In this article, we'll select a few product pages from these three retail giants and compare them to see how they stack up. How are their approaches different, how are they similar, and what can small businesses learn from their methods?
To make the comparison as clear as possible, I opted for the same product (Logitech’s G102 mouse), but keep in mind that the Amazon listing comes from an official Logitech store, so the quality is quite a bit higher there. That said, let’s get started.
Introduction
Since we're dealing with long pages, let's cover norway phone number library some comparable snippets. Here's the first part of the page that deals with the main product image and basic description, starting with Amazon's effort:
Amazon
Amazon
I didn’t need to crop this image horizontally because the page expands to use the full width of the browser window. What we can see here is great use of negative space, but very small text. I viewed it on a fairly high-resolution screen, so presumably Amazon ensures responsiveness by keeping elements very compact. Note the classic motivational features of inducing FOMO by mentioning limited stock and then promising the option of next-day delivery.
Now here is AliExpress:
AliExpress
AliExpress
I needed to crop this, so it’s clearly set to a width beyond basic desktop resolutions. What we see here is a much busier layout. The highlights are essentially the same (plus the mid-year sale banner), but there’s not as much negative space. There’s more FOMO on display with a temporary discount that includes a crossed-out price, and the primary shipping factor is cost here because AliExpress almost exclusively ships products overseas.
Now let's look at eBay:
eBay
eBay
We see a sort of middle ground here, with more negative space than the AliExpress page, but nowhere near as much as Amazon provided. As with Amazon, there is an option to add it to a list to revisit later, but I like the added clarity of the “watch list” with the eye icon. The FOMO features here are a bit more subtle but also more detailed, with the number of daily views and the percentage of stock sold (the latter is quite clever, because it gives the impression of scarcity when the 10% of stock left could be in the thousands).
It's really hard to rate this because Amazon seems easy to me, but maybe that's because I'm so familiar with it. I get the feeling that Amazon is kind of under the radar despite its awkwardness because everyone is so used to it. In fact, I'm going to say that eBay's layout is my favorite here.
Associations
Immediately after the introduction, Amazon goes into associated recommendations:
Amazon
Amazon
What I like about Amazon's approach is that it's clearly been carefully cultivated to offer what entices people to buy. It has a bundle option that will appeal to someone who probably wants accessories but isn't too eager to manually search for them, and a variety of other items purchased alongside the product to see if anything catches the user's eye.
Now here's AliExpress's effort from much further down the page:
This is useful, but not all that interesting or relevant to the user. There is some value in just seeing other products from the seller that are more or less on the same topic, but that's really all you get. Amazon's approach is far superior in this case.
Here is eBay:
eBay
eBay
This one is somewhere in between the other two. It's less decisive than Amazon's data because we're looking at views and not purchases , but then it can be more useful for those who are on the fence about buying that particular item and might not benefit much from learning about the buying habits of those who ended up choosing it.
I give this category to Amazon by some margin.
Description
Each product page needs a more detailed description and each site differs in the structure it uses. Here is Amazon's layout:
Amazon
Amazon
Extremely sparse stuff once again, and it doesn't look great. The essential information is there, but the formatting is very cluttered, with the main description just included as a basic list.
Let's see if AliExpress can do better:
AliExpress
AliExpress
It turns out it can. This layout is vastly more pleasing, with space used sensibly, tabs provided to cover important sections without stretching the page too thin , and data presented in a much more digestible way. It's unfortunate that a wired mouse is incorrectly listed as "Rechargeable," but that's not a problem with the page itself. (Also, the 'Product Description' section is very weak and massively overlong, but I attribute that to the seller's misuse of the category.)
What about eBay?
eBay
eBay
This is definitely the middle ground option again. The last updated date is very useful; Amazon tells you when it first appeared there, but not how recently it was changed. You even have the option to view all revisions to see every version that has been uploaded.
This is a big win for AliExpress. It's clear and bold and I really appreciate the tabulation. Even if used optimally, Amazon and eBay's designs just aren't as good.
what we can learn
I really didn't expect to end up giving every website a thumbs-up in one of the three sections I looked at. Amazon is such a fixture in customer service and convenience that it's easy to forget how weak its page design is in so many areas; it simply doesn't need to improve because everyone is used to it and there's no major threat on the horizon.
AliExpress is the most colourful, bold and the most blatantly promotional of the three. I imagine it is more indicative of what Amazon will look like if it ever opts for a redesign. That said, I didn’t really like that the ‘Product Description’ was infuriatingly long, with the page being several times longer than each of the other two due to a huge image inserted into the section.
Ebay’s design reflects its focus on bidding, with much more data relevant to bidders and a much more relaxed approach to salesmanship; FOMO seems more informative and less sales-oriented. While not as consistent as Amazon (being entirely third-party like AliExpress), eBay’s design is probably my favorite of the three. It’s clean and clear throughout.