What's In Your Store Window?

When giving seminars on website design, I've discussed this analogy very often.  I think it's an important part of your website and I want to share it with you.  I hope you find it not only interesting, but gives you some food for thought.

When thinking about how your website appears to your potential and returning customers, I want you to think in terms of a storefront.  After all, the whole reason for your website is to make it productive and work for you by having your customers make purchases.

Think of your website as a virtual store, in one huger, sucker of a mall (the internet) and as your customer window shops (does an internet search) how are you going to entice them to choose your website over the competition's to make their final purchase?

Your website needs to appeal and off what that customer wants and/or needs.  As they shop through the internet mall, they locate candy wrappers (i.e. a Google search)  and they arrive at the end of the mall that has all the candywrapper businesses, right beside each other.  As they walk through (click on the links) and look at each store (open your webpage), your job is to make sure they want to come in (go through your navigation to find the product they want to buy).

The catch is that they can only see your front windows that display some of your merchandise and your front door, which gives a brief description of whats inside.  The can't see everything that's on your shelves inside.  They have to inside to see everything and have your store clerk explain about thee wonderful products you have.  How do you get them inside your door, instead of moving on to some other store (another website)?

The answer is that you have to know your customer.  You need to know them in the same way you know exactly what to buy your sister for her birthday.  You know what she wants, the exact clour and size and how much to spend.

Who is your ideal customer?  Who are you trying to sell your products to?  What age are they; are they married; if so, do they have children; how many; what age, etc.  What is their lifestyle; do they work; how often do they shop; are they buying for themselves or someone else?  How often and why do they buy your products; what do they use them for?

As an example, someone's ideal candywrapper customer may be a young, married mom, with 3 children, between the ages of 5 and 15.  Her household income is over $60,000 a year and has an active social life.  She works long hours, so between her kids' activities and her job, she doesn't have much time for planning those social events she hosts.  She looks for new ideas that will bring great comments from her friends and she has a little friendly competition going to see who can outdo each other, be more creative for the kids' parties, adult get-togethers and when hosting fundraising events.

So this person is looking for something unique and creative that can be personalized for individual specifications or event.  So, being able to choose customized features should be emphasized.  She doesn't have much time on her hands, so she won't spend much time looking, therefore, ease of use is a major factor.  Having clear, easy to follow information and explanation of your products, along with being able to find things quickly is what she is looking for.

She needs everything from kids parties to major, adult events, so lots of variety in one place works best for her.  Finally, she also perceives quality with price, as she wants to outdo/impress her friends.  If she considers something is cheap and low quality, she'll move on to another store.  Therefore, the lowest price is not necessarily a factor in her search.  A good quality product, unique and reasonably priced will suit her just fine.

Bottom line is high quality, moderate price, quick and easy to use, plus a variety of unique products will entice her to buy.


Remember that, unless it's a department store, the individual stores in any mall cater to a specific clientele,  They design and create their entire store around this ideal customer.  Which includes what they place in their own front windows, to catch that customer's eye as they pass by.

Designing your homepage for your ideal customer just got a little easier when you think about it.  Place in your window (homepage) what you believe will entice your ideal customer to walk inside.

Now you try.  Who are you designing your store for?  Who's going to walk inside?  What's in your store window?