Dave Gurney, managing director at Alchemetrics, shares his view of good and bad sites.
Good site: Thewhitecompany.com
The White Company’s clean lines, elegant fonts and sophisticated design make for an attractive retail destination, targeting middle-class home owners with strong spending power.
The site oozes quality, instilling trust in the brand. Sale items are clearly, yet discreetly, signposted - often a stumbling block for retailers too eager to show off their pricing.
The same can be said for the site’s methods of retaining customer details. A link to register is on every screen, omnipresent yet not overbearing. This is important in a climate when data plays such a key part in understanding customers and driving loyalty.
Bad site: Lauraashley.com
In complete contrast to The White Company, despite having much the same target audience, Laura Ashley doesn’t carry itself with sophistication.
Its front page is a barrage of red Sales banners, which does little to convey an upmarket sense of style.
Everything just feels busy and type-heavy, leaving users feeling confused and uncertain as to where
to click. This design continues throughout the website, making the whole experience feel low-quality.
One positive over The White Company is that there is a clear email sign-up box, a good way to drive customer registration.
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