Requesting Feedback on Women's Clothing Store

[TrippingCherry]

Hey guys!

I am pre-launch still, so here is my preview link. 

I would love to get some outside perspective on how I can make the shop better.  

• I'm using the Venture theme with a few tweaks - I changed the products per page to (50) since I have a large catalog and it will be growing even larger.  I also changed the blog preview page to show (3) per row instead of (1) per row.  
• I'm using the Listfully app for my Wishlist feature.  
• I'm using "product reviews" app for product reviews.  I've placed them at the end of my product description on product pages.  I'd like to find a way to add the star rating to the collections page view but I haven't figured out a way to do that yet. 
• I was debating using an app with a timer countdown with discount code, it would be stickied to the top of the screen.  I am concerned it's too busy and also that it might impede mobile functionality, however, as when testing it would block pop ups from closing.  
• My mailing address on the contact page is blank as I'm waiting on confirmation on what my actual address will be, that will be filled in prior to launch. 

I'd love feedback in general, but especially on:

• Navigation: 
  • I have a large catalog so I've tried to break it down as best I can into (3) Main sections - Activewear, Streetwear, and Swimwear.  There is some crossover between activewear and streetwear so I've gone back and forth on combining them.  Ultimately, I have them split again because I feel like it makes it easier to find all of the activewear.  My first customers will likely be driven from my social media platforms which are fitness related.  
  • Is my "About Us" navigation too much?  I wanted to make sure everything that I would want to see as a customer was there in the main navigation.  I didn't want anyone to have to look to the footer for shipping or return info. 
• Educating customers:  I am a slow-fashion brand, so I need to make sure that is clear to customers before they place their orders.  With the prevalence of 2 day shipping that is almost expected, I feel, but my products are made to order.  I've tried to communicate that on the homepage directly under my slideshow, in my about (our story) page, and it is once again communicated through the email order confirmation sent to a customer.  
• Load time:  I'm a little worried that my website may be slow because the catalog is large and there are so many photos.  I am a very visual person and the brand is intended to be very visual.  I have tried my best to find the preferred image dimensions and used decent sized files so that they are good quality without completing bogging down the sites loadtime.  Any tips on how I can improve that would be most appreciated. 

Other changes I plan to make when I can figure out how / If any of these are a bad idea in your opinion please feel free to share so I can learn. 

• Move the social sharing icons on product pages to below the images rather than at the bottom of the product descriptions
• Possibly put a pop up in place to collect email addresses and offer a discount.  It is disabled at the moment as it did not work properly on the launch page and was causing issues. 
• Possibly moving the reviews to beneath the photo as well, so they are easy to see at a glance.  Right now I have no reviews so I'm not quite ready to highlight them.  I also had issues trying to test it as it would replicate (4-5 "review" blocks would appear instead of one). 

Thank you in advance!

[DoodleChest]

Hi there,

those preview links aren't for sharing, and they time out ... sorry, it can't be viewed.

cheers

Brett

[TrippingCherry]

It is in the post guidelines to share them that way.  They don't expire for 14 days.

The URL is www.trippingcherry.com  the password is Tweuth. 

[DuaneBrown]

Hi Brittany

Here are some ways to make your store even better and make people want to purchase....especial work on your product pages.

Product Page  Feedback

1. Make sure each product has 3 - 5 images as that will help someone decide if they want to purchase. A lot of products I saw only had 1 or 2 images
   
   
2. Add links to your shipping and return/refund policy on each product page
   
   
3. Add a longer product description as this is how you convince someone to buy on your site. Plus it helps with SEO and ranking in organic search
   
   
4. Move the sizing chart off your product pages and make a new page for this. That way you can link to it from your product pages and in the footer. This will clean up your page and make it look more professional
   
   
5. Make sure all your product images are the same size and dimensions. This is going to help tie your site together. You can see the size difference in the You May Also Like section
   
   
6. ASOS and other leading fashion brands are doing little fashion videos for their product pages. Something you could film on an iPhone or latest Android and add to your site.

Your store just needs some tweaks to take it up a level.  Hope you found this helpful, if so please click "like" below to let me know. You can also accept this post as a "Accepted Solutions" if you found it extra helpful! Good luck.

[arushibhatia20]

Hey there TrippingCherry, 

Hope you're doing well. 

Congratulations on your store. 

Your collection is so beautiful and the product images look amazing! Kudos on that. 

You are definitely headed in the right direction design wise, with a few tweaks and turns you'll be able to achieve your desired results in no time. 

I have a few recommendations, I hope they will be of help to you. 

1. Hero Image - Let it be only one image rather than a rotating carosuel. The viewer does not get time to think if they are interested in the product and it's gone. There are many other reasons why a rorating carousel is not the best option - See here

2. Make the descriptions under the collection section a little shorter and if you want to add more details about the brand, add those to the "About us" page. 

3. Make sure that the products on the featured section on the homepage should not be more than 3 in a row. 

4. Connect yourself through linkedin and twitter - these are the gems of e-commerce store advertising. Add those to your footer. 

