To put us in context:
Lush is a cosmetic retailer founded in England in 1995. The company’s core business is to produce face, hair, and body cosmetics using only vegetarian or vegan recipes. Their products can be purchased both online and in their colourful physical stores, located in 46 different countries.
Because of its handmade and ethical products, it is considered a unique company with a strong brand identity. Its core value is its green behaviour of being against animal testing, using eco-friendly packaging and producing only with organic materials.
In this post I’m going to analyze and evaluate Lush’s website.
Link: https://uk.lush.com
A friendly page
The main page of Lush is colorful and welcoming. It has always been said that first impressions matter, and this one is undoubtedly good. At this first view, it looks like has harmony and it’s well built.
For a first analysis, if we navigate a bit through the page, we can find both products and content, all following the same line. In terms of products, all of them are rated and valued by other consumers, which generates greater confidence for the new visitor. On the other hand, we can find a series of publications, mixed among the products, that give us interesting information about concerns that the consumer shares with the brand. All of it is written in an informal way and addressed directly to the reader.
The section of products is organized in such a way that finding the type of product you are looking for is quite easy. This order is based on eight classifications that in turn are also classified into specific product types.
Analyzing the help section, we find four ways to solve the possible doubts that may appear: Recently asked questions, topics (information about different topics such as delivery process or refunds), Frequent questions & answers and Direct contact with the Company.
Website communication
Lush’s page is an e-commerce and its design and structure make it clear. As soon as you enter the web, you can see a superior banner that always shows some product or novelty. As you scroll, you will find a series of products that include prices as well as reviews of other buyers. On this first page, new products or special products (for specific dates) are usually placed there. It is clear, therefore, at first glance that its first purpose is the online commerce. In a second place, both on this page and in the rest, we find a bunch of articles that talk about their products and their composition, or environmental issues of social conscience. All these posts, specially the second ones, are coherent with the target audience, which is a public concerned about the origin and composition of the products they consume.
On the other hand, the position of the elements, the typography, the images and the colors generate a very coherent and solid image about what the brand wants to transmit.
Relevant content for the audience
Because of its strong values, Lush is oriented to a very specific target. The company bases all its products on organic and natural ingredients so they can be considered as environmental sustainable and social responsible. Therefore, its target is composed by people that care about the environment, the wildlife and their health.
Given this large number of posts and information that the brand makes available to the audience, it is clear to any visitor what their values are. In case this was not enough, in a lower banner (always present) its basic principles are indicated in six images: 100% vegetarian, Ethical buying, Fighting animal testing, Freshest cosmetics online, Handmade and Naked packaging.
Interactivity
The interaction with the visitor is an essential point and Lush does not overlook it. There are several ways in which the company receives information from consumers through the website. In the first place, there is the possibility for the buyer to create an account, taking advantage of all the benefits that this entails: adding products to a wish list, making a history of orders and publishing comments and reviews. Second, the consumer has the ability to add comments and select directly on the products, so that they appear on the web, which also allows interaction between consumers.
Finally, its presence in social networks. They have profiles in many of the social platforms in order to reach the maximum number of potential consumers and adapt to their preferences.
What about navigation?
The structure of the page is good and quite intuitive. The menu has three main sections (Products, Shops and Exclusives) and five other secondary sections: the logo that allows you to return to the main page, another tab that allows you to interact with them on their networks (and see what they talk about), a search option, an area for access to users and the basket (where the products will be stored ready to be checked out).
Within each of these sections there are various links that facilitate navigation through the page.
More generally, in terms of the operation of the website at technical level, it works in perfect conditions. The images and vines are loaded correctly and quickly, as well as access to any of their links.
Design quality
This website absolutely takes your attention from the first time you enter on it. It’s colourful and inspiring, it has lots of colourful or moving graphics that make it visually pleasing. Even the products are presented in creative ways. Even though the colours of the structure of the page are rather bland (B&W), the images and the products gives the website its the necessary colour.
Regarding the design of the navigation, in the top menu bar is where all the most relevant sections are located to carry out the main transactions, but in the lower bar we also find another type of more general or corporate information and another kind of interaction with the consumer:
You can clearly tell where you are at every step because of a huge banner that stands at the top of every page with the title of the section and a brief description. But, in the other hand you can not navigate throuh the website using a back button, because they don’t have one. The only solution to this is to use the one from the browser.
Copy quality and readability
As I said before, all the content is either directly related to the products or related to issues to which both the consumer and the company give importance. Both are introduced around the products with a simple title to get the visitor’s attention while browsing the page. The content uses an informal style and goes directly to the reader, giving him all the importance he deserves. For titles (both sections and product names) use a very representative type for the brand, the same as they use in the labels of their products. And for the rest of the copies, a rather common letter is used. Its content is at all times understandable and well structured, making all this information something entertaining to read.
Credibility
Following what we were discussing before, the brand in general has enough or even a lot of credibility. The fact that the products are reviwed directly by other consumers on the website, reflects that Lush is not afraid of what their consumers say about them because what they do, they do it well. Another factor that generates trust and credibility is their strong values and their interest in what they do, which makes visitors feel more confident and motivated towards what they are seeing.
Branding & Marketing
Everything they do they, they do it with passion and that is what makes them unique to the competition. They have clear and solid values and everything they communicate they do it based on this. That is why, all the content they have on the web, although not specifically of the products, seems coherent and even necessary for a better consumer acceptance. As we have mentioned, their target is very specific and this will make them feel totally identified with the content of the website.
Demographic profile
Advertising Communications Technology 