How to Search for a Product
This page shows you how to navigate around the site and how to search for and select the products you are interested in.
We have tried to keep our site simple and easy for you to use. There are powerful search options, category menus, drop-down menus and filters for you to use if you wish, but you can also use very direct navigation if you just want to get quickly to a product and add it to your shopping cart.
There are several ways to navigate around the site to find the exact product you are looking for. Let's quickly run through these methods so that you can find the way or ways that suit you best.
1. DIRECT SEARCH
At the top of each page just to the right of our logo is a search panel. Here you can enter the name of a product, or our item code if you know it, or even just a descriptive word about the product you're looking for. For example, if I was searching for the product Cotton Wool, I could enter the word cotton in the search panel. The system will then automatically prompt you with a list of products which have the word cotton somewhere in their file. This list is sorted into appropriateness-order, in other words the most likely answer is displayed first. A list of some 10 possible products is displayed. If you see the product you are looking for simply click on it in the list and you are taken directly to the search results for that product. Then simply chose the correct product by clicking on the image and you are taken directly to the product page in the web shop.
The more information you key into the search panel, the more accurate the search results will be.For example, if you key in both of the words cotton wool in the search panel and then click the magnifying glass on the right of the search panel or press enter, you are taken straight to the search results where you proceed to the product page as before.
With either of these approaches once you are viewing your search results, if you can see the exact product you want and you want to buy it - you can add it straight to your cart without going to the product page by clicking on the red "Add to Cart" box under the product image.
If a variety of sizes or colours or packs are available and you want to chose from these or if you simply want to see more information about the product to make up your mind, then click on the image of the product or click on the blue "See Options" box if available and you will be taken straight to the product page where you can continue to refine your product selection.
2. MEGA-MENU SEARCH
The site Mega-Menu sits across the top of each page as a red strip just below the Speedy logo.
We have grouped all of our products into 5 major product categories which are shown on this strip. These are:
- ART
- CRAFT
- PAPER & CARD
- STATIONERY & EDUCATIONAL
- SEASONAL & SPECIALS
- There is also a sixth category called EXTRAS which will contain additional resources (such as product guides and lesson plans etc) but is under development and testing at the moment.
To use the Mega-Menu, simply hover your mouse over the category you are interested in and a new menu drops down featuring each of the sub-categories and sub-sub-categories under the main category. For example, lets say you are looking for paint brushes. First select which of the main categories on the strip you think you are most likley to find your product - in this example - paint brushes. Most of us would expect paint brushes would logically be found in the ART category.
So, if you hover your mouse over the word ART on the red strip you will see another menu immediately drops down. In this menu the major sub-categories of the ART category are shown as headings in black text. You can see 6 headings of:
- Drawing,
- Framing & Display,
- Painting,
- Protection,Cleaning & Storage,
- Inks & Dyes and
- Printing.
Underneath each of these headings you will see in green the sub-categories that are filed underneath each category. Run your eyes through these lists and you can quickly see that paint brushes are filed logically under the Painting header. To go straight to the selection for paint brushes simply click on the green text under painting that says Brushes, Rollers & Knives and you are taken to another menu where you can choose exactly the type of paint brush you want, look at it in more detail, consider altenatives or different pack sizes and add to your cart.
At any time you can move back to the Mega-Menu by simply moving your mouse to the red strip and hovering over your selected category.
Alternatively, you can move back through the category levels one or more step(s) at a time by clicking on the "breadcrumbs" immediately below the red strip. These breadcrumbs are the menu trail that show where you are currently located on the website. You can click on the breadcrumb to the left to move progressively back up the menu levels all the way back to the home page if you want. Or you can click on the category two or three to the left if you want to jump a couple of levels or more back up the menu. Or you can click on the Home breadcrumb to go back to the home page. (Clicking the Speedy logo will do this too).
3. BROWSING MENU SEARCH
Use this method if you want to spend a bit more time wandering through each of the category levels to see what is available in each category.
To start with use the Mega-Menu red strip at the top of the page, but instead of hovering your mouse over the category you want to look at - this time actually click on it. So again if we use the example of paint brushes, you would start by clicking on the word ART on the red strip mega-Menu.
When you do this another page opens up with each of the 6 sub-categories of ART shown as seperate icons on the page. You can choose the icon you are interested in and click on it to move down to the next level sub-category. In this case click on the Painting icon. This opens up another page where the sub-categories of the Painting section are displayed. Again look around but for this example click on the icon that says Brushes, Rollers & Knives. This then takes you to the different types of brushes that are available, from where you can fine-tune your selection.
Again you will see the breadcrumb at the top of the page to move back levels as you wish.
We hope this information helps you move around the site and get quickly to the particular products that you are interested in.
Click here to go back to the main Help Index http://speedyschoolsupplies.com.au/page/how-to-use-this-site/
If you'd like to give us any feedback about these notes or about anything on the site we'd love to hear from you.
Please email your comments back to us at: service@speedyschoolsupplies.com.au
