WAL-MART

Overview: A big retailer with so much power and so much merchandise, so why decide to have an iPhone app that only offers electronics products?  And why is so much of the space on top of the “Find Electronics” page taken over by a graphic? Even finding a product is more work than necessary. For example, look for a television and a screen will appear asking the user to select a size, then a second screen asking about price range. Wouldn’t it have been easier to just list the TV’s from lowest to highest price? Similarly, Wal-Mart offers a “skip screen” option on various pages. If they think there is a good chance someone will want to skip something, then there is probably an easier method to get people to the right place. Purchases are made through the regular website and there is no cart or checkout in the app itself. When you want to buy something, unfortunately the app closes (unlike Target, for instance) and the Safari browser opens to the product’s web page. This is a big drawback. The “Store Finder” on the other hand is nicely done, with the map opening inside the app. The distance from the store to your current location should have been included on the initial screen rather than one level down, and for the next update, Wal-Mart should consider having the information default to the list rather than the map.

Nicest Touch: Simple to bookmark items. (There are few sections in this app to talk about.)

Biggest Problem:

(1) Not nearly enough categories or merchandise.

(2) Weak checkout and purchasing experience.

Overall Grade: C– (suggest Wal-Mart create a new app to replace this one)