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View Full Version : I'm new here, this is my business website



KnT
02-01-2011, 06:59 PM
hey, I just opened my business, it's an online retail store with styles targeted at high school and college aged guys and girls.

I just need some input on what you all think, whats good, whats bad and needs to change? here's the link:

kntclothing.myshopify.com

huggytree
02-02-2011, 09:39 AM
keep in mind im the harsh, say it like it is guy....

your home page doesnt look like a home page...im not sure what it looks like, but it needs alot more

it should show specials of the week, your different sections of pants, shirts, skirts, dresses....there isnt anything to click on or see other than at the top and when you hit 'products(or whatever it was)' there's not much there for sale

you are only selling 30 pieces of clothes?....i would think it would be more like 300-1000 pieces....


every business must start somewhere and my original idea's and marketing were very flawed....keep evolving and thinking things through....


w/o a huge selection will people tell their friends about you or come back to buy the next outfit?

KristineS
02-02-2011, 01:53 PM
A few things stand out. You don't tell much about the clothes, in some cases not even from what fabric they're made. I also couldn't find a size chart, which is a must for women's clothes, as sizes can vary between manufacturers and what's a large from one company may be a medium from another.

The site itself looks all right. It's fairly pulled together. I think it could use a little more personality, right now it looks like any number of other clothing sites. What you need to ask yourself is what's going to cause people to shop with you over someone else and then emphasize those features.

I don't usually recommend other forums on this forum, but you might benefit from checking out T-shirt Forums (http://www.t-shirtforums.com/). That forum is specifically devoted to people who decorate and sell clothing. I think it would be helpful.

KnT
02-02-2011, 04:07 PM
Thanks, this is exactly the kind of criticism I'm looking for.
@huggytree: I'm gonna start by spicing up my homepage, however, with the small selection of clothing, there's not too much I can do right now. I just graduated from high school and had a couple thousand dollars saved up from the summer and that's what I could get. I'm not sure but I might have to take out a small business loan (I'm kinda hesitant about loans though).

Also, I'm pretty good with web design so I'm gonna change the "products" link into a couple drop down menus for like men's and women's different kinda clothing.

@kristines: the descriptions are kinda hard for me, I'm not quite sure what to write. I guess I'm gonna have to look more into that, and I can't believe that I forgot the size chart:P mah bad, I kept telling myself to put that up before I opened hahaha. Also, thank's for the recommendation, I'm gonna go check it out in a minute.

thanks again +rep for both of you and anyone else who gives me some useful advice.

huggytree
02-02-2011, 05:20 PM
just graduated from high school and your in business....awesome....and you have thousands saved? wow.....

for your age and your 1st attempt in business your a very impressive person....good luck!

KnT
02-02-2011, 07:06 PM
just graduated from high school and your in business....awesome....and you have thousands saved? wow.....

for your age and your 1st attempt in business your a very impressive person....good luck!

Thanks, I just got out of high school and have been working one job over the summer and decided I wanted to start a business. I figured it really could only help me since even if it isn't successful, ill still make a bit of money and it looks damn good on a resume. Plus, I already have some web design/coding and graphic design experience which really comes in handy.

boogle
02-02-2011, 09:42 PM
I am another one of those throw it straight kinda guys, so keep in mind criticism is purely to help...

I agree with huggytree... the home page is off. I think the design work in general could use a little more time. I generally do not like strokes on fonts. If the image the text is going on is really so cool that you just have to have it, then use a stroke. The floral pattern on the home page is a little generic and pixilated though so I would rethink that main image all together. Clean works really well for clothing stores, check out forever 21 or gap's site. Maybe pay a really good photographer to do a product line shot. Get some friends that wear the cloths well and do some cool scenery shots and maybe some white screen shots. It would be a good investment for all your online and print endeavors.

The logo could probably use a little more time too, it kind of looks like it was just thrown together, which lessens the apparent value of your site.

I do not agree that your limited product should be bigger. I certainly am no expert on clothes... but in general, better to have less selection but really sell it then try to expand your product line because you think you need a bigger one and then end up with too much debt, or things you do not really know how to sell. An old friend use to always say "find your weakest aspect and then sell it as your strongest" (obviously this was a little over generalized :) ) Point being, I think you sell the limited product line as its limited because you have such high standards. You know what is going to look good and that is what you sell. I would try and convey that, or at least something on the products page. Layout is good but it is empty. It's just pictures of clothes, there is no real selling going on. I want to leave your site feeling like I know and trust you, like you know what you are doing and you are excited to help me. There was an incredible interview in NPR Monday, it was on "On Point" and the guest was a fashion designer. I would recommend listening to it. The way she described clothes, the words she used, it was inspiring to me and I am just a jeans and white T-Shirt kinda guy.

Lastly, coming from a guy getting criticized just a few sub-forums down for having a site that does not have enough color :)... Your site is too black and white. Clean is good, $.06 copies at Kinkos are not. Black and white only works if the design is meant to be black and white, if it is creative enough. Straight lines do not cut it.

