Retail & Home research

Which businesses are included?

• Furniture and furnishing retailers
• Home improvement and décor retailers
• Kitchen, bathroom and interiors retailers
• Garden and outdoor retailers

What does The Index measure?

Five jobs a customer needs a website to do. Each is scored out of 20, giving a total out of 100. For retail & home, the journeys can include:

1. 1 / 5 · 20 POINTS

   Find the product

   Navigation, search and inspiration that lead shoppers to the right range.

2. 2 / 5 · 20 POINTS

   Choose the right one

   Variants, dimensions, materials and images that answer the shopper's questions.

3. 3 / 5 · 20 POINTS

   See the price and availability

   Clear prices, stock and delivery or collection dates.

4. 4 / 5 · 20 POINTS

   Buy it

   A checkout with delivery costs and options shown before payment.

5. 5 / 5 · 20 POINTS

   Buy again and self-serve

   Order tracking, returns, aftercare and accounts.

How is a review carried out?

1. 01We visit the business's public website as a customer would, on desktop and on a phone.
2. 02We work through the five jobs using real products from the business's own range.
3. 03We record what we find with dated screenshots and the pages checked, using four evidence statuses: Detected, Observed, Not found in this review and Not checked.
4. 04Checkout and logged-in journeys are reviewed only where access is available and authorised.
5. 05A reviewer checks the findings before anything is published.

What the score means, and what it does not

The Index score describes what a customer can do on a business's public website on the day it was reviewed. Each of the five jobs is scored out of 20, giving a total out of 100, using dated evidence that anyone can check. It does not rate the business, its products, its staff or its service, and it is not a measure of size or sales.

Who uses it

• Retailers comparing their websites
• Shoppers planning a home project

Why this matters for retail & home

Home purchases are often large and planned. Shoppers who cannot confirm size, delivery or returns tend to leave before they buy.

How we keep it fair

• Every published review uses the same five jobs, from public evidence that anyone can check.
• Not found in this review means we looked and did not see it on the pages checked. It is not proof that a feature does not exist.
• Recommendations are hypotheses to test, not claims about lost sales.
• Existing iWeb clients are represented through a case study, not a public critique.
• If a detail is wrong, the business can tell us and we will check it.

Key terms

Variant

A version of a product, such as a colour or size.

Aftercare

Support after purchase, such as assembly, care or warranty information.

Questions about The Index

• How we review and score
• The Index Awards