Battle of the Sites: Manchester United vs. Manchester City
Following last season’s heated derbies between Manchester United and Manchester City, QuBit, the consumer data platform, has revealed the results of its comparison into both teams’ online stores.
The analysis was conducted using QuBit's ‘Outside-In’ framework which covers key aspects of website performance, and focuses on the Find, Use and Buy stages of the consumer journey. Each criteria is scored and summed to give a final percentage result.
Kick Off: Find
Manchester United: Sliding dynamic promotions and seasonal offers made United’s landing page engaging and dynamic. ‘Back to School’ and ‘Premier League Kick Off’ campaigns gave the website an up-to-date and ‘in-time’ look and it used clear Calls To Action (CTAs) to drive attention. However the positioning of the login section has made it hard to spot, losing United some points in the early exchanges of this battle.
Manchester City: The City landing page greeted the user with a live feed of offers and promotional material, much like its competitor, however City’s login section is better displayed. Drop down menus within wide containers aid navigation of the site and ‘Breadcrumbs’, a technique that allows users to track their location within the site, is also successfully implemented. However, there is a failure to create effective and obvious CTAs, causing City to fall behind.
Round results: United: 76 % vs. City: 73 %
Half Time: Choose
Manchester United: United succeeds with its 360° view option for boots and kits, allowing the user to view the product from all angles. The product descriptions are very good, including everything from fabric type and technology to the history of the product. Unfortunately, a few search words return irrelevant results and there is no user reviews section.
Manchester City: City’s search function provides relevant results and accepts a number of search term combinations and the site provide an extensive filter that allows the user to sort the results by price, colour, gender, player, brand or even sleeve length. Furthermore, best practice use of top sellers and recommended items are clearly displayed. The site lacks some features like not having a zoom option across the whole product range and leaving out important information in some product descriptions (e.g. fabric type).
Round results: United: 90 % vs. City: 82 %
Extra Time: Buy
Manchester United: The summary page showed adherence to established best practice, with a well formatted overview and prices that are easy to understand. In the subtotal, no additional services were automatically added in the chart and the registration process required only the relevant information, making it quick and user friendly. All stages of the checkout were clearly labelled with a third party security seal and the user always knew which stage of the process they were on.
Manchester City: The City summary page benefits from a well formatted and understandable overview of the chart. The total price is laid out in a logical manner and the registration process is very smooth. The registration also offers a “Find Address” function, making it quick to fill in the fields. City also provided security seals as part of the checkout. However, they failed to provide the seal though all stages of the checkout process, thus causing them to lose some marks in the final round.
Round results: United: 85 % vs. City: 79 %
Final Score
United: 84 % vs. City: 78 %