Top 4 best-designed fashion websites: In-depth guide to inspire your brand
Many fashion brands create gorgeous products, but their online stores, however stunning, lack the key ingredients to deliver conversion-boosting online experiences. Here are some solid UX guidelines that could change everything.
Apart from forward-thinking design, high-end photography, and compelling product descriptions,
your brand’s store needs tried-and-tested tactics. In this post, we’ll:
Share conversion-oriented UX practical recommendations for ecommerce sites prepared by the industry experts from ConversionXL
Walk you through top-designed fashion website examples to show you what makes them successful
Analyze in detail the appearance, clarity, usability, and credibility of top fashion websites by Stronger, Soft Goat, Ideal of Sweden, and Viking Footwear
How to evaluate a fashion and lifestyle brand’s website
We’ve reviewed four fashion and lifestyle brands’ websites using conversion-focused UX guidelines for ecommerce published in ConversionXL’s report. Those practical recommendations were based on user tests, research and thorough analysis of how visitors perceive a website's:
Appearance: How attractive a website is and how it presents the product
Usability: How easy it is to use a website
Clarity: Is the value of buying from them clearly communicated on the website?
Credibility (or trust): Does a visitor feel confident and comfortable buying from a website?
The scope of our analysis includes:
Homepage
Category page
Product page
Cart and checkout
We’ve taken into account such key site components as:
Copy: The wording and language
Design: The use of images, colors, graphics, etc.
Visual hierarchy: The arrangement of website elements that leads the eye to consume them in order of importance
Navigation: The use of content and transactional menus, and how easy it is for visitors to find content or a feature on a site
Product presentation: How products and their categories are displayed
What sets fashion and lifestyle apart from other industries is its focus on the visual aspects of creating and promoting products. The same applies to designing on-brand websites. Aside from clothes, footwear or accessories, these brands sell experiences. They also tell their stories.
Often, fashion brands invite consumers to peek behind the scenes to meet the creators, see where materials come from, and learn how to take care of their clothing. All of that matters when designing brands’ storefronts.
In terms of web design, fashion, footwear and lifestyle brands are governed by their own rules. That’s particularly true for homepages that prioritize branding, not perfect user experience. This is because those brands use websites to communicate their identity and showcase creativity, which does not always go hand in hand with UX design principles.
A clothing brand website design often uses heavy images, huge banners, and animations that might slow down the page or make navigation harder. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Here, we’ll share use cases of brands that succeeded in this balancing act.
Best fashion website: Stronger
A pioneer in fitness fashion, Stronger puts a premium on branding. Their homepage is packed with pixel-perfect, on-brand images. These graphics with vividly contrasting, saturated colors are the brand's trademark.
Homepage: Appearance
The homepage has a cool and thoughtful visual hierarchy. A full-width slider above the fold promotes a new collection: “Moving You.” Next, a secondary menu below the slider presents all product categories and a cross-section of the range of products available.
Then, a bar at the top lists the most important benefits of shopping, such as free delivery, a 30-day return guarantee, and safe payment with Klarna. As a visitor scrolls down, there’s a listing of products from the latest collection. The main elements on the homepage, such as transactional and content menus, are at the top of the page, clearly visible and easily accessible.
In addition to the bestsellers section on the homepage, there are sections recommending specific collections, such as Autumn essentials or Seamless.
Throughout the entire page, the brand promotes its flagship product, tights, with colorful banners that blend in with the rest of the sections.
In general, all content blocks are visually distinguishable and separated with white space and headings. The page uses different colors to divide sections and enhance site navigation.
CTA
For any brand operating within ecommerce, having an effective call to action (CTA) is a must. Stronger uses multiple CTAs on the homepage. The design plays skillfully with visual clues to make those CTAs visible and clickable, with big buttons, bright colors and strategic placement.
