Many people may not know that Taobao's PC side has been revised.
Just some time ago, Taobao website manager "Kongwu" released a "Letter to taobao.com Users" (hereinafter referred to as the "site letter"), in which they revealed that they have restarted the optimization and transformation of Taobao on the PC side, and have completed a major website upgrade.
To be honest, to this day, Xiaolei still often clicks on Taobao's product links on the PC, which may be a link sent by a group of friends, a recommendation link seen when browsing the web, or a product demand that may be thought of, and will directly open taobao.com in the PC browser for simple search and browsing.
However, I'm sure many people, including me, haven't been "shopping" on their PCs for a long time. It's not that there is no need for "shopping", on the contrary, the PC large screen is actually theoretically more convenient to browse and compare products, but the fact is:
Taobao web version is too difficult to use on PC.
Whether it's frequent login requirements, a large number of bugs, or many features that are not optimized for large PC screens, they are dissuading batches of people. But even so, according to Taobao's official disclosure, "to this day, nearly 10 million users still use taobao.com Taobao and Tmall every day," which shows that the demand of users has always existed.
But has Taobao's new version of the PC side really changed? Xiao Lei plans to experience this newly upgraded taobao.com in depth and see if we can still have a good look at Taobao.
Can it be used without logging in? Yes
Taobao also knows that the most annoying experience on the PC side now is the login requirements that can be seen everywhere, browsing products will require login for a while, and you also need to log in to view any store, and even log in to view search results. And every time you close and open the browser, you have to go through Taobao's frequent login requirements again:
Annoying individuals.
The biggest change in the new version is around this point, which Taobao also emphasizes in "Station Letter". As for the specific changes, one of them is that the experience of not logging in has been fully optimized, and it has become much more normal.
New homepage, picture/Taobao screenshot
First of all, the first point is that there will be no more unreasonable login requirements in the new version of Taobao, such as browsing products will no longer pop up the login window, clicking to enter the store does not require login, and you do not need to log in to browse the results after searching for products. Of course, when it comes to placing an order, or asking customer service, you definitely need to log in.
It can be said that whether to buy or not to buy is another matter, and the new version is completely available without logging in at the point of "shopping".
However, there are some debatable scenarios, such as the earlier version where you can add items to the purchase without logging in and only need to log in at checkout, while the new version requires you to log in before adding items to the cart. In addition, in the cross-site navigation on the homepage, there are and only "Yitao" that needs to be logged in before jumping. It's strange that I can't think of a reason to do this.
However, both of these points are minor issues, and the most puzzling thing is that you can't try to modify the shipping region without logging in. For example, if I plan to ship to my hometown, and I plan to change the region to see if it is in stock and the estimated delivery time, I can only log in first.
Shipping options (not logged in), picture/Taobao screenshot
But overall, the new version has undoubtedly made a huge improvement in terms of login, and it has also made me prefer to access the taobao.com directly in the browser using a PC, rather than finding my phone and opening the Taobao app.
And in the actual experience, in addition to the order status of the directly linked account, all sections can be browsed directly without logging in, including "10 billion subsidies", "1688 strict selection", "Taobao Live" and the restarted "Taojianghu" forum.
What's more, the new version of PC also has an optimized login experience. On the successful login page, Taobao will ask whether to "keep" or "not keep" the login status.
Inquiry page, picture/Taobao screenshot
Choosing "keep" means that convenience is given priority, and the next time you come to buy something, you won't have to log in again; Select "Do not keep" to prioritize privacy, and log in the next time you need to place an order.
It is worth mentioning that in the case that the user does not choose, Taobao will automatically choose "do not keep" by default, which is of course commendable. But Taobao's "modify" option is a bit hidden.
For example, after Xiaolei chooses "Do not keep" to log in, even if he logs in again, there is no option to choose "keep" or "do not keep" again. Even if you clear the cookie and cache of the website, you will not be able to see the previous inquiry page when you log in.
But in fact, Taobao put this modification option in "Account Management" - "Login Settings", except for the first successful login after the inquiry, users can only choose to "keep" or "do not keep" login status here.
