Web Design

When designing ecommerce websites first and foremost consideration must be usability, and then design. Or, if you prefer, design with usability in mind.

I’ve collected (so far) 10 examples of what I think are great ecommerce web designs from across the board. In no particular order:

Paul Frank

Bright, colourful and straight away in-your-face (but in a good way), PaulFrank.com is fun and playful.

Nike Store

The brightly coloured products offset against the dark background set this all off beautifully. There’s also a great iconic image related to the recent World Cup on the main rotation.

Nicky Clarke

Clean, simple and stylish, the new Nicky Clarke website uses few colours (especially in comparison to sites like Paul Frank!) but doesn’t feel boring in the slightest, just classy and sleek.

The Cheesecake Factory

Not necessarily great for usability or speed, The Cheesecake Factory videos just keep me hooked everytime.

English Cheesecake Company

If you ever get stuck for a present, get onto the English Cheesecake Company – easy to use, a pleasure to be on and… they’re cakes!

Holistero

This design just strikes me everytime I visit it. Products are shown singularly and often brilliantly contrasted against the dark background.

Asos

Not perhaps the best screenshot due to the current sale, but I’ve included Asos anyway as they usually have a stunning homepage design.

Powerskin

Powerskin uses the same simplistic colours that can be seen in Asos, but instead products are at the forefront of the design and straight away you know where you are, and what’s available.

MGM

A large commercial example of Magento at work and also emphasising the important of products is MGM, although I’ll admit I’m not a great fan of the black and gold.

Mama Baby Bliss

Colourful but subtle, Mama Baby Bliss is gentle and feminine that translates it’s caring message beautifully.

Do you know any examples of great ecommerce website design you think should be included? Post a link in the comments with a reason why (or tweet the Magento Fox) – maybe I’ll do an updated list on our ecommerce web design blog in a few weeks!

There’s nothing worse in an e-commerce shop than to be a customer who doesn’t realise which part of the shop they’re viewing. It should always be made clear at the top of the page, using breadrumb navigation to shop how deep into the shop they have gone. Doing this is alos a great way of creating clean, simple page headings, which is great for SEO.

A good example would be: Home > Electronics > Video games > PS3 > PS3 Accessories… etc.

Having this path clear at the top, with a nice, clear title at the top of the page can make all the difference when a user browses the shop. Amazon UK shows how it should be done:

Post by Adam Moss