eCommerce Web Site Design Blog Posts

Last month, I had the pleasure of attending Internet Retailer’s Design and Usability Conference. I met a lot of great people and reviewed a lot of websites. Between site consultations and manning the Groove booth, I didn’t get to see many of the event speakers. I did however make it to Lynette Montgomery’s talk. Montgomery, who is the VP of Direct Marketing at Performance Bicycle, gave a talk titled, Performance Bicycle: An End-to-End Redesign Shifts Its Website into High Gear.

There were many great things in Montgomery’s presentation, but there were also many things missing (which is to be expected in a 30 minute overview). But I think it’s important to address what was missing from her presentation, what is missing from many discussions about building and testing websites, and that is the cost.

Of all the things that February represents in America: Black History Month, American History Month, Heart Month, Snack Food Month, Children’s Dental Health Month, International Friendship Month; February is widely known for being the month of loooooove, by which I mean artificial hearts and gift exchanges. Yup, Valentine’s Day. The most romantic eCommerce day of them all!

Overall, the discount perfume website that I’ve chosen for this month’s Design 1, 2, 3 isn’t actually too bad. I don’t love the aesthetic of the site, but it’s nice for what it is: pastel hues and simple text links all fairly well organized to create a visual hierarchy. The security assurances and phone number are prominent. Here’s what the top 500 pixels of the homepage looks like: (The company logo has been purposely removed for this post.)

Originally, I wanted to write about the prominent multi- vs. single-page checkout debate and which is better. I’ve used many multi-page checkouts that zipped me through the process and others that were never ending. Single-page checkouts can be quicker but also less user-friendly for people with older systems or fewer tech skills. Bottom line? I’m not going to give you an answer to which is better. Too much depends on your website, your audience, your shipping rate, and the information you need/gather during checkout. Instead, I want to refocus your attention on what really matters during checkout (and it’s NOT the number of pages of your checkout.)

I recently made a dSLR camera purchase. I put a lot of research into it, and even though Amazon.com won out (they had this amazing rebate), I checked out some of the area camera stores online to whet my spending appetite.

Someone had recommended a store, so I started at that website. They have a fairly good site with some good things going on: product comparison functionality, browsing refinements, detailed product information, etc. But as a designer, I just couldn’t get past some of their fundamental design mistakes.

We’re happy to announce the recent launch of our latest eCommerce website design: PCFallon.com. We first met the owners of P.C. Fallon at the Internet Retailer Conference in Boston back in June this year. Groove took a look at their website during a free consultation and offered a few suggestions to improve P.C. Fallon’s usability, design and conversions. About a month later, Groove and P.C. Fallon decided to work together on a new website. The goals of the new website were: 1. Make the P.C. Fallon brand more consistent, 2. Structure the navigation better, and 3. Increase their conversion rate with a streamlined and usable design.

Recently, larger-than-life magazine house Condé Nast has nixed several publications and laid off staffers. Their Vogue September 2009 issue’s ad content was down 50% from last year. That equates to a lot of money lost. It’s a continual trend that print publications ad pages and subscriptions are tanking.

And now I’m faced with a moral dilemma: Do I renew my subscription to an industry-standards magazine or let it fall to the wayside? If I let it fall to the wayside, I’m not supporting my industry or the magazine which is a fantastic resource for all things design.

Maryland-based JoS. A. Bank recently launched a redesign of their eCommerce website – JosBank.com. Given the fact that JoS. A. Bank is a Maryland company and the fact that I’m a big fan of their clothes (and sales), I decided to take a look at their recently redesigned website and offer my personal review.

Ever wonder how your website looks in different versions of Internet Explorer? If not, you should be. Unless your visitor base is particularly tech-saavy, the majority of visitors to your website are going to be browsing with different versions of Internet Explorer. Most of our clients have 70%+ of their visitors using IE.

Content has always been a problem for many eCommerce sites. Where does it fit in? What more can I possibly write about my products? How can I make my content more appealing? Who actually wants to read this stuff?