5. You must have a live chat, there is no way around it. If any viewer has any questions, they should be answered when they are on the website. This would descrese the drop rate of the website and if people's problems are solved the conversion rate increases.

6. Length of pages - Your homepage and product single page is long and would also be needing a scroll to top button so that the viewers can easily go up to the top of your page with just one click. Providing you with a link of an app that does this best. Scroll to top

7. Lastly, as per my opinion you will have to create some urgency and social proof (social proof - once you start getting sales) in your store. 

Social proof will help your visitors see who all has bought your products and who has added your product to their carts and that increases the trust of the viewer on your product and increases the conversions as well. 

And as for urgency - 

For example, I'm sure you've seen how amazon creates urgencies in sales by showing the number of products left, upcoming sales, or drive sales by showing how quickly they have to order an item to get quick delivery, right down to the minute. 

If you want to sell more, boosting the sense of urgency in your marketing is the way to go. Making people feel as if they’re about to miss out on or lose a great opportunity is a powerful way to drive conversions.

One parting tip: like many other techniques, the urgency is best used in moderation. Don’t try to put pressure on your potential customers all the time, or they’ll stop taking your offers seriously. 

Instead, focus on periodically offering great deals that really are limited.

I sincerely hope my insights will be of help to you. Do let me know if you have any more questions.

Press " Like " or accept my solution to let me know if it was of help to you. 

Cheers!

[TrippingCherry]

Thank you for your response!

I've responded in red below on a few items that I'm unclear on. 

1. Make sure each product has 3 - 5 images as that will help someone decide if they want to purchase. A lot of products I saw only had 1 or 2 images
   Do you know which items you were looking at? I am 99% positive I have at least 5 images of every product except a few bags where I only have (3) for now.  I plan to add more when my samples arrive.  What are you viewing on? I'm wondering if this isn't a mobile issue?  The Venture theme I'm using only shows (3) preview images immediately, the rest nest under.  I've yet to figure out how to tweak that but I agree I'd prefer if it didn't.

1. Add links to your shipping and return/refund policy on each product page
   Good point on the return/refund!  I will do that.  The shipping link is already in every page, it is directly under the product title. 

1. Move the sizing chart off your product pages and make a new page for this. That way you can link to it from your product pages and in the footer. This will clean up your page and make it look more professional
   I have a separate page for this, I just like to include it on every page to make sure it's seen.  I will see if I can figure out how to call it out in a less intrusive way.  Thanks!

1. ASOS and other leading fashion brands are doing little fashion videos for their product pages. Something you could film on an iPhone or latest Android and add to your site.

Great point!  When my samples arrive I fully intend to start working on video content.  

Thanks again!

[TrippingCherry]

Thank you for your detailed response; all of your advice feels spot on.  I will look into the scroll to top app for sure!

Live chat I *really* would love to implement but I'm worried as I am also working a fulltime job so I'm not sure how I could answer questions for those (8) hours a day.  Is this something you have implemented on your own site(s)?  I managed the launch of live chat for the #2 ranking ecommerce website back in 2014 and I'm fully aware of the impact it has - I just feel like it might be a net negative if I'm not 100% available to answer queries.  Do you have any recommendations for a specific app to use?  I know Shopify has 'ping' I believe, but i have not used it. 

[TrippingCherry]

Thank you for your response.  I do have a blog in my header navigation - "Zine" which will be understandable to my specific target audience.  

I will definetly try to figure out how to add trust badges, that's a great suggestion.

The livechat I would love to implement but I hesitate as this is a sidehustle for me and I work a fulltime job, so I cannot be answering dozens of chats in the middle of a workday.  That is a problem I may not have for awhile, but I don't want it to be a net negative to the site if I'm not available to answer them.  Do you have any specific app recommendations for the future? I believe shopify has their own live chat option? 

[DuaneBrown]

I was on desktop and randomly picked some products. Don't remember which ones. It's easy to miss the link under a product title as that is not a place people will expect to look for it. Having the sizing chart on each product page is just creating duplicate content on your site. 

[TrippingCherry]

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your feedback.  I've implemented as much of it as I could in one day!

- Added a scroll to top button

-Added live chat - I figure I will try my best to test it out and we'll go from there.  Maybe I'm just being paranoid about the amount of time/people who will use it.  

-Removed the slideshow and narrowed it down to one image

-Checked all the product pages, everything has 3+ photos

-Added trust badges to cart page.

-Began adding more keywords and info to product pages, that is going to be a big project. I have hundreds of products but I'll slog through it all!

- Sizing chart is a work in progress. I found some solutions but I need to wait for support on one to get it to work with the venture theme. In the end it will have a link that pops up and offers a size chart rather than keeping that in the main product description.

Still to do:

- link my linkedin. I'm just going to forgo twitter for now because honestly, I hate twitter, don't use it, and it feels inauthentic. Maybe someday I'll be able to have someone help me with it.

- add return policy link to product pages.

- shorten descriptions above collection pages

- Turn my discount countdown back on. I still have issues with it on the password page so for now it's off.