Creative Cut

Note: Consistent with the issue’s focus on e-commerce/technology, this month’s Creative Cut focuses on a Web site.

Many niche marketers thrive on the Web. If you have a very specialized product or target market, you can build a successful online business that grows by word-of-mouth, search engine marketing, and, at times, small catalogs or print materials.

This requires a well-honed site that speaks directly to your market with a clear message that you’re an expert at what you do. The following is a look at ways FlagClothes.com could enhance its Web site to become the true leader in flag-based, patriotic products.

Homepage
At a glace, your homepage must convey exactly what your site’s about. I don’t get that feeling from FlagClothes.com. My assumption is that its main goal is to sell products online — yet tabs to “Press Library,” “The Collection” and a banner to “Free Patriotic E-Cards” dilutes the center “Shop” tab and the subsequent category links below it. While additional content is useful for any Web site, having the “Press Library” in the most prominent tab isn’t necessary. It should be moved elsewhere.

The center of the site is dominated by a hard-to-read copy block. While useful for search engines, which love appropriate copy, this is just too much copy. People scan Web copy rather than read it. Also, avoid using reverse type and cluttered backgrounds on the Web.

A perfect Web page is a balancing act between images and graphics that help sell products and text that enhances search engine optimization. I’d suggest showing more products on the homepage to create visual clues to confirm what products this company is selling.

The e-mail sign-up is also misplaced on this page. Located in the upper-left corner, another prime spot, this can easily be confused for a product search, which is often found on the top of Web sites. Sure, gathering e-mails is important, but not at the top of the site — especially on a site that has no search!

Navigation and Product Drill-Down
Many vendors have discovered there’s more than one way to shop a site. Department stores allow visitors to drill down by product type and also shop by brand. Children’s Web sites often allow you to shop by age range. FlagClothes.com categorizes by the type of flag or patriotic material featured in the products: “Stars and Stripes,” “Old Glory,” “Texas,” etc. No other options exist.

Experts advise using categories that make sense to the shopper, not the merchant. I wonder how many FlagClothes.com shoppers would use the categories it selected. A click on “Texas” presents a thumbnail page featuring pillows, bags, caps, T-shirts, ties and more — all on one page. A future version of this site might opt to offer visitors a chance to shop by product type: shirts, ties, pillows, etc. My hunch is many people would shop that way.

Product Pages
The product pages on this site are pretty straight-forward, well-organized and clear. They offer the most useful features one expects on such a page — view larger image, sizing chart, e-mail a friend and related products. The copy is a bit thin (or nonexistent) for some products, but otherwise a solid presentation of each item.

Shopping Cart
Once an item is placed in the cart, it’s acknowledged on the product page, which is good, and the running shopping cart in the upper-right corner of the site, which is also a good thing. Clicking to the cart produces a pretty typical shopping cart, albeit a tad busy. On this page, one learns the stock status of products, has the option of gift packaging when available, sees estimated shipping charges and taxes, and various standard options in a cart (remove items, check out and security message).

There’s a surprise on this page, however. Suddenly we get information about a wish list and how to use it. It’s a nice, useful feature to have on a site, but this is never mentioned until you get to the shopping cart. If you’ve got it, flaunt it on the home and product pages!

Checkout
An edit job might be needed for the checkout process of this site. The first (sign-in) page is loaded with tedious text to read, all to help a visitor check out. The easier and more streamlined this process can be, the fewer abandoned carts you’ll have. Many will want to skip setting up an account and get straight to business.

Subsequent checkout pages (addresses, shipping, payment, etc.) get better but run into trouble if shoppers decide to use ship-to addresses that are different from their bill-to addresses. This requires the creation of a second address in your address book. I’m a seasoned online shopper, and I had a bit of trouble figuring out how to do this. Sure, I didn’t read all of the instructions, but I’m sure I’m not the only one! All of this risks losing a shopper right when you’re ready to close the sale.

Conclusion
Besides selling products, FlagClothes.com offers plenty of additional patriotic content for visitors and some other fun features as well, such as sending e-cards to friends. However, my hunch is the eventual goal of the site is to sell product. Make it simple to shop and buy from your site, and you’ll get customers who come back. Make it tough, and you’ll lose them for good.

John Deneen is president of SiteForm, a Chicago-based consulting firm that specializes in e-commerce solutions and Web site design. You can reach him at (773) 334-8030 or john@siteform.com.