Excalibur Girls Online Store - Feedback Needed

[dojogirlaurora]

This is my first online store, for the women's clothing boutique Excalibur Girls. While there are only three products currently available, the store is finished and live. I'm proud to have gotten my first osCommerce attempt running, but I'd be interested in any suggestions to improve site usability. The garment customization system is a little clunky right now, and I'd eventually like to find a way to create one more like this within the bounds of osCommerce.

 

Excalibur Girls Online Store

 

Contributions I remember using:

STS

Ultrapics with Lightbox (Modified to allow a maximum of twelve pictures)

Infobox Skin Manager

Content Slider from Dynamic Drive

SIFR Font replacement for the product headers

News Desk

Ajax Attributes manager

Discount Coupon Codes

USPS Shipping Insurance

USPS Methods

New Faster Checkout

SoldOut (But displayed)

Ultimate SEO URLs

Header Tags Controller

[gretchenwf]

I didn't have a lot of time to look at the site, but I will give you my immediate impression. There is a big gap between the category menus on the left and the main content page. On my screen, that made the content pane only a couple inches wide with A LOT of the background design showing. It seems like you could use the space a little more efficiently.

 

Also, I was really confused by the cartoon girls. It took me a good 3 minutes to see that you actually sold real clothing as opposed to doll clothing or something.

 

That being said, I do like what you have so far. It's very cute. I will definitely check back and look around some more.

 

Oh, I really wanted to read an About Us page. When I realized you sold custom clothing, I wanted to know more about the business. I did see the FAQ page, but that wasn't what I was looking for.

 

Good Job.

[dojogirlaurora]

Thank you for your feedback. I'll definitely move the categories closer to the rest of the site content, and maybe make the layout variable width instead of fixed width. I'm also considering moving the navigation buttons from the bottom of the page, into the navbar area.

[gretchenwf]

Thank you for your feedback. I'll definitely move the categories closer to the rest of the site content, and maybe make the layout variable width instead of fixed width. I'm also considering moving the navigation buttons from the bottom of the page, into the navbar area.

 

Ha! I didn't even notice the buttons down there. I guess moving them into the side bar might be helpful (:

[desiredin]

Also, I was really confused by the cartoon girls. It took me a good 3 minutes to see that you actually sold real clothing as opposed to doll clothing or something.

 

I thought there may be some sort of Japanese videogame called Excaliber that you could buy digital clothing for the females in the game. Heh. Like those Everquest type games. Which would have explained the "Strawberry Shortcake" theme. Figured it matched some theme in the game. Nothing at all was telling me you sold actual dresses.

 

I have come across those types of stores before so I figured that was what it was all about.

 

Perception is everything, so perhaps think about that.

 

ALSO: Your store is defaulting to HTTPS (secure server) when viewing products. And your lightbox isn't liking that. Getting secure/insecure errors.

[desiredin]

I would recommend modelling your dresses yourself, find a friend/acquaintence, or hire someone off the street you think will look good in your dresses and use that image instead. So the first impression isn't confusing.

 

I also notice on your main page, has no eye-catching content letting anyone know what you sell.

[excaliburgirl]

I would recommend modelling your dresses yourself, find a friend/acquaintence, or hire someone off the street you think will look good in your dresses and use that image instead. So the first impression isn't confusing.

 

I also notice on your main page, has no eye-catching content letting anyone know what you sell.

 

 

Thanks for your feedback. These are all things we will consider. This is our first website for ourselves and we have a lot to learn.