November 2009

13 reasons why your online store will fail (and solutions).

This set of points from TheFloatingFrog is designed to help you critique a design, specifically for eCommerce websites, to make them perform at their optimum, to help with usability and inevitably increase sales and conversions. Each point may or may not be relevant to the design you are working on, so use them purely as a guide and point for discussion. Time and budgets may also play a part in the design process so all these points may not be actionable.

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80 examples of Add to Cart Buttons.

The primary task of an online shop is to get the user to purchase something. It is this reason why elements on their web pages such as descriptions, price information, and related products should be well thought out and must be purposeful. Among these page elements is the “Add to Cart” or “add to basket” button, which is essential in its role as an important call to action. SixRevisions provides some examples of good Add to Cart buttons from eCommerce websites around the world for your inspiration and reference.

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WordPress eCommerce Plugins, Themes and Tutorials

Up until recent times, eCommerce solutions were either prohibitively expensive, or they were just too hard to understand and customize for the average user. Paypal has certainly played a role in enabling more people to sell online, but it’s far from being a full featured eCommerce solution. Also we have Magento which is, in my opinion, the best free platform to start selling online. But what about WordPress users, that are not willing to switch from their WordPress powered site to a different platform? ThemeDigital presents eight plugins (both free and paid) that will help you sell through your WordPress site, as well as some free eCommerce themes and tutorials for you to get started.

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October 2009

Eight WordPress eCommerce templates.

This list contain WordPress commercial templates with integrated eCommerce solutions. A few of them are really great and provide a lot of features. Check the demos of each template along with the comments of users what already are using them to be sure the chosen one is right for you. You’ll find them at Readactor.

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A new breed of shopping cart software.

Ecwid is one of the first 100% AJAX eCommerce platforms in the world. They believe that this is THE right approach to add eCommerce to your site. No more mess with PHP, no more hosting glitches, no more trouble getting the software look like it’s a fundamental part of your site. Certainly worth a look.

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Best of open source eCommerce Shopping Carts.

The moment you decide to run an online store selling your favorite stuff, you are immediately thrown with dozens of questions and obstacles. For starters, you’ll need to decide between clean inventory/excess stock, then comes the resource for products. Ultimately, when it comes to open an eCommerce site, the biggest decision is – Which platform should I use? Read all about it at Hongkiat.

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An analysis of the Amazon shopping experience.

Since 1995, Amazon has established itself as the world’s leader in eCommerce. Amazon’s success is the direct result of a strong user shopping experience. WebDesignerDepot looks at a number of features of the Amazon shopping experience that will, either in principle or practically, offer a model worthy of imitation by eCommerce developers today.

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Common mistakes in eCommerce design.

There are tons of mistakes that online retailers make every day, all of them avoidable with a little careful planning. And even if you’re already committing some of these mistakes, most of them are easy enough to fix. Avoiding them will greatly improve the experience of your customers. Find out how to avoid or fix them at SmashingMagazine.

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Creative online eCommerce designs.

There are so many different shops on the internet these days. But many of them lack a “decent” design. HuiBit05 has compiled a showcase of 17 of the best creative online eCommerce designs. These designs and user interfaces have thought outside the default shop box and are really creative.

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September 2009

Some of the most uniquely designed eCommerce websites.

eCommerce sites have come a long way since the pioneering days of amazon.com and dell.com. Today many web designers and programmers are pushing the envelope when it comes to the design of eCommerce websites. When designed properly, with usability and creativity in mind, you can achieve some amazing things. Designrfix presents a collection of some of the most uniquely designed eCommerce sites out there today.

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