Very unique look, finding the product you want is pretty easy because of the information architecture of the site and browsing through the products is pretty straight forward.
Relevant Store
A very cool store that matches their theme very well. The product page is great, with a clear call to action. They do boast a 1-page checkout, though it could use some more optimization.
Free People
“A nice contemporary design and an inviting overall image. Although I did not care for how they laid out the product list pages (with the text to the right) but once you click a set and view the products in it, it is getting good. They have used subtle little ideas to help the user. Again we see the nifty little “Don’t forget to pick a size” like mentioned on previous submissions. Overall a very nice submission I think!”
GDI Air Solutions
“Selling air conditioning units, air purifiers, dehumidifiers etc. We wanted to spice up the rather uninteresting imagery with some fancy dan icons and bright colours but keeping it nice and clean.”
Vineyard Vines
Vineyard Vines is just a really fun site. You feel like you’re in a friendly atmosphere right away which definitely brings a level of assurance right from the start, even before you see the Hacker Safe logo at the bottom. Great job with the overall shopping experience, very simple.
Fresh Fruit Baskets
Great design and great on-page SEO elements. Everything from the ‘calls to action’ to the banners have been given a lot of attention in regards to styling. The ‘Fruit University’ that was implemented is actually filled with great information, not just _filler_!
Behance Outfitter
Behance proves that the key to selling products to creative people is impressing us with uninterrupted simplicity and smart design.
David’s Cookies
David’s Cookies is really a great looking site. Sometimes reds can be a bit overpowering, but they really found a great balance here. Shopping is simple, no complicated or heavily nested sub-categories, and there are a few different ways to shop (occasion, best sellers,…).
1-800-Flowers.com
This officially closes out table-week. 1-800-Flowers is certainly it’s industry’s leader, and for good reason. Products are relatively easy to find (especially for how many there are) and while the checkout could certainly be improved, it’s still not difficult to go through the process.
Timberland (US)
My favorite part of the US version of the Timberland site is the search. Great ways to refine, sort and categorize. The top navigation does work very well and things definitely seem to be in the right place. At the same time, I’m still a bigger fan of the UK version.
Google Store
Even though it’s not run by Google (fulfillment handled by “GatewayCDI”:http://www.gatewaycdi.com/), their look is definitely there and shopping is an easy process. The site is very simplistic and doesn’t give you too many ways to get lost in the site.
Rampage
The category page is great, especially on a category like shoes. When you hover over a product you get a ‘quickview’ of available colors, sizes, etc.
Best Kiteboarding
The site is great looking and captures their demographic very well. I really love all of the information on the product pages. You won’t run out of features to read about. Unfortunately everything after the product page falls apart…After clicking buy now nothing is actually added to your cart, you have an extra step to get where you want to go (the checkout). Still, there are definitely things to learn from the site.
Amazon
Amazon is where any online retailer hopes to be. The best thing about Amazon in my opinion is their “Personalized Shopping.” They’ve mastered the “You may also like…” and created a unique store for each customer.
Borders
Borders recently ended their partnership with Amazon and went on their own. The new site looks great. The “magic shelf” seems to be working very well, though I’m not *wild* about the quick view. The product pages are very unique and still do well with that balance of “different” vs. “usable.”
LocationStore
This was another project I was involved in. The original site was Gps-store.net, so we did the re-branding and re-designing for LocationStore. Great site, one of my favorite projects to work on.
Timberland (UK)
Great customer experience here. Check out the add to cart button when you hover over it, without selecting your size, you simply get a title letting you know. No ugly JavaScript error messages after you click the button. There are also great multiple product views, with easily recognizable swatches that also show the available sizes. On a side note, it’s also built with Divs/CSS unlike it’s US counterpart.
Ace Hardware
I think the main reason I like Acehardware.com is the product page. While it’s a bit busy, there is some great information about their shipping, payment options and rewards. Their ‘popup’ mini-cart is also very well done.
Urban Originals
I was surprised when I saw that this wasn’t a company based in New York or Paris because they captured such a great high fashion look. With that said the theme is clean, and extremely easy to use.
Apple
I’m not sure how I let my site go this far without posting Apple.com. The key here is that Apple allows the products and design speak for themselves. Nothing here is complicated.
MyPhotopipe
MyPhotopipe is more of an Apple-inspired lead-generation site. The redesign on this site was massive, everything was streamlined for simplicity and it paid off. Less words, less links and a message that came across clearly.
Marchand de Trucs
There are two positive aspects of this site that jump out at me right away. First of all, it has a very unique theme that grabs your attention. Also, even though I don’t know French, I am easily able to add products to my cart and check out because everything is clear and proportionate. This is one of the best sites I’ve seen in a while.
A Touch of Brass
A Touch of Brass sells decorative hardware and has been online for about 11 years. This was a great redesign project that I worked on at Groove Commerce.
Kinetic Fountains
This was one of the early inspirations I was given when I started doing eCommerce. You may not see them right away, but there are a lot of subtle elements in this site that really help the customer experience and conversion. Definitely worth picking through.
Everything Furniture
This is a great Yahoo! Store. There are a lot of pieces in the site that I didn’t know Yahoo! Stores could pull off, such as the total price calculation on the product page, suggestions / recently viewed products in the right bar, and social marketing pieces are in there as well. They also offer over 20,000 furniture and home decor products.
Home Depot
There are a lot of SEO pieces missing (the URLs might make you cry!) but the conversion pieces are definitely there. Great looking checkout as well.
Skooba Design
Great clean design. Plenty of product images. One thing I saw that I thought was very unique is the “availability graph” on each product page. A very cool way of showing inventory.
Shipping Supply
Shipping Supply was a great project. The key here was to keep things simple and accommodate a large average order size. This was one that I worked on myself, so I won’t brag too much.
House Of Fraser
Great looking site, the black works very well. Aside from looks, it has simple navigation with usable drop down menus. I also love all of sorting and refinement options on the left of the category pages.
Zoka
Zoka Coffee Roaster and Tea has an amazing theme on their site, I love the organic look, especially the coffee cup stain in the background. They also make good use of their blog as well.
