Need to Register?

Solmu · August 31st, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maize31


	Why should you rule out flash intros?

Because you don't have long to wow people, because a subset of your customers will hate flash, because another subset of your customers won't have it installed, because another subset will be on dialup and not have the time, etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maize31


	T-shirts are apart of a large art forum that both imforms and inpresses. Shopping on line for tees or anywhere for that matter is more about the art and what it say than the quality of the printing.

Shopping on line for tees is just that: shopping. It's an act of commerce. The usual considerations of selling apply, including quality of the product, marketing, convenience, etc. Good art is only part of that formula, and really it's a much smaller part than some people think.

bcgd · August 31st, 2006

Here is an AMAZING use of Flash on an apparel site...

http://www.bebopjeans.com

The pace is perfect and it's relevent (IMHO).

Be sure to click on "products"

Rodney · August 31st, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcgd


	Here is an AMAZING use of Flash on an apparel site... http://www.bebopjeans.com The pace is perfect and it's relevent (IMHO). Be sure to click on "products"

Looks like another example of why you shouldn't use a flash on an ecommerce site.

It's also worth noting that this site isn't an ecommerce site. It's more of a design portfolio site. No sales transactions are made online via this site.

If you have to say "be sure to click on products" instead of having the site take me directly to the products or make it very clear how to get to the products, then I think something's missing

The TITLE tag on this page is all wrong and everything that they did with the site could all be done more effeciently with regular HTML (and have it accessible to more customers that way).

I'm not anti-flash at all. But there has to be a purpose for it, not just because it's available. I haven't seen a good use of flash in ecommerce yet. For a music site/design portfolio site/games site/etc, flash is perfect.

Ken Styles · September 1st, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcgd


	Here is an AMAZING use of Flash on an apparel site... http://www.bebopjeans.com The pace is perfect and it's relevent (IMHO). Be sure to click on "products"

Well ....it's pretty

but I almost had a seizure.

Alot going on..and my eyes started to twitch out..

Buechee · September 1st, 2006

there is too much going on in that site. Flash sites suck. Maybe your front page, but not the whole site. I could not get pass the product page. I didn't even see your products.

Maize31 · September 2nd, 2006

This just proves that shopping, whether in a mall, on the streets, magazines, and cyberspace or where ever is just a different experience for everyone. I will admit that most of the time when shopping on line I skip the flash intros unless it is real creative like the site that was just mentioned. Being a man I would never shop at the site but I did thinks it was quite unique and probably very eye catching for most women especially for their use of colors and flowers and the rising sun. I also like the way the products were shown. I can see that idea being used by many trying to sell their wears. One page, click on what looks most interesting for a larger view in the center of the page and than off to do more shopping.

Buechee · September 3rd, 2006

If you wanted jeans for your lady. Would you go to a site for it's well put together flash animation or would you go to a site and you see jeans?

MotoskinGraphix · September 3rd, 2006

You guys kill me...super nice flash site and it did exactly what?....reminded you of butterflys and sweet *** jeans and so what!!!! The whole idea of having e-commerce is to sell product, yours, stock transfers, printing, what have you!!! Lose the egoo, understand profit and loss, go make some money!!!!

Twinge · September 3rd, 2006

Oookay. I've summed up most of the key points made in a big lsit, and added a few of my own =) (Maybe I should've just made a new post? *shrug*)

1. Accessibility. You're trying to sell things; the more people that are able to see what you are selling, the better.
While not a set-in-stone list, this generally includes things like:

No Flash: At all. Intro, navigation, or whatever - many people don't have flash installed, and you lose those customers right away if your site doesn't work for them. As a bonus, search engines will like you more without flash.
Works in 800x600 Resolution: Generally, this means visitors will not get a horizontal scrollbar in this resolution. There's still a significant chunk of the Internet using 800x600 (Aproximately 15%).
Loads Well on Dialup: Again, there's still a ton of people out there only on dialup; optimize your images, html, etc. to load faster on dialup.
Broswer Compatability: Make sure that your site loads fine in at least both Firefox and Internet Explorer. Ideally, it should also load well in Safari and Opera as well.

2. Ease of Use. This also covers a lot of things, but the idea is the easier people can get the information they are looking for, the more likely they are to buy. Items in this category would include:

No Frames: Frames cause a lot of problems, and there are several superior alternatives available instead of using frames. Again, a bonus is that search engines will like sites without frames better.
Readable: Make sure your background & text colors have enough contrast to be easily readable. Also make sure the text size is large enough. If people can't easily read something, they'll probably go elsewhere.
Aesthetically Pleasing: The color scheme should look good. The colors and layout used should fit with your target market(s) if possible.
Clean & Understandable: Don't overload the customer with too much information right on the front page - they won't know where to go. It should be obvious you are selling t-shirts, and categories and other information should be clear and easy to find. This also means that information - such as sizing, shirt brand, shirt pricing, shipping costs, return policy, etc. is easy and quickly accessible.
Consistency: Your navigation should remain in the same place on every page. Important information and color schemes should remain consistent page to page.
No Music: Not quite a definite, but it is rarely a good idea. While music doesn't make the site harder to use per se, it will: increase loading times, conflict with any music the customer might be listening to, and possibly drive off customers right away. If you do decide to use music, make SURE there is an easy, plainly visible way to turn it off.
Customer Service: Answer questions people ask you quickly and effectively; if you reply a week later, chances are they won't care anymore.

3. Search Engine Optimization. I don't think this is as important as the other aspects; if your customers can find you, it doesn't help if they can't use your site! This is something that should be kept in mind throughout the whole process, but not something you should be obsessing about.

Have a Reason: When adding something to your website related to SEO, ask yourself this question: "If there were no search engines, would I be adding this?" In other words, if there is absolutely no benefit to the customer - don't add it.
No Frames: As mentioned above, search engines don't like frames. Google won't navigate them at all.
No Flash: Search engines cannot navigate flash.

4. Other Stuff. Here are a few more things to keep in mind when designing a commerce-based website:

SSL: Have SSL installed for your checkout process. Essential if you handle your own credit card processing; adviseable otherwise.
Payment Types: Some customers like to see your payment options visable on the front page. Also, have multiple payment types available; the more ways people can pay, the more people will be able to.
Large Images: This especially applies to t-shirt sites, of course. You should have some sort of zoomed-in image that really gives you a good view of the design; if people can't see exactly what the design looks like, they probably won't buy it.
Cart Options: Make sure you have a way for customers to easily remove items from their cart if they need to. The shopping cart should also (ideally) be visable from anywhere on the site if they have anything in it.
Update: Don't let your website stagnate; add new t-shirt designs, run sales, etc. Customers and search engines both like a website that changes.
Be Original: Keep these key poitns in mind, but don't be afraid to try something new either - you might make something great =)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xenyo


	Assuming that we design for a 800x600 res, it really doesnt leav much room for showing much. Do we cram as much of our good designs within the top half of the homepage, put out good photos of our best designs? Use text?

One other note for this that wasn't mentioned - you can make your website liquid. A 'liquid' website shifts to fit the browser - so it will fill the whole screen on 800x600 and 1024x768 alike. This is harder to design, but is often ideal if you can do it. ThinkGeek is a good example of this.

Buechee · September 4th, 2006

You made some very good pionts. I have to ask what are frames? I might know, but called it something else.

Now the 800x600 res is not the same as the page set up, is it?

I use Dreamweaver, how do you make a site liquid?

farennikov · September 4th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buechee


	I use Dreamweaver, how do you make a site liquid?

I don't think this is the right forum to ask this. Look for HTML and CSS forums.

But to answer your question, here's a good link: Liquid layouts

farennikov · September 4th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twinge


	Oookay. I've summed up most of the key points made in a big lsit, and added a few of my own =) (Maybe I should've just made a new post? shrug)

excellent stuff, should be posted as "sticky" thread

farennikov · September 4th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcgd


	Here is an AMAZING use of Flash on an apparel site... http://www.bebopjeans.com The pace is perfect and it's relevent (IMHO). Be sure to click on "products"

hey, I saw that Flash site, it looks pretty plain actually, even though it's Flash.

Here's a link to the sickest flash jeans company website: http://www.hemjeans.com/ - check it out

farennikov · September 4th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodney


	It's also worth noting that this site isn't* an ecommerce site. It's more of a design portfolio site. No sales transactions are made online via this site.*

My observation is that MOST designer apparel companies (incl. jeans and tshirts) don't sell from the website, and it is just a showroom. Depends on the market I guess. I don't think any of the high end couture vendors sell on-line - they sell in boutiques.

So NO, it is not necessarily wrong to not have ecommerce functionality on the website. But if you don't have one, you better have a lot of brick-and-mortar clients.

Need to Register?

Preferred Vendors
View Offers

Resources

T-Shirt Sites

5 Best Practice Tips for creating a successful T-Shirt Website?

Need to Register?

Preferred VendorsView Offers

Resources

T-Shirt Sites

5 Best Practice Tips for creating a successful T-Shirt Website?

Preferred Vendors
View Offers