T-shirt store having difficulty with conversions - Any feedback is appreciated

[ChicagoBoss]

The site is very nice. As far as why your conversion rates are low, thats easy. You need a landing page. The main site is great for telling people about who you are and introducing your company. But if you are paying for PPC, then the visitor needs to go to a page which is focused on selling your shirts. (your main site is not selling, it's informing.)

The landing page will need to include a few things.
- Benefit statement, how will buying your shirt benefit the visitor. (i.e. Get more chicks with striped elephant gear or Like the way you look with elephant t-shirts.
- Call to action - You need to tell the visitor what to do. Tell Them to order now, buy now, etc...
- The product needs to be more prominently displayed with a buy it now button or add to cart button under the pic.

Do some research on landing pages and you will resolve your conversion rate problems.

P.S. $20 for a t-shirt may be a bit much, research who your target market is and who your competition is. I can buy a nice looking t-shirt at target for $5 and I can buy a $150 t-shirt from Roberto Cavalli. The question is, how is your t-shirt better then than the target t-shirt. (Maybe it's made in the USA or Maybe it's some ultra lightweight material, maybe you donate 20% of the proceeds to charity.)

Do some market research and you'll be fine.

[rickibarnes]

I love the shirts, however I'm having a bit of a problem with the site in general. As many people have said, the contrast and use of Impact do make it a bit overwhelming - but I would go further than that and say it doesn't really seem to match your actual product. The shirt designs are cute and quirky, but the website isn't at all. The website seems like it's trying to be cool, but honestly is more coming off a bit brash. And neither of those actually match what the shirts are about.

I would design a more complete logo matching up your striped elephant device with a cute and quirky font, then use that as the basis for your site design. My advice would involve redesigning the whole thing though, so I can see that being too much trouble :P But you should definitely consider greater differentiation between your heading of "STRIPED ELEPHANT APPAREL" and your navigation - you're making that key part more difficult than it has to be.

If you ship to Australia I will definitely buy Upside Down Sheep so you will have at least one sale that is not from a friend or relative. Although is it technically the right way up if it's "down under" . . . ?

[treacle0996]

Hello

So, have your conversions picked up?

I think if you are getting plenty of traffic, but few conversions the first question you have to ask yourself is are you attracting the right kind of visitor. How do people find your site, are you advertising in the right places with the right keywords? Or are people arriving there expecting something completely different?

If that's not the problem, then maybe for some reason they don't trust the site? I think making your site so 'personal' - your photo, your own personality in the FAQs etc - encourages trust. You might want to add a phone number though. I found it made a huge difference on my own shop. Even if it is permanently on ansaphone, just showing there is a way of getting hold of you instills trust - at least my British shoppers seemed to like the reassurance.

Have you thought about adding any customer feedback/reviews ?

One thing you could try to improve sales, is from within a product page, show a 'more like this' panel with some alternatives in. Or at least, when viewing say a standard white shirt, say something like 'also available in blue', 'also available in women's fit.

I think you are missing a trick by not shouting about your 24 hour delivery more - isn't that a really good selling point?, but you don't see it until you're at checkout.

I really like the feel of the site, and it is generally easy to use - I really like the 'dropping a shirt in the basket' effect.

I was confused about the Sales link from the landing page, though. I clicked on it expecting your 'shop' to appear, instead, just got one big image that links to one product - I don't really get it.

Otherwise, really good looking site. Hope you're sales are up!

[Lieto]

work on your front page if its your landing page imo
- it should be informative
- it should have banners / calls to urgent actions
- it should give you ability to buy something right away via lets say featured products. Edit: ok now that i spend more time on the site i realized that you can hover over images, but i doubt regular customer will be that patient.
- it might use a bit more color and design touch. black and white is slightly boring

And make sure that customers you are getting are your potential buyers and not some random people from North pole =)

[StripedElephant]

Alright the site has been redesigned a second time. (www.StripedElephantApparel.com) A few of you have seen it in an earlier stage already. I think I like it better now. Conversions have picked up a little, though its difficult to tell to what extent because I cut back a lot on my advertising while I was redesigning so I've had many fewer visitors. But I have more conversions now than when I had with a lot of visitors! So that seems like a good sign.

I love the shirts, however I'm having a bit of a problem with the site in general. As many people have said, the contrast and use of Impact do make it a bit overwhelming - but I would go further than that and say it doesn't really seem to match your actual product. The shirt designs are cute and quirky, but the website isn't at all.

You may find the site a bit more quirky now.

If you ship to Australia I will definitely buy Upside Down Sheep so you will have at least one sale that is not from a friend or relative. Although is it technically the right way up if it's "down under" . . . ?

Haha, I don't know, but we do ship to Australia.

One thing you could try to improve sales, is from within a product page, show a 'more like this' panel with some alternatives in. Or at least, when viewing say a standard white shirt, say something like 'also available in blue', 'also available in women's fit.

I think you are missing a trick by not shouting about your 24 hour delivery more - isn't that a really good selling point?, but you don't see it until you're at checkout.

I was confused about the Sales link from the landing page, though. I clicked on it expecting your 'shop' to appear, instead, just got one big image that links to one product - I don't really get it.

These are all really good suggestions and I am working on them. Thank you! And the sales tab is now no more.

[Guidepile]

Personally I do not think there is an issue with the site and would advise you focus more on your marketing strategy. Focus on the traffic you are driving to your site and make sure you plaster pictures of your t-shirts everywhere. If people are coming to you site when they have actually seen and likes your shirts rather than coming to a "cute t-shirts" site you will get a lot more sales. Just remember 10 visitors who all buy a shirt is better than 1000 not buying shirts. You also need to put some kind of sales offer on there like 50% off! or price reduced from etc, get your visitors thinking there is a discount going on as few people buying on line like to pay full price for anything. Btw what is the "secrets" section about as that was plain for me?.

[StripedElephant]

Thank you.

Btw what is the "secrets" section about as that was plain for me?.

Well I don't want to give away the secret, but there is something else to be discovered there. Nothing substantial yet, but I'm thinking I will eventually put a coupon code or something.

[TheFox]

I only just saw this thread today so I can't comment on the original version or your improvements, just my impressions of the current design.

I'm a very picky designer. I just feel that small details have a great effect on a visitor's first impression, and the first impression is everything--the very foundation of ecommerce starts with a design that feels intuitively legitimate to your end users.

My first thought: ditch the drop shadows. All of them. Even the one in the logo. It’s a dated look, and there's no reason to add a third dimension to all of these random elements on your page. Why? You want the shirts to pop out and feel 3D and lifelike, not your title bar and footer or the borders around your photos. If you really feel you need drop shadows, make them much thinner and subtle. When you have a soft rounded shadow falling short of the square corners on your graphics that's just lazy design.

The rollovers on your home page graphics are jarring to me, and I don’t see them doing anything for your conversions. I would remove them.

I love the look of your Shirts page. It’s clean and intuitive. If it were me, I would make this the home page over your current one. You have prices shown, a variety of product, and less work to get right down to an order. At the very least, you could place that grid below the content on your home page.

Your order pages have NO detail. i.e.: http://www.stripedelephantapparel.com/en/20-ake.html

You need to mention order fulfillment, shipping fees, return policy, any guarantees, maybe even a sizing chart. Or at least links to all of these things.

Have you considered listing your inventory in other markets? i.e., sell some of your work on Etsy. Put the Etsy widget on your site. Some people might feel more comfortable buying through a trusted third-party than direct from your store.

I hope you do well. I read your Manifesto and cheer you on. Good luck, Braden!

[StripedElephant]

Thanks, TheFox, for the excellent advice.

My first thought: ditch the drop shadows. All of them. Even the one in the logo. It’s a dated look, and there's no reason to add a third dimension to all of these random elements on your page. Why? You want the shirts to pop out and feel 3D and lifelike, not your title bar and footer or the borders around your photos. If you really feel you need drop shadows, make them much thinner and subtle. When you have a soft rounded shadow falling short of the square corners on your graphics that's just lazy design.

Done. I hadn't though about the shadows taking away from my shirts, but they had started to bother me too. However I want to keep them on the top section because I like the way the slider elements look when they slide underneath. I did tone them down though.

Your order pages have NO detail. i.e.: http://www.stripedelephantapparel.com/en/20-ake.html

You need to mention order fulfillment, shipping fees, return policy, any guarantees, maybe even a sizing chart. Or at least links to all of these things.

Indeed. Fixed.

Have you considered listing your inventory in other markets? i.e., sell some of your work on Etsy. Put the Etsy widget on your site. Some people might feel more comfortable buying through a trusted third-party than direct from your store.

I've thought about it but haven't done it yet. I will continue to think about it.

And thanks! for the kind words!

[CodeAvengers]

Good site and shirts - I assume the conversion rate is low because low quality visitors

[J in Calgary]

I LOVE the re-design. It keeps all the good things that were working about your site before, and is definitely more user-friendly for shoppers. You didn't sacrifice the quirky, but you make it easier to see the products--well-done.

I think the stripes in the upper left corner are an excellent way to keep your branding front and center--but you definitely need them on the shirts page, not just the home page, and preferably on every page of your site.

I suggest you put some random thing on the secrets page for now, even if it's a knock knock joke. It's such a fun idea, and people would come back to check out how it has changed, but it's disappointing not to find anything. (Or maybe I'm just a bad seeker and there is something I didn't find.)

Small thing--on the home page, where it says our shirts are soft, comfortable, and well-made, I'm with you until well-made, because I'm thinking what are they made of and where are they made? That descriptor is the last thing I read before I decide whether or not to click, but it's distracting.

Good luck with conversions--I'm excited about the revisions you made.

[giokr]

I think that you have a slow webpage, you should fix it as soon as possible, it should be your first priority. Furthermore, I think that your website design is very good and the content has high quality as well, of course you can always add more content. Also, I believe that you need an better and more attractive logo, I think it is important. Another point could be that you should take very seriously to add some introduction text on the home page. Furthermore you can add follow at twitter, like facebook buttons and maybe other social network buttoms like google plus, its a good idea. Another point is that you should work on search engine optimization issues (SEO) because is always important to receive more organic traffic from search engines. More traffic means more possibilities for conversion to sales. So, keep walking, you did a really nice job and you can do more and better.

[StripedElephant]

Thanks J in Calgary. There is a secret on the secrets page. I see what you're saying about the text on the home page and took out that part.

giokr, you're right. I believe the site is quicker now.

I think I'm pretty happy with where the site is now, so I'm going to wind down the site designing and am ready to focus more on marketing. Thank you all! You've helped me so much.

[TheFox]

Oh hey! It's looking really good now!

I love the featured items on the home page.

I agree with what some others suggested, you really need to have a reputable trust seal on your site. One of the popular ones. You know the ones, just not sure if I can mention them. This forum has more rules than I can keep track of

[GeorgL]

They are good products, you will definitely improve.
I believe there are big problems in your website structure. For example, the links are not clear and visitors will not understand the difference between links and texts, also place of elements are not suitable and the user will be misled.
<snip>

[Peter Millar]

Much has already been said... adding to that I think the mouse overs over the product pics might be somewhat confusing. I know it's funky; but it's not clear what's going to happen if you click it - especially with the 'buy it now' sign. Main page is very busy, so it's confusing as what to focus on; and a confused mind rarely buys. Maybe better to have a cleaner home page with only 1 (or 2) stunning funky shots setting some mystery and intrigue, demanding a click through to sub-product pages. Secrets' page is a mystery; so doesn't engender trust/credibility etc.

You product looks good; but it's not standing out as such because the banner/header is very strong with lots going on within it... then lots of different styles around the page - very busy.
Try this: View homepage on your screen; block out the 4 pics on the left with your hand; block out the bottom pics; drop the girl & text down lower; kill the buy button; and put some intriguing text on RHS and everything changes. You could also consider making your main pic's a slide show; with your words but so they fit with the image - not overpowering/overlaying it.