Product presentation
The branding is prominent on Stronger's website, so visitors can immediately tell what this brand is about. The brand skilfully engages visitors by displaying the most attractive and relevant products, such as bestsellers or new arrivals. The product images present apparel and accessories in context – for instance, showing models working out. But the images also emphasize the universality of these clothes by presenting models on the beach or walking in the streets.
In each section, there are only four images per line, which is an industry standard for ecommerce. It ensures a better user experience as it’s easier to browse products.
Finally, the products are displayed in a slider that adapts to the screen resolution. If necessary, users can scroll the products to the right and left.
Homepage: Credibility
As we’ve mentioned before, consumers need to trust brands to buy from them. Here’s how Stronger builds that trust through their store.
Content menu and social proof
A big part of a brand website’s credibility involves revealing who stands behind it and what values it represents. That’s why Stronger’s homepage includes a rich About Us section with links to various pages describing the company.
A great example is Stronger’s Responsibility page, where the brand demonstrates its care for the planet and fostering of an open and inclusive work environment. In the footer, consumers can find links to social media to learn more about the brand.
Stronger takes consumer trust seriously. Several places on the homepage provide information about free delivery, including the required threshold to receive it, and a 30-day return policy. And wherever necessary, there are links to more detailed relevant sites.
Finally, the brand underlines its credibility by displaying the number of Instagram followers and providing a link to their profile on that platform. At the bottom of the page is a preview of the customer reviews and Instagram pictures of customers wearing Stronger clothes.
Homepage: Usability
This section covers some of the best practices Stronger follows to ensure usability across the webstore’s homepage.
Transactional menu
Stronger offers a great, easy-to-navigate transactional menu with only one level of products. Buyers can shop by “product” (tights, pants, jackets, etc.) or “type” (gym, printed, yoga, colors, recycled, etc.).
Transactional menu in Stronger’s store
There is a thumbnail for each “type” to help distinguish them. From the drop-down, a consumer can click on All Products or All Collections to move between pages more efficiently.
Search engine
The brand’s search option is a masterpiece. When a buyer clicks the magnifying glass, the search engine expands to display suggestions as hyperlinked labels and product thumbnails.
As a consumer enters keyword terms, the search engine immediately suggests specific products again with labels and thumbnails.
In addition to specific product suggestions, the engine displays the most popular queries related to buyers’ queries. The consumer can view a particular product’s close-ups or see it from a different perspective by hovering over it in the results.
Product category pages: Appearance
Stronger has done a great job with filters and sorting options on product category pages. For example, when a shopper enters “tights,” they immediately see the number of products in a given category.
At the top of the product listing page, there are filters such as style, collection, category, color, product type and size.
Product page
A good product page should be informative, attractive and consistent with the design of the entire store. Stronger meets all these criteria.
Design and product overview
Stronger showcases its products with big, bold photos taken in the same style against a clean, light-gray background. Each product is displayed in 10 high-quality photos. They’re taken in different views and with close-ups, and mostly on models who are in motion. It’s visible that the brand cares about cultural diversity and works with models of different sizes and ethnicities.
Next to “add to cart,” there’s an “add to favorites” button, which is nice to have. Intuitive color swatches are clearly visible, helping consumers choose color and pattern variants. Product sizes are in the form of button-style selectors, which are handier than traditional drop-down lists. With no extra windows or drop-down menus, consumers can see all available colors and sizes at a glance.
Product descriptions
Stronger uses detailed product descriptions in their store. Individual sections include a product overview, materials, washing instructions and features. Buyers will find information about what sports or activities an item would be best suited for and what it feels like to wear it. The descriptions also include details about where products were made. That underlines the quality of a product and the brand’s involvement in sustainable business development.
Shipping and returns
Shipping and return are often decisive for online consumers. To keep buyers informed and streamline decision-making, Stronger has placed the most important information about free shipping, their 30-day refund policy and fast delivery just below the add to cart button. Buyers can’t miss it.