I think it is really awesome that you are as young as you are and opening your own business. You are really smart to come here and get help in the areas you may be less experienced in. Times are tough and to have your own business you pretty much are expected to be the best at design, coding, accounting, law, budgeting, and of course lets not forget the actual trade you are passionate about. That is what we are here for!

Good luck

jamesray50
02-03-2011, 11:10 AM
Hi Kamron. Congratulations on starting your own business and good luck with it. Have you sold anything yet? I'm assuming you drop ship your merchandise? I wanted to see how much shipping was so I added an item to the shopping cart and continued to check out, but it took me straight to pay pal without adding shipping, so I cancelled. Do you charge shipping and when does the customer know how much the shipping will be? Another thing I am wondering is, if these clothing items are dropped shipped, have you actually ordered any for yourself to check the quality of them?

vangogh
02-03-2011, 11:14 AM
A few things stand out to me right away. As mentioned above you don't really say much about your products. On the products pages you should have more details about the products. Right now all you really have is a picture and a list of sizes and a price. You need more if you expect to sell anything.

All your products are grouped together. You should create some navigation to make it clearer what kind of clothing you sell without having to click on every page. I see jackets, tops, t-shirts, dresses. You should set up categories of products and place each product in a category. You also want to create navigation to each category. It'll organize your products better, help with search engine traffic, and make it quicker for people to understand what they'll find on your site.

Your home page isn't giving a good indication what the site is about. You do make it clear you have clothing, but you should be telling us a little more to make us want to click to see the products. Give us a line or two about why your clothes are special? You could show a few product images or link to the main categories I suggest above. As it stands now the page isn't doing much to make people want to click deeper into the site.

Overall I think you're off to a good start. It's great that right out of high school you're setting up a business and the site looks pretty good overall. One thing you can do is spend some time researching other clothing sites to see what they do. Look at big and small sites and notice how they have their home pages set up and how they organize their products. Look at the information they display about each product too. See what they do well and think about how you might apply it to your own site.

You're off to a good start. Now keep working the site a little at a time to improve it.

KnT
02-03-2011, 05:40 PM
alright, I changed the banner but I think I still need to do something with the background cause it doesn't look quite right IMO. I also got the size charts up and put links in the product description page linking it to the appropriate vendor's size chart.

I'm off to work right now but when I get back I'm gonna work on the procuct descriptions and put dropdown menus of men, women, tops, dresses, ect. instead of just the "products" link.

thanks again everyone, keep posting, this is good stuff:)

crm
03-07-2011, 04:44 AM
Hi Kamron,

Congratulations on starting your business. I wish you all the best, and hope it really takes off! My thoughts for you:

The photography is good, many sites in your budget range end up with poor photography which lets the product down. Yours looks quite good. Using real life models with some additional poses would probably get you something a bit better, but for now, it works.

I'm assuming that you've improved the home page based on what others have said. I like what you've done with the up front call to action to see the product range.

I would think about designing a more unique logo to help with your brand. Many clothing brands in your target market go for "edgy", which might be something to consider.

Considering your target market, I would try to expand your reach on Facebook, etc. I'm totally generalising since I'm an old fart, but I would assume you'd have lots of people you could connect to your brand through Facebook that you're already connected to? Put the word out. Put on a discount weekend or something and advertise it on Facebook. If shopify can give you coupon codes, throw some to people who follow you on Facebook. I just noticed that you had a coupon code for your grand opening, so looks like this is possible.

What is your marketing plan for the site? How are you letting people know about you so far?

jpohl
03-07-2011, 10:42 AM
I agree with others so won't dwell too much on those items. I really would like a good description of the product. You have a picture of the steak there, give the buyer some text "sizzle" :)

I know its a personal thing but I would have a phone number in a prominent place (or places). I know you aren't brick and mortar but people want someone to contact easily (yes aside from email) if they have a problem or questions.

Probably not a big thing but when I went to the product page, you did not have the price there. It was on the product grouping page and I would probably carry that over to the product as well.

I wasn't wild about the colors on your home page but thats totally a personal opinion and in reality, it may be okay as it helps the customer focus on the merchandise although I suspect younger crowds may want a more hip environment.

If this this takes off, I would get my own shopping cart system etc. so you have your own real site. I say that because then you won't be reliant on Shopify. Again, down the road!.

If I were you, I would use that blog. get keywords associated with your clothes and each couple days write a 500 word article about something with those keywords. You can get more traffic that way and also it gives your site more authority with the search engines.

My biggest suggestion....make the tweeks that you want and do it quickly because now all you have to do is three things to be successful
1.) Market your website
2.) Market your website
3.) Market your website

Yes there are other things but if nobody knows about your site, you can't sell.

I commend you for two things. First and foremost for getting out there and doing something like this. You have put a lot of work into it and it appears you have the mindset to be quite successful. I truly wish you the best of luck in this. The other thing I commend you on is putting your site out there. Thats not the easiest thing to do but it makes great business sense.

Good Luck