Website Not Selling? Do this! Lessons from 3 successful E-Commerce websites
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Wanting to build a really incredible e-commerce website 🛒 on Squarespace, but feeling a little bit stumped on inspiration and hoping to see a few example websites?
Well, today I have three incredible online shop examples all built for you on Squarespace!
Let's not waste a moment and get right into the websites!
Okay, so our first website is the The Creative Law Shop website - this is one which I actually did myself (proud much?!)
The Creative Law Shop is a legal template shop from which you can purchase different legal contracts (a must-have for all freelancers & creatives out there!!)
This website could be a little bit complicated in that it has literally well over a hundred different templates!
So before we redesigned it, it was a bit confusing to try to figure out which one you needed!
Now tho, when you go to the shop page, they're all organized and arranged under these different categories we basically Marie Kondo'ed this friend!). But even after that, we found that it was very difficult for people to find what they were looking for.
So we got super strategic with the navigation for this website.
Very typically, businesses like this would organize all their contracts by things like client service, contract, website terms and policies, hiring contracts, and other different kinds of broader categories of contracts.
But the problem is people don't know which of all these things they need!
They just know I am a website designer, or I'm a graphic or brand designer, or I'm a digital marketer...
Now... what legal templates do I need in that case?
Make your e-commerce design simple to navigate!
So that's why we created these options in the navigation, which is a...
"I am a ... (FILL IN THE BLANK WITH YOUR SITUATION!)
dropdown, and then from there it goes into a little bit of information about like, okay, if you are a digital marketer, here are the different types of contracts that you need.
This makes it so much easier for people than expecting them to know what they need in an area that is... let's be honest, more than a lil' confusing!
We also talk about the different bundle options that are available in case you need several templates and you can get the bundle and save "so much money" (a great way to encourage people to invest in more of what your offering!).
Know your clients & design your website for them
Now, the other thing which we made sure to do on this website was to make it irresistibly beautiful because the people who purchase these templates, are creative business owners and they're very much concerned with the beauty and looks and vibe of something!
And... knowing a lil' bit about the guys n gals in this industry I'm confident in saying that they're probably not interested in like your average boring corporate lawyer style... grey suits, noooo Ma'am!
So we were using a lot of images to speak to our ideal client through the website visually, to show them "you're in the right place friend!".
These contracts are for someone like you.
So the design of the website was something that was super, super important to us.
What impact does the design and layout of an eCommerce website have on actual sales tho' Paige?
Now if you're wondering how much the design and layout and ease of finding stuff affect sales on an e-commerce website, let me tell you!
Shop Creative Law had run Black Friday sales for years, but once we redid the website and truly that was like the main major difference, they actually doubled their Black Friday sales from their previous years.
Yes that's right, through good e-commerce design they doubled their website sales🤯!
So that just goes to show how powerful a really well-organized, fantastic, beautiful eCommerce website is to impact the bottom line of a business.
If you wanna know behind the scenes of exactly the decisions I made which resulted in double the sales, then I have a free training on just that! Sign up below! 👇
Then the next Squarespace e-commerce website that we're gonna look at is the Cherry Tree.
So one of my darlin' past students, Emily (the incredible gal behind Emily Agan Studios!), actually designed this website and I love it (like seriously crushin' over it!).
It is so creative, and the visuals are so on point!
She's nailed gearing the website perfectly at the ideal client!
This is a really unique website with a really amazing vibe.
It's very, very unique and retro, which speaks exactly to their ideal client (the secret to all website success!)
They sell lots of vintage and retro-vibe items and put together entire gift boxes with a difference which can either be purchased online or you can select all the items online, and then go in person and pick up your gift box if you're local to them!
A great footer is so important for eCommerce sites
One of the things I especially love about this website is its footer, they have the state icon, which is really cool, sort of overlapping into the next section (showing their love for their area and also practically, where they are IRL!)
Then they also have their navigation options there, all the contact details, and then because they are a location specific business, they have the address and the hours there as well (something that sooo many businesses skip)!
On this site they've also included their Instagram. Which again, is super consistent with the vibe of the site, and so therefore makes a lot of sense to have right there in the footer!
Side note on having an instagram block on your Squarespace eCommerce site...
Sometimes I see businesses where they've just thrown an Instagram feed on their site, which clearly they just feel like they have to have, but they don't actually do it very well.
Or when they pull that onto the website, sometimes it doesn't look so good because it's not consistent. But the Cherry Tree's Instagram feed is super consistent with the vibe that's happening on the website & so it looks just perfect!
The 3rd and final Squarespace eCommerce site that I'm sharing today is Studio Lux
Studio Luxe are a gift box company. It is beautiful (and it's taking all of my self control not to throw everything in my cart as I walk you through it!!)
As you can see, the design of it is super elevated, elegant, clean, minimal, and super beautiful (clearly I am one of their ideal clients!!)
They've definitely implemented quite a few square space hacks on the home page, but I wanna particularly show you the actual shop page.
A well organized shop page is key!
Their organization of their gift boxes is really, really well done. Automatically when you arrive you're on the "view all" view. You can also filter by who your gift box is for, and price points making it just so easy to find the right thing
(it's a great tip to remember that people are time poor - so make it easy for 'em to get in, get out & buy along the way!)
Then when you also click into one of the items, they have a lovely description, they have multiple images of it and it details exactly what is inside. It's another common problem that product descriptions leave people with questions and then they don't buy... make sure your visitors are suuppper clear on what they're buying so you remove as many barriers as possible to your sale!
Make it easy for your customers to give you any info you'll need
Once you add an item into your cart you have a popup where you could write anything you'd like to be on the gift card, which is a fabulous way to make sure people don't forget that important step!
Make the Call to Action (Check out button) Easy to Find & Click!
If I could make one tweak to this website, it would be to make the "check out" link a button so that it stands out a bit more.
Another thing I love about all of these Squarespace eCommerce websites is how simple the checkouts are!
Now to their event page!
When you head over to Studio Luxe event page, you'll see that they do event planning, coordination, styling, and then when it comes to actually looking at their process, they've done something really fun with how you can hover over one of the steps and see what they have to say about it appear - it really helps the page not be too text heavy!
They go into the details of the experience if you were to work with them, and then also have a really clear call to action at the bottom for exactly what it is you wanna organize and to submit your details.
And another example of a fantastic footer, really clear and really well done!
Again, just like the other two sites, their imagery is just beautiful and perfectly geared toward their ideal clients. It's just such a well-done website.
There you have it. Three amazing e-commerce websites built on Squarespace.
Now, if you're feeling inspired and hoping to start your own Squarespace e-commerce website, then lucky for you, I created a full in-depth tutorial on how to do just that. Watch this video next to get a complete guide to building your own Squarespace online.
