Dix&Pond Stephanie Bernier

How to Create a Great Fashion Website4 key design elements of the best fashion websites and online brand experience

B R A N D I N G L E S S O N S

It is a crowded space. The Internet has become a massive shopping bazaar and so increasingly hard for fashion brands to gain traction. Fashion is also highly discretionary and takes a lot more finesse than selling commodity products.

Dix&Pond 2-24

E-commerce has exploded.The outsized growth in e-commerce is due to the significant advantages of online shopping.

It’s always open, has no lines, offers endless choices and makes bargain hunting and choosing easier. One can search for simple things, like “white shirt” and immediately net out an entire site’s selection.

Dix&Pond 3-24

Websites are 2D.On the downside, websites are two-dimensional. They lack the tactile sense of touch, sight, smell and sound.

There is a lack of trust, because of the inability to see and try on the merchandise.

Dix&Pond 4-24

SEPHORA

Fashion is emotional.Fashion is an emotionally driven purchase and it is challenging to create a fully engaging brand experience with limited sensory elements.

To sell fashion successfully online, it takes differentiated product and a strong brand identity.

Dix&Pond 5-24

There are 4 key elements to a design a great fashion

website.

Dix&Pond 6-24

#1Create a rich visual personality. Customers for apparel and accessories span a wide spectrum, from fashion obsessives to commodity shoppers. They respond to different visual platforms.

Dix&Pond 7-24

ANTHROPOLOGIE

The elements of fonts, color, images and layout combine to tell a unique visual story about the brand.

This is the visual merchandising of e-commerce.

Dix&Pond 8-24

RALPH LAUREN

A website has to “say” something clearly to the viewer to define the brand, so they can relate and know what to expect.

For instance, is this product playful and preppy or hip and edgy? It tells them if they have gone into the right site.

Dix&Pond 9-24

VINEYARD VINES

Nordstrom targets a fashion-obsessed crowd. The modern look of their image driven site successfully speaks to their upscale audience.

Dix&Pond 10-24

Zappos with its royal blue navigation bars and basic fonts, appeals to average consumers looking for depth of assortment, with a non-intimidating approach.

Dix&Pond 11-24

Color is a key emotional trigger for any brand. Net-a-Porter the site for sophisticated, designer fashion, is appropriately modern and black.

Dix&Pond 12-24

The Kate Spade brand is whimsical and colorful. Their site reflects the essence of their playful brand.

Dix&Pond 13-24

#2 Speak with a unique voice. The content is the written voice of the brand and the copywriter is a story-teller, a painter of a picture. How do you sell fragrance when a consumer can’t smell it? The idea is to evoke impulses, emotions and ideas with copy and images.

Dix&Pond 14-24

TACORI

Copywriters create fantasies, possibilities and attributes that may not really exist, to drive sales. It plays to our basic human desires.

Storytelling is “benefits”. It comes from active and colorful language and compelling images.

Dix&Pond 15-24

Copy is a combination of storytelling and informative details. Informing is the “features” of the product and terms to make the sale. After the customer emotionally responds to a story, they then evaluate secondary considerations like sizing, price, guarantees, shipping policies, etc.

Dix&Pond 16-24

Website traffic is driven by keywords, but engaging copy does the job of creating a brand personality. Great copy is crafted with both. Calypso St. Barth does an excellent job telling the product stories with emotionally charged copy.

Dix&Pond 17-24

#3 Entertain & engage viewers.Adding social media, a blog, “must-have” suggestions, “look-books” or trend information to your site adds valuable searchable content, drives traffic and provides an element of entertainment and fashion authority to the site.

Dix&Pond 18-24

In addition to blogs, companies have added styling questionnaires, interactive games, etc. to engage consumers. Tory Burch’s blog gives authority to the brand. Marketing has become interactive, no longer a one-way conversation.

Dix&Pond 19-24

#4 Provide a simple & fast user experience. E-commerce customers are busy people bombarded with choices. Websites are visited with a purpose in mind, the consumer starts the dialogue. They have little patience for tricky Flash sites and complex navigation.

Dix&Pond 20-24

ANN TAYLOR

The best e-commerce sites help viewers accomplish their goals simply and quickly.

Keeping some expected conventions to the navigation and minimizing slow features will lower your bounce rate and convert more customers.

Dix&Pond 21-24

SOLUDOS

J Crew makes the online buying process simple, quick and consistently predictable.

Dix&Pond 22-24

The best fashion websites follow these 4 elements to create a great brand and user experience:

• Create a visual personality.

• Speak with a unique voice.

• Entertain and engage.

• Provide a simple, fast user experience.

Dix&Pond 23-24

Dix & Pond Consulting, is a Boston-based fashion and consumer

product development, branding and executive coaching company. We assist clients with creative, strategic and leadership issues.

Clients include retailers, wholesalers, investors, entrepreneurs and research analysts.

Dix&Pond Consulting

Follow Me On Twitter Follow My Blog

Contact Stephanie Bernier

Dix&Pond 24-24