First ecommerce site

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Jdog

Jdog

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Aug 14, 2006
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I've set up a site based on zen-cart for my wife to sell her stuff through while she is on maternity leave. I have never done anything like this, so I was looking for some pointers and tips. I have had it submitted to 200 pr4+ directories and I'm starting to get a few visitors, thanks msn.

Let me know what you think:

www.momandbaby.info

Oh yeah, don't give me shit about the colors. That was all her, I tried to talk her out of it.
 


i don't like the layout on the homepage much- having the items listed down one single line looks pretty bad. Try making more of a grid with them to start. The new arrivals page w/ the descriptions looks ok though.

I like the blow up of the pics on the washing line- give it a very down to earth feel. I would get rid of the trees in the background though- kind of distracting since they aren't blurred out. If you are going for that look though- use a much lower f-stop on the camera- like 2.8 or something. That way you will focus on the shirts, get the background- but the shirts will be in clear focus and the background will be blurred and not as distracting.

I also don't like how the 'new products for november' with the crappy single vertical line layout shows for each page you view. Personally I would have a tab w/ the 'New This Month!' or something - and on the home page list your best stuff instead- one or two from each section, including the new stuff section. When you click on each section instead of seeing all the 'new stuff', maybe just show the best sellers.

Another thought is to have a landing page w/ a large pic (your favorite shirt from each section) with a title (daddies shirts, etc.) for each section. The Large pics would link to their respective sections. The idea is to make the site as easy for people to get as possible- I think what you have now is too 'busy'. YOu want to layer the details- think drilling down- starting w/ generalizations (one big pic- linking to its section), then show thumbnails of the shirts w/ the catch phrase of the shirt, then when the thumbnail is clicked show the larger pic of the specific shirt w/ a more detailed description and the ability purchase.

You want to make it as little of a strain on the eyes (little words are tough to read) and take as few clicks as possible to make the purchase.

One last thing- I don't know if I would leave in the menu bar on the page letting you choose which letter you want to look at. YOu don't have enough shirts yet to warrent this and it just adds to the clutter.

Well thats about all I can think of now- its hard to describe w/o being able to draw pics.

I'm working on some drop-ship e-commerce sites myself, so I've been into this lately. btw how does zen-cart work for you? My stock shopping cart that is included in NetObjects Fusion is shit and can't calc shipping charges from multiple locations based on weight, carrier, etc.
 
Well.... the colors might be ok, but maybe try talking her into tonign them down.

My eyes!

::emp::
 
Another tip that works good in general, especially for eCommerce is:
Try to make the site appear as something bigger than it actually is. Sure - this is just you and your wife's little venture, but as for me - I would be much more likely to shop from that site if it appeared to be a somewhat established business. Present yourselves as "we", "us", speak in the 3rd person, etc.

Make it seem to the visitors that this isn't just some mom and pop shop (pun intended), but that they're visiting a professional online store. If you indirectly can lead your visitors to believe that this is a larger company with several employees, a sales staff, etc. - well that is a good thing! :)

Paul Stanley, frontman of the band KISS once said that in their early days, they used to stack their stage full of empty Marshall cabinet amplifiers. They were nothing but empty boxes - but to the audience, it seemed VERY impressive and in-your-face. It basically made them appear as bigger than what they actually were. And it worked!
 
I would move the Important Links box below the Categories. Maybe rename it to something like "Information". Also add some more links in there, like a FAQ page, privacy policy, Contact Us page, Sitemap, etc. Something to help flesh it out.

I would also look into some kind of grid layout so you don't have to scroll so much. Give you a more efficient use of space.

You logo might need cleaned up some, I can see some light green lines in there, one going vertically through the second b in baby. What about removing that white gap under the logo, so it's just solid green?

You could make your horizontal menu (new arrivals, Infants, toddlers...) bigger so they stand out a little more.

Hope that helps. Looks like you are off to a good start.

J
 
yeah its easy to fool people into thinking you are bigger than you are... whenever I try to sign up new companies to drop ship w/ I alwasy just use 'us' 'we' etc. I also try to make it seem like I have loads of experience doing it...

Also try using a voicemail service like one of the ones featured in www.inc.com you can get a basic service for like $9.95/month and have calls forwarded to your cellphone, to a voice mail box, etc.
 
Wow, thanks guys. I will do a bunch of work on it this weekend.

Zen-cart is pretty cool, but it is a pain in the ass trying to figure out how to make it look the way I want. I'll update it and let you guys know.

Hit list:
1. graphics, images and colors
2. layout ( I never really liked it, but couldn't figure out how to change it)
3. bs people in to thinking we are bigger
4. get rid of the stupid long list of new products
5. add more content pages

You guys helped a lot. Thank you.
 
I dunno about zencart, osCommerce always looked better and I thought it was very easy to use, and you can buy cheap skins for it.

Maybe check that out, oh and those colors....
 
You can make zen-cart look good, I threw that up in a couple days for her. I spent more time getting the cart and shit to work, and then spent hours trying to figure out why the fuck the "about me" link wouldn't show up.

I hate the colors, but the boss is the boss.
 
So how does your cart work? Does it just link to the Paypal engine or something?

The simple one I am using links to paypal- so customers can pay via credit card or paypal in a secure environment (sometimes people are wary about buying from small sites).

The problem is with no way to calculate shipping and handling- so I just add shipping to all my prices- and then make it seem like the next best thing since I say things like "Shipping always included on all prices!" or "The place where shipping is always included in the price!"
 
Yeah, it uses the paypal ipn thingie and the customers can use their paypal account or use a credit card via paypal (no account needed). Zen-cart's shipping calculations are actually pretty cool. You can do it by weight, percentage, flat rate, discount for quantity etc... Similar to ebay.
 
i think those product images could be a little more professional. current images look like they are worn and just came from the laundry.

maybe you can make a tshirt (or whatever) image template, and then write the text matching the font on the shirts.

and to make it more professional, just add 150-200 more products (get them from other sites lol) , and add the text "not available at the moment".
 
...well I don't know about that... if you are actually going to build a business I wouldn't steal examples form other places..

plus the 'down to earth' 'home based biz' thing gets a lot of people- especially moms (who are going to be your largest customer base). I like the idea of the shirts on the lines- adds a good 'home-based' biz feel, but make them look more professional. Crisper images, focused on the shirts (completely blur the background) with brighter 'soft' light reflected on the shirt. If you're not too much into photography maybe hire a cheap local photoagrapher.. if you are making this a real biz you don't want things to look cheap!
 
I agree on what Reefer420 said about the photos. Hey, I wish I lived closer to you - I would take the pics with my SLR and a nice set up for you for free. :)
Too bad I live half across the world.

But yeah - I think moms will dig the "down to earth", "cozy" feel of the shirts hanging from a clothesline. Chicks dig that. Believe me - I'm married. ;)
 
What I would personally do, is that I would find stock photos with the products (example a blank baby bib or whatever). And photoshop the design on to it. With the stock photo and photoshoping the designs in; you'll have a slick product image.

Another issue, I kind of see, but it all depends if the market is right for it. I don't know I'm not in the baby apparel business. But I found your prices a little high. I know that you factored shipping in it. But visitors might have a little sticker shock and move on. People tend to associate a shown price with the product. So the lower the price the better. Thus you should seperate price and shipping cost.

And last but not least, I know she's boss, but the colors have to go. Visit other major baby shops on the net and get a feel of the color pallets. Then go with those but with your own twist if you like (a little more lighter or darker). Good Luck.
 
The price has been a challenge for us. Some go for $20 and some go for $12. We kind of just jumped in the middle, shipping is like $.80 for us so that really isn't in the price at all. My wife has polled a bunch of people on prenancy boards and they seem to think the price is ok, but I don't know if they are just being nice.

We are going to throw some on eBay to get a feel for what the price should be.
 
by the way- there are a lot of cool, cheap marketing tools you can use to promote a legit site like that...

For example, You can get cable tv commercials custom made for really cheap...

TV Spots for Small E-Commerce Firms

I wish I could remember the site, but there is a place that you basically 'cut and paste' commercials together based on specific layouts they have- then add your text and songtracks... for about $200 you can get x number of spots on a cable station. Really cool idea.
 
I don't care what "the boss" says - the colors ruin your site. It just looks cheesy, corny and painful to the eyes. Find a middleground... use the same colors but tone down the brightness.

Also, prominent pictures in your header would be good to help identify exactly what your site is about. helping people relate on a personal level. Go to Stock Photography: Search Royalty Free Images & Photos | iStockphoto.com and search for "mom and baby" and spend a buck to find a picture that would go really well with your theme. Use photoshop to make a header involving your color theme and picture and use that.

If you're not good with photoshop head over to a forum that holds contests for things like this... namepros.com comes to mind and maybe SP too although I think they charge to post work wanted threads.

Also, your front page seems to feel kind of "empty" and I think you could make it a bit more ripe if you increase the size of your font to help fill the site out a bit.

In general:
1) Tone Down the Colors
2) Make a header, using these colors, that incorporate graphics relevant to your theme that help connect with your visitors on a personal level
3) Increase font size

But, you've got a great start and I'll be interested to track your progress. Goodluck!
 
What about making the hover images that of the blown up text on the clothing. I want to see the phrase and see how it looks, not a larger picture of it hanging.

Also the black border doesn't stand out between the green and the PINK of the navigation menu. The way it looks now makes it feel really >squished< maybe get a little cunt hair of white to separate the two.
 
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