Trust elements and navigation
Many consumers base their purchasing decisions on trust. A great tool to build that trust and promote your brand is to showcase your loyal fanbase. You could display a number of Instagram followers, user-generated content and customer reviews. Stronger checks all these boxes. The reviews and star ratings are complemented with the average rate, such as “90% of customers recommend this product.”
Accessories and related products
Using product pages effectively, Stronger features complementary products and accessories. Under the product description, shoppers find a full-width slider with a “You might also like” section rich with related items.
Shopping cart and checkout
Moving on, this section shows the essentials of a user-friendly shopping cart and smooth checkout.
Interaction
Stronger designed its cart in a way to let shoppers decide if they want to go to the checkout screen or stay on the product page after adding an item to their cart. It’s simple and intuitive.
The brand takes advantage of the cart for up- and cross-selling. Once a product is added to a cart, a popup asks if the visitor wants to continue shopping or complete a full outfit. And within a few clicks, they can create a complete style in the desired size.
When a shopper stays on the page, a number in a mini cart appears. A cart page displays a product name, thumbnail and price. The thumbnail matches the color or pattern of the chosen product.
Navigation and trust elements
Stronger’s checkout is neat and simple. Buyers don’t have to go through subpages or take unnecessary steps to complete the form. All actions are completed under the same URL. Only one section reloads when a consumer enters more data and selects the delivery and payment method.
This is convenient, because buyers can see exactly what they’re buying and don’t have to switch between different windows to double-check. Personal information and delivery address are always visible on the screen, and buyers can edit them without leaving the page. The CTA also changes dynamically, and the total amount gets updated once the delivery details are submitted. Another great thing is that the CTA shows the cart’s value.
As a safety measure, the brand provides a live chat option in case consumers have any questions or concerns during the transaction. That allows buyers to feel confident that the transaction will go smoothly.
Customer account, form and payment
One of the common frictions in the checkout process is account registration, as some consumers may be hesitant to share their data. In their store, Stronger makes registration optional.
Next, let’s look at the checkout form. The form is consumer-friendly. The form fields are highlighted with a thin, colored border when a consumer clicks on them, so they stand out nicely against the background. The fields are grouped into categories with large, bold labels – e.g., email, name, address – and each field has placeholder text to make it easier to fill out. Placeholders show sample data in the form for entering card data.
Payment options and delivery options are clearly presented. First the delivery cost is displayed, and then the total – the sum of product and delivery. The cart constantly indicates how much is still missing for free delivery. There is also a progress bar next to the delivery options to inform consumers of the next steps.
Best fashion website: Soft Goat
Soft Goat is a Swedish online retailer of high-quality cashmere garments. Large, top-tier images across the page highlight the brand’s casual and minimalist but impactful style.
The homepage: Appearance
The homepage has a clear structure and is divided into sections devoted to new collections. Each section has a promotional banner with a CTA, with four products advertising that collection below. Despite having big and heavy photos, Soft Goat ensures a fine balance between good user experience and branding.
CTA
Soft Goat's visual hierarchy includes carefully planned CTAs. The site has nicely designed CTA buttons – "Discover" and “Shop” – in each section. They are easy to spot: distinct from the background and placed in the middle of large banners.
In addition to the main CTAs, when a visitor hovers over the smaller images, they see “quick shop” CTAs. That’s handy, since users can add products without leaving the homepage.
Product presentation
With well-executed branding, a consumer can tell within five seconds of visiting a fashion website what kind of brand it is – stylish and offering excellent quality, woolen clothes and accessories. After scrolling down, it becomes clear that cashmere jumpers are the flagship product. To underline the brand’s chic character, promotional photos are taken of models on the streets of Paris.
The page displays only four key images of each collection to give consumers a better idea of what each collection has to offer: turtlenecks, hats, scarves and knitted coats.
At the bottom of the page, Soft Goat displays a full-width video showcasing the variety of its offers. All media is original and high-resolution.
Homepage: Credibility
In this part, we’ll dive into homepage elements that make the brand and its webstore trustworthy and knowledgeable.
