Why online retailers need Photoshop and in-house design skills
I think every online retailer should have a copy of Adobe Photoshop and someone with the ability to use it so they can design stuff for their website. OK, this isn't in keeping with the stereotype of a web designer - the wild-eyed prima-donna throwing chairs around the studio at the merest hint of a client tinkering with the site designs – but bear with me here and I’ll tell you why.
There is nothing worse than seeing an online store where the original design has been stretched to cover new ideas and it hasn’t quite worked. It ends up looking ragged and amateur. But the fact is that e-commerce moves too fast for designers like me to have 365-day input into our clients’ sites. We create the original designs and refreshes. We create seasonal looks and campaign concepts. But with e-mail newsletters going out once a week or more and retailers wanting to turn on a sixpence to respond to events and trends, retailers need to be creatively self-sufficient to some degree.
Here’s an example of someone that could do better: J Crew, the US multi-channel clothing retailer, sent an e-mail last week (see first image below). It’s simple but clean and it really sells the idea of J Crew as a destination for kitting out the youngsters for your big event.
But the link to 'ring bearer looks' takes you to a standard boys’ category on their website (see seond image). It's a let-down. The branding doesn't follow through; the promise isn't met. It needs a landing page, even if it’s just a category page with a wedding image. With the right design, someone with basic Photoshop skills could easily create a suitable landing page and it makes all the difference to your branding and to conversion.
So, retailers: you need to do 4 things:
- Invest in a proper design software package like Photoshop. MS Paint won’t do
- Develop internal skills – you don't need a design genius, just someone to create polished graphics
- Make sure your agency delivers a flexible design – fixed designs won’t last in the world of online retail
- Get a decent set of promotion templates from your agency, as well as a very strong style guide (fonts colours, file dimensions and sizes, etc.)
The J Crew e-mail - nice, clean and engaging:
And where the 'ring bearer' link takes you - could do so much better to be in keeping with the e-mail design:
