Wal-Mart Don’t Support Firefox or Safari

Last week I wrote about the total screw up that Wal-Mart made in coding their new service for buying and downloading movies on-line. I went back today to see if they have fixed the problem with the coding and what I found I am even more surprised at than the original.

Rather than fix the code they have decided that they will not support Firefox. End of story.

Instead I find this bit of advice on the page. I might add that it is correctly rendered so it isn’t like they can’t do it when they want to…

“We’re sorry …
Our website requires the browser Internet Explorer version 6 or higher. It appears that you are using Firefox, Safari, or another browser that Wal-Mart Video Downloads doesn’t currently support. Click here to get Internet Explorer for free from Microsoft.

Thank You ”

– Wal-Mart Unsupported Browser Page

I would refer to the comments that I made previously in that who the heck are they expecting to buy movies on-line? Mum and Dad? I don’t think so, they don’t trust this type of medium at the best of times let alone spending money for zeros and ones. The early adopters are going to be buying movies and most of them are not stupid enough to use Internet Explorer. Boom goes the bulk of their target audience. Oh and by the way Safari and therefore Mac users they don’t support your browser either. What! Wait… It gets worse, correct me if I am wrong but I thought Internet Explorer would not install on a Mac machine…

I can understand that Microsoft might make some services only accessible through Internet Explorer. Although that is changing. However, for an eCommerce site to not support a browser that a significant number of people have and use is just plain stupid. I am not sure about the percentage of Safari users, can anyone throw a figure in the comments? What Firefox and Safari users that might have purchased from your site you have just excluded by choice. I am no marketer or have any sort of education in business but I am sure they are breaking so many fundamental rules of business that they deserve to crash and burn.

Stupidity in the extreme. I intend to boycott Wal-Mart for everything and I don’t blame other Firefox and Safari users for feeling the same way. Yes we tend to hold a grudge.

Related Link: Nice Job Wal-Mart

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Nice Job Wal-Mart

The screenshot below looks like crap. It is Wal-Mart’s entry into the competitive world of on-line video downloads.

It is crap because the screenshot was taken from Firefox. So why is it crap? Well it looks fine in Internet Explorer so in essence it isn’t but it is crap but because the mastermind that wrote the code failed to test it in Firefox makes it crap on more than one level. He or she just isolated about 30% of users. I hope that coder got the boot.

The other thing is that it has been this way for a few days. If I was Wal-Mart I would have fixed it pronto, nope. Double black mark. It is rather ironic is that the user that is going to utilize this service is more than likely an early adopter. Who are early adopters? Usually geeks. What do geeks browse with? Usually Firefox. So potentially they have just isolated a lot more than 30%.

Stupid oversight that could cost them dearly.

Render in IE for Optimal Viewing: