Know-How Exchange : Website Critique

You say right in your returns policy that "Beshay understands that purchasing clothing online may be a tedious task, as you can't physically touch the product or try it on." Then provide just an Ok returns policy - return unworn clothes for refund in 15 days and the person has to pay for the return postage.

A lot of the online clothing sellers do better by providing a much more liberal return policy. It helps gets over exactly what you said - the risk the consumer feels they have when they are buying something sight unseen. This risk is even greater when you are selling clothes which look differently on different body shapes and skin/hair colored people, and can be of any of many different materials. And selling a brand that people are not familiar with. A longer return policy might help some. Return shipping could also. but of course, you have to factor in these costs (not just the return shipping, but that you would likely get more returns also).

Also, the more information you can provide, the better, I noticed on at least one dress (the first in my list) it just says "soft touch material", not what the materials are.

How do people find your website? What do they know about you when they click?

Your homepage doesn't tell folks what you sell or do, or why they should explore the site. What benefit do you promise (and deliver)? What's in it for the site visitor to stick around? My guess is that your bounce rate is pretty high.

Do you have landing pages for your various ads and links? Or does everybody get sent to that homepage (without a call-to-action)? Your homepage may be acting like a dead-end street, so folks just hit the back-button and try the next place.

Your home page is devoid of all reasons to buy. There's a blonde, a bit fat space full of nothing, and nothing of note to telegraph what your site's about, who it's for, what you offer, why you are worth attention, or why you're worth buying from. I learned all this by spending less than 10 seconds on your site. Aesthetics are nice, but blank space does not sell.

I am not sure how people are getting to the cart and abandoning it. Can you tell if these are returning customers or prospects that are leaving? I have the same question about the people who leave after viewing each category. Also, do you know if the customers are Americans, Europeans, etc. Some observations: I am in the States and there is no where easily accessible that tells me size conversion or pricing is on the actual product page where I am adding to the cart. As for the overall look and feel, it lacks color and panache. The font on the navigation is small and somewhat uninspiring. Also, under Bershay World you could tell your story in one place instead of making consumers click on three different drop down options. Your website is the place to tell your story, so do it. I always recommend clients take a look at the websites they like and jot down what it is about those sites. Then, find a way to incorporate those things into their sites. Take the top 3 sites you like. You don't have to reinvent the wheel at this point of the digital age; just tailor it to your brands uniqueness.

Right now, we can only make guesses. Have you tried to directly contact some of your prospective clients in your area and get their feedback? Are people arriving to the site and confused? Are they intrigued but not convinced? Are they bored? Not motivated? Concerned about something that is or isn't stated?