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E-Commerce Design Patterns

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Subject:  E-Commerce Design Patterns Mike Baxter
Author:   MikeBaxter:   view profile | all posts by this author | add to favourites
Date:   15:05:44 15 May 2006
 
Hi Jon - the difference between mainstream and hi-end luxury e-commerce is an interesting one. First, I'd say that, at a certain level of analysis, the differences don't matter and secondly, our data on luxury online brands suggests they have a lot to learn from the more mainstream e-commerce sites in terms of customer experience.  Let me explain ...

Sure, a luxury brand needs an entirely different look and feel compared to a 'buy-it-cheap-here' brand. But, I would argue, there are certain fundamentals of purchase decision-making common to all product purchasing (BTW some recent research has discovered primitive purchase-decision-making processes in monkeys, so this is deep-rooted stuff!). Two of these fundamentals are 'What's on offer?' and then for each product 'What is it and why should I buy it?'.

Some time ago, we looked at the handbags on offer from a wide range of brands.  On YSL, for example, they have 23 handbags but they are presented in a scrolling array that takes you 14 seconds to even catch a glimpse of everything on offer. On Dior (which is a visually stunning site) they have two 'Dior Detective' bags presented side-by-side, one black and the other white. They are the same price (£965) and look identical apart from the colour. But one is called a 'Black Dior Detective MEDIUM Bag' and the other is a 'White Dior Detective ZIPPED Bag'. So are they different sizes? Does the black one not have a zip? A quick look at the product description answers one of these - the black one does indeed have a zip. But the relative size of the bags remains a mystery - the product description for the white bag says only 'Sac Zippe Dior Detective Blanc' - helpful!  Now these aren't luxury brand issues - they are bad online customer experiences.

So to get back to the topic of this thread, design patterns can identify certain principles of good practice about  product presentation - show what's available and enable customers to compare, differentiate and select those of most interest. How these principles are realised will certainly differ between mainstream and luxury brands but my point about design patterns is that they are first and foremost about the PRINCIPLES of good e-commerce. We just need to try to ensure that the way we describe these principles is as applicable to luxury brands as they are to mainstream brands - a point well made by your post.

Mike Baxter
www.saleslogiq.com
Specialists in the online customer experience
 
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  • E-Commerce Design Patterns, MikeBaxter, 9 May 22:43
    Okay you may think I over-stated things slightly when I predicted that "in 5 years' time the major online retailers will have defined what best practice means to them using design ...
    • E-Commerce Design Patterns, TimLeighton-Boyce, 10 May 14:18
      I've just spent this very morning running through the mock ups for a proposed new checkout process for a client of one of the companies specialising in ecommerce sites. Several ...
    • E-Commerce Design Patterns, DeriJones, 12 May 19:20
      I wish you were right saying 'they're used lots in software design'. Unfortunately, in the course of the work I do testing web sites, it seems to me that the ecommerce sector is ...
      • E-Commerce Design Patterns, MikeBaxter, 13 May 12:11
        Deri reckons that e-commerce is a sector that isn't ready for the idea of design patterns yet ... On the one hand I'm very tempted to agree - some of my discussions so far have ...
        • E-Commerce Design Patterns, DeriJones, 15 May 13:28
          Mike - your last sentence was interesting: "So often, it is the things that make particular sites distinctive (either visually or functionally) that breach good practice princip ...
      • E-Commerce Design Patterns, textor, 13 May 12:45
        I think what Mike has in mind is that software people are big on reusable code, so that they don't re-invent the wheel every time they sit down to create a piece of software.   ...
        • E-Commerce Design Patterns, JonBov, 15 May 12:03
          Mike, your document focused heavily on FMCG/Low margin-high volume business, with a couple of exceptions in the form of John Lewis which is 'middle of the road' in terms of brandin ...
          • E-Commerce Design Patterns, MikeBaxter, 15 May 15:05
            Hi Jon - the difference between mainstream and hi-end luxury e-commerce is an interesting one. First, I'd say that, at a certain level of analysis, the differences don't matter and ...
        • E-Commerce Design Patterns, DeriJones, 15 May 13:08
          You're right Bob, software people like to reuse code.  But that often means that they want to reuse their own code; whereas can be nervous about 'reuse' of using someone elses code ...
        • E-Commerce Design Patterns, TimLeighton-Boyce, 15 May 14:41
          On 12:45:48 13 May 2006 textor wrote: I can give you one design pattern that i see over and over again (including our sites.).  You hit checkout and you get a form that asks if ...
          • E-Commerce Design Patterns, textor, 15 May 17:16
            I have made that exact mistake (nearly that anyway) myself.  It wasn't until I hit the wrong button I realised the problem.  Is anyone up for forming some sort of special inter ...
    • E-Commerce Design Patterns, ianjindal, 16 May 20:49
      Mike - you know I'm a fan of patterns, so rather than just agree with you (temptiing!) I thought I give a complementary perspective.... There are three main types of 'thinkers' ...
    • RE: E-Commerce Design Patterns, JamesSaunders, 26 May 10:54
      A very interesting discussion and one in which I'm sure there'll be much more debate. Having developed software applications for a number of platforms and also a number of doma ...
    • Re: E-Commerce Design Patterns, Ashley , 31 May 13:35
      Hi Mike As you know, I'm a big fan of Design Patterns and we're going to be pushing them over the coming months to try and drum up further interest.  Having worked for a big ...
      • Re: E-Commerce Design Patterns, JamesSaunders, 31 May 13:41
        Hi Ashley, Sounds great. With regard the design pattern(s) to start with, I agree that the checkout process and site search are the most important for any ecommerce site (and th ...
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