Design

We help merchants, manufacturers, and charities design effective and easy to manage eCommerce sites. We have experienced designers on staff and a network of design partners that we can call on to help you with your project. We are also happy to provide consulting and work with your existing designers who are already familiar with your brand and tastes.

Design is the starting point for the development of your site and is critical for many reasons:

• It influences how people perceive your products and organization
• It affects how easy your site is to use 
• It affects how your site is programmed 
• It helps to clarify your vision for your site

It is the goal of our design team to apply their expertise in web design and eCommerce, to your understanding of your products and customers. The quality of your site creates expectations of the quality of your products, your customer service, and your reputation. A positive user experience, whether it is a successful purchase, donation, or window-shopping, creates a lasting impression. Our goal is to design a site that is easy for you to manage and your customers to use.

Design Process

Over the years, we have refined a successful process that ensures you get the site that you need and want.

• REVIEW:
  We review your strategy, marketing material, and discuss the unique aspects of your project with you. We also gather information about your taste and styles as well as your desires for how you want your products displayed.
• RESEARCH:
  The designer will research your competitors, suppliers and industry specific sites to determine their strengths and weaknesses. This process helps the designer develop an understanding of your industry and provide another viewpoint.
• DEVELOPMENT:
  Once the research has been completed, we can begin to develop a concept for your site. Each concept has to be weighed against your strategy, market positioning, and development budget. The concept can be as simple as variations on a homepage to layouts through the entire shopping process.
• REFINEMENT:
  Once the concept has been established, refinement begins. At the end of the refinement process, you will have a static version of your site.

The design process can span weeks or months depending on the scope.  Our designs usually range from $2500 to $5,000 but larger international projects can easily rise to $10,000 or more. Design is a collaborative effort between talented designers and clients that produces an effective site by making the most of their common interests and individual preferences.

When designing your eCommerce site, we create static pages for each of the major elements in your site and develop a scalable navigation that will support the growth of your site and content. Minimum requirements are

1. Homepage: Studies have shown that web visitors form an impression of a site in under 5 seconds. The homepage is where they decide if they are going to shop or move on.  
2. Department page: This is also frequently used for product search results within your site.
3. Product page: This displays your products in detail including shopping controls and additional product merchandising such as additional images and cross sales.
4. Information Page: These provide company information including privacy policy, returns policy, shipping rates and other supporting information.

There are also additional items that can be designed depending on your requirements and budget. CommerceCM supports multiple template for products and departments to meet the different needs of the items you are selling.  Each additional template increases your budget for design and implementation.  CommerceCM has several standardized checkouts but we can also customize it at your request.  Gift Certificates, Gift Registry, Facebook, and mobile sites can all add to the design and development costs.

eCommerce Templates

Over the years we have found that no two sites are ever exactly the same but we also recognize that not everyone has the time or budget to support truly custom design development. We can save time and reduce your costs for design and implementation by starting with some standard templates and adding your branding elements. Our standard checkouts are used for thousands of transactions a month and have great conversion rates.  Many clients start with modest means and continue to enhance their sites to better fit their needs as their sales and operations grow.