Up for review again after 2+ years live

[HSMagic]

Over 50 Contributions applied to this effort, lots on the admin side the consumer will never know about.

 

When I look at this it still looks like a stock OSC store. I'm not sure how many consumers will know this. Having worked at this for a couple years I can spot an OSC store almost every time. But much like magicians shouldn't perform for other magicians... I'm just looking for some opinions on this.

 

My most recent work was the header which includes the dynamenu contribution. I've eliminated most of the text on the front page and would like to go 1 column.. but my trials haven't looked so good.

 

Here it is:

 

http://www.hotshotmagic.com/catalog/index.php

 

Give me your best shot! (hot shot that is!)

[awarner20]

I think it looks nice overall but there are a couple things that are bugging me...

 

1. The Authorize.net verified logo has a white background that doesn't match the background of your infobox. I can see the white square.

 

2. If you'd like to look less stock osc, you might consider removing some of the infoboxes. There are some that seem redundant (to me at least)....New Arrivals, Special Offers, New for Febuary, Bestsellers, and Featured Trick.

 

3. The resources box looks like it's there just to place AdSense in. What value does that have to the consumer? I would remove that too.

 

4. I like the Dynamenu in the header, that looks really nice, but maybe change the text color or ad a rollover text color, or change the background color of the navigation cell. It kind of blends with the light color of your main page and I didn't find the navigation right away.

 

5. Your shadowed infoboxes look sharp too.

 

6. Maybe consider adding the "LightBox" contribution for your images. Easy install, and it works like magic..;)

 

I hope those observations help:)

[Woolvey]

I decided to look at your site more for my benefit that yours, thinking that 2+ years of experience would be valuable to me - and it is!

 

Overall, I like your site. I might even be tempted to buy something with the right discount code ;)

 

I think that if you decide to go with a left and right column layout, it will always be identifiable as an OSCommerce powered site, unless you do a lot of custom coding. Like the prior reviewer, I think that the number of standard OSC infoboxes you use makes it more obvious. The first one of these I would question is the categories box. It is stuck in the bottom right, almost like you wanted to keep it just in case the dymamenu didn't work out but didn't want it prominent. I think this is unnecessary now the dynamenu is in place. I would be tempted to lose the new arrivals box too and move one of the boxes from right to left (probably specials).

 

I really like the header and the dynamenus but don't like the breadcrumb link in the top right. It just doesn't look right there. As I wandered around your site I wanted to return to the home page and had difficulty finding this link. Given that you have very few nested categories or other complicated navigation, I would suggest you lose the breadcrumb trail altogether and just add a home hyperlink in the header logo.

 

I like your replacement buttons and other images and the box shadows are nice too but I can't help feeling that more contrast between the box background color and the main background color would help give the site more pizzazz. It is interesting you have gone with a fixed width of 1024(?). Usually if someone opts for fixed width they try to cater for people running 800x600. I have been considering fixed width myself recently. Have you had any complaints or comments about this from customers?

 

Although I have tried to identify as many improvements as I can, I must emphasize again that your site does look good (much better than mine!). I can see so many ways you have improved it from the stock OSC solution and it makes me realize that none of us will ever be truly 'finished' improving our sites. :o

[abra123cadabra]

I think one of the main areas you could work on is the colour scheme. There are too many shades of blue which don't match. Not sure about the header with the orange font on bright blue.

 

Same goes for the images. They are of different size and with various backgrounds. You could start by making them all the same width and height so the pages look less patched together.

 

The breadcrumbs location is completely useless. I didn't see it until I read the previous post. Either remove it or put it in a place where visitors expect it to be.

 

As for the categories box at the bottom of the right column, that's useless too. I replaced my categories navigation with a javascript powered one but wrapped the original categories box in noscript tags for visitors like google with javascript disabled. Your menu looses some functionality with the subcategories but it is still working so you could get rid of the categories box.

 

It might sound harsh but your shop is lacking what it is supposed to sell: magic. The presentation of the products, the complete layout (colours, font, font-size) doesn't invite me to buy anything at all. I'm not even tempted to read the product descriptions. The images on the product detail pages are too small and the text is in parts overwhelming.

 

This said, I would recommend to check your sales figures and to observe how your visitors navigate through your shop.

 

Keep on working to improve your shop!

 

abra

[HSMagic]

Thanks for the comments so far! This has been far less scathing than my original ask for comments, so I may be headed in the right direction.

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The Authorize.net verified logo has a white background

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Nothing I can do about that as it's all script calling the image from authorize.net. The alternative would be to remove it, but I think it serves a valid purpose. Perhaps I'll move it to one of the pages that is appropriate.

 

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If you'd like to look less stock osc, you might consider removing some of the infoboxes. There are some that seem redundant (to me at least)....New Arrivals, Special Offers, New for February, Bestsellers, and Featured Trick.

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Most definitely agreed. My goal is a single column and that's my next effort.

 

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The resources box looks like it's there just to place AdSense in. What value does that have to the consumer? I would remove that too.

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Done. I originally put this AdSense contribution in to see what income it would generate... still can't spend that $8.91.

 

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Overall, I like your site. I might even be tempted to buy something with the right discount code

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Become a customer and you'll get one! ;) The big thing in magic stores is to give a discount to everyone... so if you give a discount to everyone is it really a discount? My mantra is if you are giving a discount to everyone then why not just lower your prices? It's a business philosophy to be sure and those repeat customers that I offer discount codes to really appreciate it.

 

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I really like the header and the dynamenus but don't like the breadcrumb link in the top right. It just doesn't look right there. As I wandered around your site I wanted to return to the home page and had difficulty finding this link.

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I've been worried about this, and you've confirmed it. When I worked on the header I sacrificed the ability to click on the logo to return home, so I left the breadcrumb trail. This is top on my list to fix.

 

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I think one of the main areas you could work on is the color scheme. There are too many shades of blue which don't match. Not sure about the header with the orange font on bright blue.

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Like a knife to the heart! ;) ... the header logo was the one thing I really liked... I thought it offered a good contrast. My prior logo was much more subdued so I decided to change it.

 

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It might sound harsh but your shop is lacking what it is supposed to sell: magic.

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Good comment. When I started I looked at everyone else selling the same products. If it's permissible I'd like to post some URLs of competitors to compare and contrast... It certainly is a niche market and it's going to be hard to catch a web wonderer into a magic store. If you google "Magic Stores" it will give you a decent list of shops that really are hard to look at. It set the bar pretty low for me, but I'm trying to get above it. Some of the best E-shops in this magic business have the worst sites ever, but offer tons of products and good customer service. I'm trying to match their customer service and make a better looking shop.

 

Thanks for all the comments so far!

[Victor Wise]

Very nice website!

While you have written great copy; at the risk of being unoriginal, I pass on the same recommendation that I did to the last magic website. You need video! While your descriptions are great, they do not come close to conveying how astonishing some of these tricks are.

 

Best regards,

 

Victor

 

PS: Its nice to know that the invisible deck hasn't made the brainwave deck extinct. Do the invisible deck and brainwave cost the same for you wholesale?