Content menu
It’s clear that for Soft Goat, their brand’s credibility and self-representation are vital. In the content menu, there is a rich “About” section, and underneath it a whole drop-down with various sub-pages. Apart from the contact, the menu includes links to sustainability and cashmere sections.
The comprehensive page on sustainability underlines brands’ values, whether they apply to workers or the environment. That section shows consumers in detail:
How the brand chooses its raw materials
What the work in the factories looks like
Where the factories are
The code of conduct
Two other interesting pages cover in depth the process of cashmere production, from the wool-collecting process to drying, coloring, recycling and even recognizing its quality.
All in all, the About section offers consumers discover all possible details about the brand and its inner workings.
The page also provides a live chat option in case a consumer needs some shopping assistance. They can type in direct questions or choose from a list of common questions to speed up the process.
Product category pages
The brand created an innovative and unconventional product category page. It’s possible to switch between two views: “Product” and “Outfit”. A consumer can choose a product view without models, or see the products presented in the context of entire outfits and styles. That’s an original solution, typical only of fashion brands.
Additionally, the page shows how many items are available.
Next, the product category page uses clever filtering. The number of filters is extensive, and consumers can select entire outfits as well as sizes and colors. Using these filters, buyers can select clothes that match specific accessories and other parts of the outfit. That’s another original feature that perfectly suits fashion ecommerce.
This page explains again that Soft Goat offers free delivery, worldwide shipping and an open purchase guarantee, which allows people to return or exchange items within 30 days of purchasing.
What’s also worth mentioning:
Real-time filtering
Displaying the number of items that meet the filter criteria
The “Clear all” button
The “Update filter” button – it isn't necessary since real-time filtering is available, but it allows users to confirm their actions and feel in control
Visual and verbal representation of colors
Options not following filtering criteria are deactivated (e.g., accessories in the photo above)
Product page
Now, we’ll dive into the main components and features of Soft Goat’s product page.
Design and product overview
Soft Goat’s product page has a classic and aesthetically pleasing layout. This fashion website UI design is clean and functional. On the left is a good bank of large product shots. All photos are in one style, with a light-gray background, to better showcase the products themselves. The images capture models wearing the products, which helps consumers see how the fabric is laid out and how it moves and drapes.
On the product page, color swatches and size selectors help shoppers order the right items. Switching colors doesn’t trigger further scrolling – only product photos reload, making it more user-friendly. The page also includes a size guide to ensure consumers get their sizes right.
It’s worth noting that buyers can set alerts if a particular size isn't available so they'll know when it’s back in stock. That’s a cool feature that keeps shoppers engaged with the brand.
Finally, shoppers can trace their path back to the homepage using the breadcrumbs.
Product descriptions
Soft Goat provided shoppers with concise and precise product information, including price, materials and care instructions. The descriptions address typical buyer concerns: "worldwide shipping" and "free returns'' are boldly displayed. The product information is fixed to the side of the website, making it visible while scrolling down the page.
Shopping cart and checkout
Here, we’ll talk about the shopping cart and checkout – from design, through navigation, to form, payment process and trust elements.
Design and interaction
Soft Goat’s shopping cart is similar to Stronger’s, where all the steps within the cart happen on the same page. However, Stronger’s cart is progressive; i.e., only after a consumer has entered their address can they choose delivery and payment methods.
In Soft Goat’s checkout, it’s possible to choose the type of delivery and payment before entering the delivery details. This makes the form seem cluttered but gives shoppers more choices. It includes all necessary information about the selected products, the shipping costs and the tax.
Soft Goat’s shopping cart
When the consumer moves to the cart, they stay on the same page and get a form to fill out. The cart window displays all necessary transaction details. If a buyer decides to change the number of items or size, they can do it here.
Navigation, form and payment
Because the shopping cart isn’t progressive, a buyer needs to fill out all the information at once, which might be too much. Still, the form is neat and finely structured, without any distractions. Sections are separated and grouped in columns labeled as steps 1, 2, etc., which improves navigation. Ultimately, the form follows a thoughtful user flow.
