Essential UI/UX Design Principles: A Comprehensive Guide
Content & Traffic Paper
1. Intro to Web Pub: Analysis of Content & Traffic Paper
Corbett Evans
Gillette Venus Content and Traffic Analysis
Industry Overview
In the world of razors, for the longest time one could only get one buy going to the store and
purchasing one there. Prices varied between the wide variety of brands and the quality of the
razors varied even more than that. Then, the concept of direct-to-consumer razor blades took off!
Now, anyone can sign up for a subscription to get razors shipped directly to their homes. No
more going out and hoping to find the brand you like. They now came right to you. However,
competition remains even in the direct-to-consumer field, and debates can go on and on about
which one is the best. While the answer is difficult to pin down, the quality of a razor can often
been compared to the quality of the online site and its popularity. If the company has a more
welcoming website, there’s a high chance that they will be a more popular brand over all. Why
should this be any different for razors?
Company Information
Gillette Venus is the “daughter” company of Gillette, acting as their primary department for
women’s razors and feminine shaving products. Gillette itself has been around for over 100 years
and has mostly been associate with men. But in 2001, Gillette created Venus in order to appeal to
women and feminine shaving needs. Their website, Gillette Venus.com, soon after began
providing their specially designed, quality razors to be sold online, delivered right to the
customer’s door.
To set Venus apart from other Gillette blades, Venus took special care to make their razors
perfect for women.
“Designed especially for the way a woman shaves, the Venus Original set our standard for
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Corbett Evans
women’s razors. It navigated feminine curves with a rounded, pivoting head. It felt natural in a
woman’s hand, with a contoured, Soft Grip® handle. It protected against nicks and cuts with
protective cushions. And it made short work of shaving with individually adjusting blades.”
(Gillette Venus About, n.d.)
With this as their
foundation, Venus has
continued to make razors
like this, making them one
of the top selling women’s
razors in the world. In terms
of price, Venus overs a
wide variety on their
razors. From the original
standard razor to the
much more expensive
Extra Smooth Razor head.
Along with this, Venus
offers additional products
to come with the razors,
including shaving creams, facial cleaners and skin lotions. They are then neatly shipped off to
the customer at a consistent rate and established price. You buy the full razor once and Venus
will ship you replacements blades when you need them. All of this can easily be found on
GilletteVenus.com by navigating to their “design a plan” page and choosing what you want.
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Corbett Evans
Brand Trust and Authority
“For more than 115 years, Gillette has delivered precision technology and unrivalled product
performance – improving the lives of over 800 million consumers around the world.”
(Kauffman, 2019) While Venus has been around for over 20 years, their parent company
Gillette has been on the market for a much longer time, and held the honor of being the number
one razor in the world for over 50 years. All this time, they also have held the attention of razor
news for almost its entire lifespan, with each new product and patent created springing them
back into the limelight for a few more years. Even today, despite the decline in razor sales and
overall interest in shaving, Gillette continues to be reported on and mentioned by news
companies covering razors.
Even Refinery 29, a website focusing on a stylish, modern lifestyle for women praises Venus
razors, as does Allure Beauty Awards, with the chief editor saying, “I have lived in a stubble-
bubble for the majority of my adult life: No razor-no matter how “sensitive” it claims to be – has
ever given me a smooth, non-rashy finish. Until this five-bladed beauty” (O’Rourke, n.d.)
Competing Site
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Corbett Evans
One of Venus’ chief competition for women’s razors would have to be Billie (mybillie.com).
Unlike Gillette, which started as a razor company for men, Billie started its carrier focusing
solely women’s razors. Their entire philosophy is about selling razors at an affordable price and
making it fun to use them.
Even their website is tailored towards this
vision. Bright colors, additional products like
magnetic shower clips, shaving cream and
colorful, fun boxes and bags makes it clear that
Billie’s goal is to be female oriented. They also
strive to do away with Pink Tax, an extra few
put on products directed towards women.
Because of this, Billie sells their razors at a
cheap price, only $9 for their entire starting package: handle, razor blades and the magnetic clip.
On top of this, the later shipments for replacement blades are also priced at only $9 per shipment,
with shipping being free for every one of these deliveries. Unlike Gillette Venus, which offers a
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Corbett Evans
variety of blade types all at different prices, Billie offers only one blade type, but offers a larger
color variety along with all the other things that come with the package. They are confident that
the blades they offer is the only one you need, so there’s no need to pick from a selection of
blade types. Also, while the selection process for razors on Gillette’s site is simple,
straightforward and easy to follow, Billie’s focuses on being bright and colorful, maintaining a
nature of femininity and fun. All these factors come together to create a vicious rival to Gillette
that threatens to overtake their rule at the top of the razor industry, at least in terms of women’s
razors.
Quality Content Assessment
Content Overview: GilletteVenus.com is a straightforward and simple website designed
primarily for one thing. Selling razors. There are five different pages on the website, all very
simple and straight
forward. The best
pages on here are probably the “Design plan” page and the Help page. The “Planning” page has a
very interesting system that walks you through the buying process. You select what razor you
want; choosing color, style, head and amount. It then takes you to a page asking how often you
shave, which is another way of asking “how often do you want us to ship you new blades?” It
then takes you to a final page to entice you with additional lotions or shaving creams to add to
your basket. You then can check out. The Help page, meanwhile, has the usual “Frequently
asked questions” and a list of contacts, and even a page providing shaving tips.
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Value-Added Content
One of the most interesting things I found on the Gillette Venus website that I so far haven’t
found on other site is the “Shaving Tips” page. There are dozens of articles on here about
different methods of shaving, the best way to do it, when to do it, best products to go with the
type of skin you have. The list is quite extensive. Along with this, there is even a section about
shaving myths and facts, a thing that I for one, as a trivia lover, find very interesting. This entire
sections draws in visitors of the site, engrossing them in the content and helping them stick
around longer then it would take to simply purchase a razor. It also makes the entire site more
“people friendly”. They want to interest and entertain you. They’re not just trying to get you to
buy something, though that is there primary goal. Want some interesting shaving facts or hear
some myths? Boom, there’s a page for that. And with over twenty four different articles about
ways to shave, it will take a while before you run out of content to read, and that’s without even
opening the other tabs!
References
Gillette VenusAbout.(n.d.).RetrievedfromGilletteVenus: https://www.gillettevenus.com.au/en-
au/about-venus-history
Kauffman,S.(2019, September9). Gillette and TerraCycle Partnerto MakeAll RazorsNationally
Recyclable. Retrievedfromnews.pg.com:https://news.pg.com/press-release/pg-corporate-
announcements/gillette-and-terracycle-partner-make-all-razors-nationally-
O’Rourke,T.(n.d.). Gillette Venus,Awardsand Reviews.RetrievedfromGilletteVenus:
https://www.gillettevenus.com/en-us/awards-and-reviews/
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