Your Own Retail Clothing e-Store: Site Design

We continue our saga on building an online shop. Initially, we were planning to publish a small article on website content. Then we decided that site design deserves some attention as well. So here we go…

There are gazillions of things one can do design-wise. Theoretically, the only limit is one’s imagination. Yes, your site should be eye-catching and, of course, unique in some way. But when it comes to practice, you basically have two options: use a pre-designed template or order a custom design. We cannot tell you what’s better, but we have some tips for you to consider.

No matter what option you choose, try to get maximum flexibility. The more freedom you have, the better. If your site supports customizable skins, you can easily freshen up your design whenever you want. For example, you can have a skin for every season of the year. The best part is that you won’t have to spend additional resources for these changes.

Another way to alter the design is to use different color schemes. However, do remember that you’re going to sell clothing. By default, this means that you know a lot about fashion and design, and cannot afford to make mistakes. So be careful when choosing the color scheme for your site. For instance, if most of your product photos have white background, a page with dark colors may look odd. Browsing should be comfortable and fun, not disappointing or tiring.

If your site logo isn’t too complicated, you can stylize it with holiday decorations. Isn’t it nice when your e-store is ready for the coming holiday season? Sometimes this minor change and perhaps some banners is quite enough to create the right mood (and boost sales).

Banners are very useful. They help promote your business and can draw customers’ attention to important things (like new products/services, sale, etc.). It’s important to properly place these banners. They should not be way too different from your site design. Make sure you have enough room for banners, and it’s easy to add or remove one without sacrificing the harmonious look of your site.

Your homepage is where the shopping experience is supposed to begin. It should be nicely organized and contain only the most important information. Ideally, the customer should be one click away from what he or she wants. Do not overcrowd it with banners, text and the least popular products. Don’t use too many colors – this can be distracting.

Once again we remind you about the importance of compatibility. This time we mean that your site design should look well on desktops/laptops, tablets and phones. Don’t lose your customers, because you forgot about one or two platforms!

We do hope this mini-article is of some help. Good luck with designing and launching a great clothing e-store! By the way, if you are looking for a trustworthy supplier of wholesale dresses, we are always open for cooperation.