The checkout is transparent in terms of costs. It lists them separately – e.g., the total for all items, taxes and shipping – and provides the total amount. This is a must for global brands, where shipping and tax play a big role in transactions, and consumers should know about them as soon as possible.
In addition, the shop offers more delivery and payment options than any other we've looked at.
Trust elements
The cart page displays a security badge, which means that the brand’s trustworthy and ensures safe payment transactions.
Within the shopping cart, Soft Goat’s consumers can use live chat. It’s a crucial trust element in ecommerce, especially in the checkout process. The chat allows agents to provide customers with detailed instructions on how to complete a transaction if needed.
Best fashion website: Viking Outdoor Footwear
Homepages are often visitors' first interactions with a brand, so they should convey your brand's message. And Viking, a manufacturer of high-class, quality, waterproof footwear, did a wonderful job here.
Homepage: Appearance
The value proposition “to enable an active outdoor lifestyle” is evident across the website.
The brand uses page-wide, high-resolution photos showing kids and adults enjoying all weathers, playing outside or just leisurely walking.
Viking has leveraged the online store to elevate the brand image and ensure a great buying experience. A clean design, carefully crafted content without clutter, and effective visual hierarchy make for good navigation.
Headliners and product category names divide the page into nice sections dedicated to different collections or categories. The main page primarily promotes new autumn/winter footwear collections for kids, as well as casual and hiking footwear for adults. Farther down, the page highlights the Urban Explorer, a casual footwear collection.
Another section showcases outdoor shoes for trekking and hiking. As a result, shoppers navigate through the page without any trouble finding what they’re looking for.
CTA
CTAs on the homepage are visually prominent, in the form of buttons, but unlike most ecommerce stores that push consumers straight to buying, here the brand entices visitors to explore the store.
Each page section has a promotional banner and CTA leading to product guides. These pages reveal how products are designed, what technologies are used to create them, and which model will fit a particular purpose. Below, products are listed.
The homepage includes a CTA for a newsletter with a discount offer for signing up.
Product presentation
The Viking homepage uses top-notch photos and a harmonious color scheme to showcase its products. A new visitor will immediately recognize the brand’s product portfolio.
The images are professional and eye-catching, and evoke enthusiasm. The main photos for dedicated collections are shots capturing the moment, creating a sense of playfulness and fun
Although the page is dense with content, it’s organized nicely, with only four product images per line, and each product is displayed with its color options in thumbnails.
With color variants, Viking has applied a great solution. To avoid overwhelming consumers with options, there’s a “more colors” button for extra variants that otherwise would be hard to display all at once.
Homepage: Credibility
Here, we’ll cover the attributes of the homepage and the brand that make it reliable and credible.
Social proof and content menu
Instagram followers are a great way to demonstrate a brand's credibility. For this reason, Viking placed a relevant CTA at the bottom of the page to invite consumers to share their experiences with the brand. There’s also an Insta shop on a separate page.
Since online consumers are becoming savvier about how and where they spend their money, they wouldn’t trust an ecommerce store with unknown payment services. And Viking Footwear addresses that problem by listing all key providers in the homepage bottom bar.
In addition, the website reveals the real company and people behind the brand. In the footer, there’s a link to the brand’s history – when it was created and how it transformed from a rubber factory to making the stylish outdoor shoes that consumers love today.
In the content menu, the Explore section covers, among other things, Viking’s commitment to sustainability and protecting the environment. Here, consumers can learn more about Viking in terms of:
Value chains and suppliers
Standards and policies
Products and materials
Production and transport
Product use and reuse
Partnerships
The sustainability part also explains the brand’s commitment to being Climate Positive by 2030 and invites shoppers to join in.
Homepage: Usability
Here, we’ll cover the ins and outs of the search engine.