That's my quick thoughts as it hits me in the first 30/60 secs... and you have far less time than that for people to sort it out. Hope that all helps.

[marksmit]

However need to add more attractive products on your home page. Contact US page is very simple design. Need more attractive.

[navyfalcon]

I looked at a lot of t shirt sites on the internet
Many, I did not like the design of the site (won't buy from them because so many other sites to choose from)
-
Check these out


http://www.logodogzprintz.com/

http://www.vistaprint.com/customizab...73280702&GNF=0
-
Then check several pages of your competition
What would compel you to buy from them, or what would stop you
then apply this to your site. Remember, price is not the only factor.
Think of entering into a store, what do you want to see
What do you not want to see, this is important to a website
-
falcon

[StripedElephant]

Navyfalcon, were those links to show me something about the design of those sites, or to so me t-shirt printing options?

[StripedElephant]

You product looks good; but it's not standing out as such because the banner/header is very strong with lots going on within it... then lots of different styles around the page - very busy.

Thanks Peter, I saw your point and changed it quite a bit. What do you think of it now?

edit: I wouldn't call it done yet, I'm still planning on adding some introductory text somewhere, but I haven't quite nailed down where to put it.

[navyfalcon]

Navyfalcon, were those links to show me something about the design of those sites, or to so me t-shirt printing options?

Design of the site (just a few ideas)
Check your competition
falcon

[navyfalcon]

First: are you tracking the results of the changes from your site? You need good analytics and track the results of customer response.
There are many free analytics you can use (including heat maps - heat maps will show you where the customers click)
Also analytics will tell you which keywords the visitor uses to find your page.
In general use several different analytics for different purposes and then change the keywords, page design and pictures for
optimum results. Without software to check the effect of the changes, you are only guessing (not good for business).

Second: You need good editors, both web page and photo. There are many free ones to try and then decide what you need.
Many have tutorials and step by step instructions on special effects (such as backgrounds and 3-d effects).
Try some ads and track each, change positions and colors to prevent ad blindness. See which do best (this is a constant
task because things change over time). This should help with your conversions.

Third: Ask about software and help to obtain the best effects and affects. You want your business to constantly improve.
The forums are a good way to get help. Compare changes and ask for suggestions.

Fourth: Check your competition. Then ask yourself, what is better about their site and what is better about yours.
Remember: good, better, best. Never let it rest, until the good is better and the better is best.
-
hope this helps
falcon

[thinkdan]

Hey there,

On my screen (1280 x 800), the horizontal band of icons depicting all the benefits of your company are hidden by about 50px. I'm not sure if this was done intentionally or not? Might help with conversions a bit if people can see the bonuses of purchasing products from your site.

The slideshow confused me slightly and I didn't realise it was one until I notice the small 'slider' tools.

I think the footer is slightly longer than it needs and both 'paypal' and 'verified' logo's could potentially be on the same line.

I do really like the layout of the t-shirts on the product page and think its very clear. Its refreshing to see something so simple yet effective. I think on the specific product page the cost of the item could be centered slightly, I think it might fit in a bit better.

Very good job, I really like this website.

Dan Williams

[StripedElephant]

Thank you Dan! That's very nice to hear.

On my screen (1280 x 800), the horizontal band of icons depicting all the benefits of your company are hidden by about 50px.

Do you mean it's hidden off the side of the screen? Is the list centered horizontally? (It's supposed to be) No part is meant to be hidden.. When I set my monitor to 1280x800, it fits fine. What browser do you use?

I think the footer is slightly longer than it needs and both 'paypal' and 'verified' logo's could potentially be on the same line.

I had a debate about whether to include them on one line or not. The reason I went with this way was to have that upside down pyramid shape. I'm still not sure which way I like better.

I think on the specific product page the cost of the item could be centered slightly

Done!

Thanks!