We have asked one of our Account managers, Andy Evans, to tell us how his sellers can use design to stand out from the crowd:
andy

Hi I’m Andy, I am a designer and account manager at Frooition; this gives me a unique insight into how to help sellers grow, but also the technical aspects of what are involved.

My role at Frooition is to help sellers improve their online business through design, I speak to sellers on a daily basis, help them decide which package is right for them and assist them with ways to further improve online sales.

One of the biggest reasons my sellers give for needing design is to stand out from their competition.  This may seem like a simple task when it comes to design but it is bigger than just having bright colours and a memorable brand.

There are many reasons why a brand may stand out, and they are not always for good reasons…

In order to tackle the idea of “standing out” we need to look at 3 main aspects: Branding, Communication and Simplicity.

Branding:

Branding is about so much more than your company colour scheme, your brand is the way the whole of your business is interpreted by your consumers.

Your company branding includes:

  • Colour scheme
  • Fonts
  • Attitude
  • Language/terminology
  • Processes

You may be “stuck” with your current branding as it is already out in the wide world and would be difficult or expensive to change. Change is possible but should be done subtly if you are already an established brand so you don’t alienate your existing customer base.

All companies will naturally form an element of a branding including the general attitude of the business, is your business relaxed and fun or is it more serious? Whichever direction your business heads it is important that this attitude is mirrored in all aspects. There is no point being serious on the website, marketplaces and Facebook and have a fun, jokey attitude on twitter. It confuses customers.

The key to great branding is consistency, once you have decided on your brand it is important that all communication follows the branding rules.  One aspect of branding is your terminology, if half your staff call a product one thing and the other use different wording this will confuse customers and make them feel like they are dealing with a company that doesn’t talk to its staff.

So how does branding make you stand out from the crowd? Simply put it makes you memorable and consistent.  Your company won’t stand out if you are forgotten about immediately.

You can use clever branding tricks to remain more memorable to customers, if you can make a customer smile that will always help them remember your brand.

Communication:

Communication is vital in every business both internally and externally.  This is paramount on an online store as customers don’t give you a lot of time to convince them to part with their cash.

Things like free shipping, special promotions and quick delivery will all help you stand out from your competition, however if customers are not aware of these great features then there is no point in having them.

From a design point of view this may mean that you incorporate key points into your design or create promotion boxes to shout about your benefits.

It is also important that all your staff internally are aware of all offers available so they can communicate a consistent message.

Simplicity

KEEP IT SIMPLE. If you can get a message across in 3 words, use 3 words not ten. This makes it easier to remember and allows customers to make a decision faster.

If a customer has to read 10 paragraphs on a competitor’s site or they can read 10 lines on yours you will be more memorable and you will be more likely to win the customer.

Simplicity doesn’t just relate to the wording in your descriptions; keep your design simple too.  Over crowded designs are old hat, it is much better to have a “clean” site that makes one product stand out than to lose 10 products in a collage.  The less you have in a design, the more importance the remaining elements will have.

Simplicity also relates to the product lines you stock, if you stock one group of products it makes it easier for a customer to “get” what you do, it also makes cross promotion more effective as all products will relate to each other. If you have an Aladdin’s cave with thousands of unrelated products this makes you less memorable and less likely for you to gain traction via word of mouth.

Finally, make it very simple for buyers to navigate your store. Use categories to your advantage, start with a small number of options and branch out from there. For example if you sell clothing your top categories should be Men’s, Women’s and Children’s. Then split down into clothing type rather than type and then gender.  Simply cross promoting related items will improve sales but also means a buyer has visited 2 of your pages/listings making you twice as likely to be remembered!

If you would like to have a conversation with me about how we can help you with your branding visit: https://www.frooition.com/uk/contact.html

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