Search
It's important to help buyers find what they want, and fast. A good search option is crucial. In Viking’s store, the search engine is highly optimized. Consumers will see suggestions as they type and can whittle down the list of items and then sort them to find exactly what they need.
Product category pages
Viking has created exemplary product category pages. Each displays the items in batches, which makes browsing easier, but shoppers can also use the “show more” button to see more products. The page displays all products with thumbnails to present a complete offer without clutter. Also, the brand uses different labels to highlight certain products – e.g., “new,” “coming soon,” or “limited edition.” At the top of the page, there are breadcrumbs for better site navigation.
Shoppers can filter products by:
Size
Color
Feature: e.g. vegan, PVC free, or Gore-Tex, waterproof, etc.
It’s also possible to remove an individual filter or all of them at once with the “reset filter” button.
Shoppers can also sort items differently. Filtering and sorting options allow buyers to refine their search until they find their ideal item. At the same time, those options give the brand a better way to put products in the spotlight.
Viking’s product category page displays only certain numbers of products, but with the “get more” button, this list can be expanded. This keeps load times low and simplifies browsing.
Product page
In this part, we'll explore a compelling product page in Viking’s store.
Design and product overview
In a nutshell, Viking’s product page features:
A minimalist design
High-resolution photos with nice close-ups
Good use of negative space
User-friendly navigation
All photos were taken against the same neutral background, in the same style, and are displayed at once. The images show the product from all possible sides. Some products are also demonstrated with a short video of a model wearing them. This is a big plus, because consumers can see how flexible the fabric or sole is and what shoes look like in use. That offers visitors a better sense of the look and feel of the product.
On the page, buttons with size selectors show the size range and its availability, and out-of-stock sizes are grayed.
Shoppers can easily spot the “add to cart” buttons. It’s noteworthy that “quick add” buttons also appear on the website’s homepage, which can streamline the buying process.
Product descriptions
Viking’s product page takes shoppers through all the product information they need to make the purchase. The product descriptions are original, explain in detail the used technologies, and underline product strengths. Product names include product colors, which is very important and convenient for buyers. And the technical details, such as lining or fit, are listed in a separate section.
What’s more, the page offers a useful step-by-step size guide, with images, on how to measure one's foot. Buying footwear online is often more difficult than buying clothes, so this tool comes in very handy.
Trust elements
Because the brand understands the importance of trust, it invites buyers to leave reviews. On the product page, below product details, there are user reviews and ratings. That’s one of the most effective social proofs – your consumers can be your best advocates.
Shopping cart and checkout
Now, let’s move on to Viking’s store cart and checkout process.
Interaction
The shopping cart in Viking’s store is user-friendly, clear and intuitive. It’s divided into two main sections: a cart, and delivery and payment.
After adding items to the cart, the buyer stays on the same page. They can see all added items displayed as thumbnails. Then, product price, shipping cost, sums and taxes are displayed separately for better clarity.
Additionally, the cart is dynamic – the price gets updated once the consumer adds new items, which is practical for shoppers. The amount of added tax is in a separate line for better transparency.
Navigation, form and payment
A thoughtfully organized checkout process, requiring only necessary information, makes navigation a breeze. In Viking’s case, the checkout is personalized, meaning that the payment and shipping options are based on the shipping country. Consumers can modify their orders within the cart, without leaving the page. And in case of any doubts or questions, shoppers can reach out for support via live chat at any point throughout the transaction.
Best fashion website: Ideal of Sweden
When it comes to Ideal of Sweden, the simple and discrete design reflects the brand's elegance.
This global company that creates high-end phone accessories makes sure consumers recognize its product from the moment they enter the homepage.
Homepage: Appearance
In terms of content and information hierarchy, the homepage is well laid out, composed of banners, and built on a four-column grid with different sections that are easily distinguishable from one another.
The page is also free from clutter without being boring. It’s consistent in style and content, and showcases the brand's entire product line, including phone cases, card holders, bags and airpod cases.