Keep the login switch, picture/Taobao screenshot
This is obviously a bit of an overestimation of the user's patience. By design, it's best to do a moderate guide when you ask for the first time, at least telling the user how to modify the options later.
Functional complementation, design iteration: the PC side is finally not crippled
In addition to the problem of frequent logins, Taobao, which had the previous "All in Wireless" strategy, basically gave up the update of the web version, especially compared with the mobile APP, the PC side lacks a large number of plates and support, and even if it does, it is often not optimized for the design and layout of the large screen.
This is also one of the key points of Taobao's PC upgrade this time. Compared with the 2022 interface revision, which may focus more on modern exterior design, this time it can be said that it has made "more efficient" changes for large screens.
On the PC homepage, the left and right sides of the new version are still "Classification" and "Personal Page", but in the middle is no longer a huge "carousel" that wastes space, but instead: carousel, tens of billions of subsidies, Tao factory goods, auctions, fresh food, and Taojianghu.
The middle part of the homepage, picture/Taobao screenshot
In addition, the layout will be adjusted accordingly for different window sizes to balance the simplicity and efficiency of the content display.
At the same time, in addition to the original "Tmall", "Juhuasuan", "Fliggy" and other jump navigation, the new version also adds the newly launched "Taobao Live". It also follows the similar logic of the PC homepage, making full use of the space advantage of the large screen, adopting the layout design of a row of up to 5 columns of live broadcast rooms, and you can preview the live broadcast after placing the mouse for a while.
Taobao live broadcast, picture/Taobao screenshot
The live broadcast room is similar to the design of the PC side of Douyin, with the live broadcast screen as the main one, the right side is the chat interaction window, and at the bottom right of the live broadcast screen, you can also click to buy the goods in the live broadcast room.
Taobao live broadcast room, picture/Taobao screenshot
In fact, not only the newly launched Taobao Live, but also many mobile apps that used to have complete functions and support are gradually migrating to the PC side, such as the post-coupon price display of goods, invoice management, etc.
There is even a "Taojianghu" forum that is not available on the mobile phone, not to mention anything else, the content of the post is really daring to say, and Taobao is really tolerable.
Taojianghu, picture/Taobao screenshot
At the same time, in terms of design, the new version also has a more efficient design for the large screen, for example, on the shopping cart page, the "settlement details" are fixed in the upper right corner, which is clearly distinguished from the shopping cart products, and the interface is also more conspicuous.
Shopping cart, picture/Taobao screenshot
Another detail is that the new version makes extensive use of rounded corner design, whether it is the homepage, product detail page, or small controls, you can see a "more rounded" design.
Ubiquitous rounded corners, picture/Taobao screenshot
Of course, one upgrade won't solve all problems.
For example, Taobao's "footprints", "baby collections" and even "account management" are still designed a long time ago, and even the resolution of Bannar pictures is seriously inconsistent with today's display devices. Another example is "Taobao Photography" (searching for goods by image), and the new version has not yet been added.
In a word, an upgrade is always a "work in progress".
taobao.com What's next?
If you read the full text, I believe you have already understood Xiaolei's views on this Taobao PC revision. In short, although there are still a lot of problems and work, this revision does greatly improve the experience of using Taobao on the PC side. As the letter said:
"Today's taobao.com is not a rebirth, but it has improved a lot of experience problems."
It can be said that Taobao has made a good start.
Xiaolei also learned from Taobao that they also plan to bring "shopping cart full reduction reminder", "product available coupons" and "inventory reminder" and "invalid products to find the same model" in the 530 version. In the longer term, they will continue to improve the product search experience and use new features for large PC screens.
Taobao wants young people to think that "it's cool to go to taobao.com and visit Taobao", which is obviously not an easy task. But to some extent, Xiaolei does hope that Taobao can do it. Not only because I prefer to shop Taobao on PC, but also because hundreds of millions of PC users in China deserve a better experience:
Not limited to devices, you can browse Taobao on your mobile phone and on your PC.
Finally, when will the transformation of Xianyu web version be restarted?