for his or her delivery to be made. 11.0 Convergence Nike Inc websites do not have a special integration with RSS feed. However, some sites such as Nike Australia website have a Running App for iPhone as well as Android. With an iPhone or android phone, a user can download the running app and closely monitor his or her running performance thus improving on the personal runs. 12.0 Cross Promotion Nike website only displays one cross-promotional activity: Nike+ iPod. The personal trainer app is can be used on an iPod thus a user can enjoy the innovation of the two companies. 13.0 Compliance The Australian website does not comply with the W3 disability standards. For instance, it does not provide alternative texts for images that can help visually impaired users. Additionally, analysis depict that the common barrier to accessibility is often the use of Flash content. However, the site appears to be compliant with data collection laws as it provides a detailed explication of the amount t of information it may collect from the user. Additionally, the site informs the user on what it will do with the information collected. For instance, it informs the user that it may be required to share the data collected in order to participate in certain features. Ultimately, the privacy policy also informs the user on how to unsubscribe form the sites mailing list. Part B. 11.0 Introduction Founded in 1895 in Bolton, England, Reebok International Limited is a producer of athlete apparel, shoes and accessories. The company became a subsidiary of the German group Adidas in 2005 (De Angeli et al, 2009). The company’s product line comprises of apparel and footwear for American football, baseball, women’s category products and soccer. The company’s official website is http://global.reebok.com/. 12.0 Currency Nike USA website has a New tab directs users to the company’s main website which provide trendy news. The website posts all new products immediately they are launched. Ultimately, the website does not use dates and times throughout, apart from the copyright symbol, which indicates that the content is of the current year. However, Nike Australia website does not have a news tab and users can only get trendy news by visiting its main websites The Australian Reebok website does not display media related information such as news and trendy issues. As such, it is difficult to evaluate its currency state. However, products that have been launched are promptly posted on the website. 13.0 Corporate Evidently, the website can be accessed from all other Nike websites. The Australian website does not display the corporate overview and investor relations. However, “the contact us” advises the user to browse the NikeInc.com for more detailed corporate information regarding the firm. Thus, the NikeInc.com site contains: The about sections Company Profile Executives Community Impact Sustainability Mission Career Corporate career Retail Career Benefits Location Internship Investors News, Events, and Reports Stock Information Corporate Governance Resources 14.0 Corporate Social Responsibility Nike Inc has a Sustainability Section on its website indicating that they clearly understand that their business affects both the environment and the surrounding society and as such they have come up with initiatives to deal with this impact: Nike Fly knit technology- Used to reduce amount of manufacturing waste in the supply chain supply. Green Chemistry Initiative: Encourages identification of better products and encourage vendors to identify toxins in the products Girl Declaration-Empower adolescent girls in the developing countries Nike Foundation-it has an initiative known as ‘the Girl effect’ which aims at unleashing the potential of adolescent girls Nike School Innovation Fund:- Fuels power of education through Innovation Nike Employee Grant Fund:- Support programs of young people through sports Since Rebook Company is a subsidiary of Adidas, the mother company dictates its Corporate Responsibility, which is committed in the following activities: Relief Efforts Projects Donations Community Engagement Approach Employee Volunteering 15.0 Investor Relations The Investor relations section is on the US website and contains the following array of information: News Events and Reports Investor News Quarterly Earnings Annual Reports SEC filings Events and Presentations Stock Information Stock Quote and Chart Historical Price Dividends Stock Splits Investor Calculator Resources Investor Contacts Direct Investment Financial Tear Sheet Investor Alerts Investor Tool Kit Corporate Governance Board of Directors Corporate Governance Guidelines Board Candidate Requirements Code of Ethics Board Committee Charters Company Bylaws Board Committee Assignments Nike, Inc. Management Political Contributions Equally, the website company information directs the user to the Adidas official website and the Investor Relation comprises of the following: Reasons to Invest Clear marketing position One of the top global leaders in sporting products industry Diverse brand portfolio Creating long-term shareholder value Strong medium- to long-term growth as well as profitability opportunities Socially and environmentally responsible Innovation leadership and cutting-edge design 2014 First Half-Year Results All information of the companies 2014 first half year results 2013 Annual Report Investors Field Trip Adidas Group Share Details Annual General Meeting Downloading the company’s App to keep with Group’s latest news and brand Conclusion From the above analysis, we can conclude that web presence is very important as that is how online consumers perceive your company to be and the value of your product to be. It is therefore very important to design the company’s website in a such a way that visitors will be able to navigate easily and locate the products easily on accessing the website. All Nike website are relatively consistent from one market to another which has allowed the company to maintain their corporate ID. Through the website, Nike has also been able to reach the online community through various social platforms. When compared to Reebok Inc, Nike website scores higher as far as availability of information on the website is concerned as well as the web presence. References Adidas-group.com, (2014). Home. [online] Available at: http://www.adidas-group.com/en [Accessed 22 Oct. 2014]. Butscher, Stephan A. & Laker, Michael. (2000, Summer). “Market-driven product development.” Marketing Management, Volume: 9, Issue: 2, pg. 48-53. Retrieved June 29, 2003 from MdUSA database ABI/Inform on the World Wide Web: De Angeli, A., Hartmann, J., & Sutcliffe, A. (2009). The effect of brand on the evaluation of websites. In Human-Computer Interaction–INTERACT 2009 (pp. 638-651). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Howarth, G., & Hadfield, M. (2006). A sustainable product design model. Materials & design, 27(10), 1128-1133. Katz, D. R. (1994). Just do it: The Nike spirit in the corporate world. New York: Random house. Kilgore, B. J., McMahon, T., Tawney, J. C., & Valiant, G. (1994). U.S. Patent No. 5,343,639. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Lozano, S. G. (1995). U.S. Patent No. D361,884. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. News.nike.com, (2014). NIKE, Inc. - The official corporate website for Nike and its affiliate brands.. [online] Available at: http://news.nike.com/ [Accessed 22 Oct. 2014]. Ramaswamy, V. (2008). Co-creating value through customers' experiences: the Nike case. Strategy & Leadership, 36(5), 9-14. Read More