Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The 8 Best Ergonomic Accessories Online Stores

Best Ergonomic Online Stores Part 7

Ergonomic keyboard tray, ergonomic keyboard, ergonomic mouse, trackball - most of us have considered purchasing them in the past few years - many of us will need to in the next few years... Where is the best online store to buy ergonomic accessories? We already determined what makes a good ergonomic store, reviewed accessories, furniture, and full range ergonomic stores, then screened these stores against our criteria, and selected the best ergonomic furniture stores on the web. The best ergonomic accessories online stores are, in reverse order:


#8 Ergo Geek. Ergo Geek is for the knowledgeable computer user only: it is not an ergonomic store, its site is a pure e-commerce site of old fashioned design (= awful:-), which focuses on a broad selection and a low price  - but it has the largest inventory of budget and value keyboards and tracking devices that we know of.   There are some useful product reviews on the site. Ergo Geek competes on selection, price and customer support, and does very well on all counts. It carries excellent resellerratings reviews


#7 Ergo Guys. Ergo Guys  is another one of those stores for the knowledgeable computer user only: site design straight for the 90's, short product descriptions, cookie-cutter back end - but a very broad selection of some of the hardest to find ergonomic devices on the web. Their inventory is wide and unusual. If you can't find it anywhere, try Ergo Guys... And - these two guys, whose caricature is on the web site, actually look pretty friendly. They carry, among other things, a good set of ergonomic products for children, from keyboards to tracking devices to headphones to... I'd better stop here or I'll have to go on for another page:-) All of this to say - an unusual but valuable quaint store on the web: check them out.


#6 Ergonomic Made Easy. Ergonomics Made Easy has three really good things going for it: a very good selection of keyboards and pointing devices, excellent ergonomic information, and a live, interesting blog. Its site is clean and easy to use. It sees ergonomics as important enough to have a full second menu bar, below the primary product bar, exclusively focused on educating the customer on office ergonomics - this is a nice move, which carries excellent usability on the site - we like that. Outside of keyboards and pointing devices, the inventory is quite limited, and the store does not carry many top brands. There is some product information on the product pages, although not as much as we would like, but the site does not have product reviews, product-specific ergonomic information on the product pages, or chat. There are no chair or keyboard tray builders - that's too bad. There are no store reviews or testimonials, and no resellerratings reviews. We would feel better seeing a good number of resellerratings reviews.


#5 888 Ergo Direct. 888 Ergo Direct is a modern site with a lot of custom text added throughout the site to ease customer selection within categories. Inventory of ergonomic accessories is broad, with a large number of diverse categories, and a wide set of choices in many. The company carries many interesting ergonomic devices. with a decent site design, a large number of categories, and  a mid-size inventory, broad in keyboard and accessories. The amount of product information varies with the category. There are no product reviews or chat, which is too bad. Some builders are available for chairs and keyboard trays, and there are additional explanations and commentaries that advise on putting together the right tray and arm system. A small amount of generic ergonomic information is available - none in the product pages. There are no store reviews or testimonials, and no resellerratings reviews are available. Despite the interesting site and inventory, there are very few mentions of or feedback on 888ErgoDirect anywhere, which does make us a bit nervous. We would like to see a good number of resellerratings review show up soon.


#4 MC Ergo. MC Ergo also did well in our Best Ergonomic Furniture Online Stores Review, where it also placed #4 - a very good performance! The site is very good looking and easy to navigate, with just the right amount of blank space, images and text. The inventory is broad - although not quite as broad as 888ErgoDirect,-, and the store carries top end brands, including Humanscale, Workrite, ErgoGenesis, Evoluent, and others. There is good product information on the product pages, although more could be added. There are no product reviews - a significant lack for such a good site. The site offers chat. Product builders are available for keyboard trays. There is a limited amount of generic ergonomic information as ergo links, although no product specific ergonomic information is provided on the product pages. MC Ergo allows Paypal and Google Checkout. There are no testimonials or store reviews, and no resellerratings reviews are available. The company has a long list of corporate clients, and has a strong focus on corporate transactions, which implies good trust, but possibly could leave individual customers a bit stranded. We would like to see product reviews, more ergonomic information, and resellerratings reviews.


#3 Ergo WareErgo Ware provides a sophisticated, very well designed site, which, better than another in the category, provides both product and ergonomic information in an integrated manner. The site's information architecture is second to none. It is agreeable to the eye, easy to work with, and full of information without appearing too dense. Inventory is good although not quite as broad or well selected as higher ranked sites. Product pages are very informative. There are product builders available for both chairs and keyboard trays, although these builders are not quite as easy to figure out (in terms of what is best for you) as those in higher ranked sites. There is excellent generic ergonomic information available in a separate tab, and deep product specific ergonomic information referenced in the product pages. There is an extensive list of corporate customers, but no store reviews or testimonials, and no resellerratings reviews.The company clearly excels in the corporate arena, and the site reflects it. There is no user-generated content in the site - a feature you would expect in more individual customer-focused sites.


#2 Ergo Direct. Ergo Direct is a good looking site with a modern look, and significant similarities with MC Ergo - both site designers must be looking at each other a lot:-) The navigation is easy, the pictures are well chosen, and the site, in general, is welcoming. The store carries a  large inventory, many categories, and some big brands, including Humanscale, Goldtouch, Kinesis, Evoluent, WorkRite and 3M, among others. There is good product information across all categories. There are no products reviews and no chat. Extensive builders are provided for chairs and keyboard trays, and product information on complex products, while less exhaustive than for ErgoWare, is presented in an easier manner, with more visuals. There is very limited generic ergonomic information, and no product specific ergonomic information. ErgoDirect has a YouTube channel. It accepts Paypal and Google Checkout. There are no store reviews or testimonials, and no resellerratings reviews available. While ErgoDirect is an online retailer of large volume, we are still a bit worried about the lack of feedback on its customer support, and would feel better after seeing 10 or 15 good resellerratings reviews.

#1 The Human Solution. The Human Solution already placed second in our Best Ergonomic Furniture Online Store Review. What an amazing site! It combines a very clean design with high usability and a truly agreeable appearance, that is efficient and easy to navigate. The front page clearly emphasizes the ergonomic competence of its staff from the get-go.  The store carries a large inventory across its categories, and distributes most top line brands, including Workrite, Humanscale, Steelcase, Evoluent, Kinesis and many others. The product information is good to excellent. There are many product reviews available. The site provide multiple clean chair and keyboard tray builders, as well as multiple shopping guides (such as for instance, a keyboard selection tool), and self assessment tools to help the customer pick her choices. The company encourages customers to call for guidance, and provides self assessment questionnaires to be e-mailed to the staff for feedback and need discussions. Phone staff are all ergonomics trained. There is a large amount of generic ergonomic information, as well as some product-specific ergonomic information on some of the product pages. The company also provides useful feedback and recommendations on some of the products it distributes, and writes a interesting blog. The store accepts Paypal. There are some anonymous testimonials, and  resellerratings reviews are good but not exceptional. This site really stands alone as the best in the category by combining excellent site design and information architecture with powerful self-guided tools and an amazing amount of both store- and user-contributed information. Kudos to The Human Solution!

Next we review ergonomic resources and links on the web... so come back soon!

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

oh i got my new ergonomic chair from a different site. check on the link to know more. nice list by the way! I'll definitely check them out and see where i can buy an ergonomic mouse and keyboard.

Anonymous said...

I have used a company out of Austin that has a showroom as well as website. I would like to nominate them for your review: http://www.ergoprise.com

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