As we’ve mentioned, fashion brands that prioritize branding over usability may end up with storefronts that aren’t perfect from the UX perspective. But Ideal of Sweden strikes a perfect balance here, for example with a full-width slider above the fold promoting a new autumn/winter 2022 collection.
In the global navigation, the brand highlights bestsellers and new products. Farther down, huge images feature the latest arrivals and lead consumers to dedicated product pages.
CTA
The brand prioritizes collections on the homepage, which is why it uses different types of CTAs. In some cases, it’s just text, while in others, it’s arrows or classic buttons – subtle but still visible. Here are some examples to give you a better idea:
This is a first-rate design on the brand's part. Banners like this can’t be missed, and they tell the consumer what to expect next. No message mismatch, which is often a problem in typical ecommerce stores.
Product presentation
The homepage is proof that Ideal of Sweden excels at branding. Large, high-quality, crisp images illustrate the brand's vibe. The models and interior styling reflect the brand's classy, sophisticated and glamorous style. Any buyer who enters the site recognizes instantly what the brand is about and what’s in the store portfolio.
Using effective banners, the brand actively promotes its most attractive products – bestsellers, new arrivals and bundles.
Homepage: Usability
Now, we'll review the search option in Ideal of Sweden’s store.
Search
Ideal’s store has a cool search feature. Once a consumer starts typing, the autocomplete kicks in. Afterward, the search engine displays the number of matching results and thumbnails of searched items that consumers can add to their favorites. Buyers can also select the phone model for which the searched items will be suitable.
Additionally, the search option is sticky, so it’s available even after scrolling to the bottom of the page.
Product category pages
Ideal of Sweden’s product category pages have good navigation thanks to the two-level catalog structure and breadcrumbs. The neat design makes the site pleasing and user-friendly.
Product thumbnails at the top allow consumers to figure out the complete assortment in the store. To narrow down the search, buyers can use two types of filters and then sort the items.
Most photos present products against a neutral background. Occasionally, products appear with models using them, which draws attention to them.
Moreover, promotional banners break the product listing by inviting buyers to check the new collection or get a personalized offer.
[Read more about how brands boost sales with personalization in Personalization in fashion ecommerce: techniques, strategies and examples]
Product page
As we move forward, we'll walk you through the most essential aspects of a well-designed and optimized product page.
Design and product overview
This page follows an organized structure, with sections clearly separated. The sleek and minimalist design complements the elegance of the products. A gallery of large, excellent-quality photos shows the products from every angle. This gallery features many close-ups, which are important for showing all aspects of small accessories like AirPods cases, car vent mounts and phone straps. An additional section covers user reviews and ratings.
Then, the page provides color swatches for the shopper to easily pick the desired one. And if an item is out of stock, it’s grayed out and has a relevant label. The brand has also placed breadcrumbs to help consumers move around the webstore.
Product descriptions
The descriptions on the product page are concise but creative, and give consumers all the necessary information – for instance, a year-long warranty, a 30-day return policy, whether a design has been hand-crafted, whether it can be used with other products, etc. There are also technical details such as measurement, color, patterns, materials, and so on, as well as the stock keeping unit (SKU).
Accessories and related products
Recommendations about complementary products and accessories play a big part in Ideal of Sweden’s product page.
Items strictly related to the main product are suggested under the description. Below the main content are two sections: “Get inspired by” (an Instagram gallery) and “Related products.”
Related products make a complete gallery, with available color swatches and “add to favorites or cart” buttons. This is a great method to help brands cross- and up-sell their products.
Shopping cart and checkout
The following section will discuss the building blocks of an effective shopping cart and checkout page.
Interaction and navigation
The cart and checkout page are intuitive and well-designed. The cart opens as a popup window, so the buyer doesn't have to reload the page. Within the cart, they immediately see the total and shipping price, and each time another product is added, the numbers change accordingly. The standard cart icon displays the number of added products.
Once a consumer moves to the checkout, they land on a new page, which uses a lot of negative space to keep it nice and clear. The checkout page displays product thumbnails and “in stock” status.
Consumers can change the number of items, remove products from the cart, or place them in favorites effortlessly. The checkout process is transparent – the sum of all products, the shipping costs and the total are displayed separately. Consumers can see how many items are in their cart at the top of the page while shopping.
Ideal of Sweden uses the checkout page for cross-selling by presenting a list of special offer products in the cart and encouraging shoppers to buy them. Moreover, the brand prompts shoppers to sign up for the VIP newsletter to get access to exclusive discounts and events.
Form and payment
The checkout form is consumer-friendly thanks to its clear structure and placeholders. It’s personalized – based on the shipping country, it sets the delivery method and payment. Depending on the payment method, the form looks slightly different, but it’s always logical and short, and collects only relevant information.
The form fields are grouped into categories and have appropriate headings to streamline the process. Consumers can correct or change their data easily. For assistance, they can use the live chat option.
The magic formula developing a top fashion website
Launching a website development project involves cross-team efforts, thorough market research, and long-term planning. To help you out with preparations, here’s the entire process in a nutshell.
1. Laser in on your target audience
Start by defining your website's purpose and, most importantly, your target audience. Set specific goals you want to meet. In the case of fashion brands, these should be: boosting sales, showcasing products, and establishing themselves on the market. This requires extensive market research to get to know other players, uncover industry trends worth following, and the gaps you can fill in with your offering.
However, the key here is to design your site around your target audience, to meet its needs and expectations.
2. Plan and design your fashion website
Once the research is done, the planning stage takes off. It starts with preparing the layout and outlining essential functionality. Then, the design team creates a site map that covers the pages and sections you want to have, making the website easy to use and navigate.
The design stage connects the functionality and features with your brand identity. You’ll work with the design team to decide on color schemes, typography, logos, and other elements to make your site truly on-brand. At this stage, you’ll also take care of creating content, stunning visuals, and comprehensive product descriptions to display your fashion collections most effectively and attractively.
3. Get the right tech stack
To succeed, your brand needs to find new ways to stand out from the competition and satisfy customers' demands. And the success of your store depends significantly on the tech stack you build. That means choosing the individual components that make up your ecommerce tech stack:
Secure checkout
Multiple payment options
Content management system (CMS)
Front-end hosting
Front-end framework
Marketplaces
Email automation and personalization tools
Content delivery networks (CDN)
Shipping and delivery services
For a complete guide on how to cherry-pick your perfect stack, head over to our other post here.
4. Make your fashion website SEO-friendly
Your site needs to be SEO-friendly for organic traffic and better visibility on search engines. That involves applying SEO best practices, for example:
Getting the right site architecture
Building the content around customer search intent
Creating keyword-driven meta descriptions and alt tags
Designing fashion website content optimized for specific keywords
Ensuring your site is mobile-friendly
Using internal linking
Optimizing collection pages
For more detailed guidelines, read another article on our blog.
5. Test and launch your fashion website
Testing is the cornerstone of site development, letting the dev team review and validate every feature and functionality of your ecommerce site. That includes identifying and fixing potential bugs and other issues and helping avoid them when the site is up and running.
You can launch your fashion website after testing to promote it on various platforms.
6. Monitor and analyze the performance
As a part of page maintenance, your site will require regular monitoring to ensure it runs smoothly. A handy tool here will be applying analytics tools to monitor the overall performance and measure customer engagement and conversion rates. You can then break down the analysis and closely examine individual pages, sections, and products. This can reveal issues and friction as well as improvement areas.
To get more actionable information on how to ensure top speed for your site, check our other post: here, and here.
7. Review, update, and repeat
Running a fashion website means your content must be fresh and attractive, which means you need to keep your site up to date and think about continuous optimization. As your brand grows, your site should do too. Think about adding new products, pages, and promotions.
As part of the site maintenance, it’s good to regularly review the site looking for possible bugs and performance issues to ensure a smooth customer experience.
