The Key to Fashion is its Website

 The Key to FASHION is its Website

By Ileana L. and Jesi H.

 

The way a business markets their products is a big deal ­­and can quickly separate window shoppers from the real money giving customers. A commonly known way that they can do this is through websites. ­This is a highly recommended way to make a business more accessible by giving a way for interested people to get hold of information about their companies, including product information, contact numbers, and business hours within minutes, thanks to computer technology. Nowadays it’s crucial to have a good quality website in order to generate as much traffic as possible while still being able to increase your company’s sales.  Without it, you wouldn’t be able to reach out to gain your full potential of future customers that would rather use the internet to match store prices before making a purchase, then only being seen shopping in the stores.

The overall look of a company’s website is extremely detrimental to the income that it will soon be brought from its online readers. Almost all recent thriving businesses have made their websites appealing to buyers in hopes to reel them in for their own personal benefit, profit.  A bad website won’t only whittle down buyers; it will eventually take them away altogether. Knowing that this is the last thing that anyone wants to see happen, a website is recognized as an important focus for many of the current businesses. In order to get their name out there, a website must be made, designed, and put up so that the computer users have the resources in a comfortable and accessible place, such as their own home.

Not only is using websites the number one go to place in search of your business, but it’s been scientifically proven that people use search engines before they do Facebook or any other fan pages. Facebook is known to be a place to post statuses and keep up with friends but is not typically a place to provide coupons. Even though it is not mandatory for businesses to set up an account, it also wouldn’t hurt, because it too gets your company’s name out there, and the more people that see your logo, the more likely they are to remember it, which is a positive thing for businesses. Liking a certain companies page or post will show up on their friends feeds and the information will be able to spread to millions of people in a matter of seconds. Knowing how this works, businesses use networking to their advantage in order to blow up their company and drastically change their product sells. Overall businesses tend to generate more profit when having a Facebook account then ones who don’t see it as a priority.

Another way to get companies information out into the busy world is through an opt-in form which provides a way to capture your visitors contact information in return for promotions and special sales. These are known to send messages to your email and sometimes are known for filling your inbox with spam. Each company has a different policy on how they run and manage these opt-in forms. It is also a proven fact that opt-in forms increase a business’s income potential each year by at least 20% more than what you started out with. This is very beneficial for companies because it is a quicker way to get people’s information instead of asking them directly for it.

Branding is another positive that more people than not tend to gravitate towards. While other media sites tend to keep your information inside their tight control, websites also give you the freedom to express your company’s individuality. In this

way businesses are able to control their own personalized branding style, which may include the recent styles and trends. Just like our change in mood, the styles of the moment are pushed out the door and are replaced with something new, and it is very important for companies to be on top of this so that they can provide the most updated information as possible. For example following what the latest celebrities and runway models are wearing is something that clothing companies do in order to keep their website refreshed. As a well working website, customers are provided with the needed information along with still staying simple but presentable to their audience. In return, companies get their desired profits for encouraging people to hand over their cash.

There are many ways to demonstrate a well done website and the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall’s website shows this in a very effective way because it displays vivid colors and easily visible font that attracts its viewers. It also allows its targeted audience, the shoppers, to effortlessly navigate through the site.  The website offers a directory of over 250 plus stores and their locations throughout the mall, as well as events and sales going on during the month.  Online shoppers even have the choice to sign up for an opt-in form called the Shopper Rewards Program which rewards shoppers with gifts, such as gift cards, free valet parking at the mall, and email offers. While viewing the many stores and rewards that come from this website, online shoppers will also notice how stylish and easily navigable the layout is displayed making the online experience enjoyable.

           Since websites need to attract the attention of its audience, the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall website does just that for online shoppers.  The website is composed of mainly three colors: white, black, and purple, with small amounts of blue and orange.  These colors are used for the two fonts shown throughout the page as well as the background color for the different sections containing information. The fonts used are a black, cursive, elegant lettering for the name of the mall in the upper left hand corner, and a simpler, uppercase Arial font for the rest of the words.  The words in the Arial font are mainly black or white, yet there are two exceptions.  The ‘Rewards’ and ‘Share’ link are a bright orange and the phone number and ‘Shopper Rewards’ link are a bright blue.  These are bright colors because the mall wants the shoppers to easily notice these and use them to their advantage.  The white is placed at the very top of the page and highly contrasts from the darker background, thus drawing the eye to this part of the page first. This is due to the importance of the

information contained within the white area which is the name of the mall as well as the many menu items containing information on events, sales, dining, etc.  White is also used on the font that is placed on top of the black background, which allows the font to pop.  The black is mostly used in the fonts and as backgrounds for the white fonts.  Strips of black are also displayed on the top and bottom of the page, creating a border.  The purple is used as the backgrounds for the ads on the page, such as promoting mall gift cards and shopper rewards.  The bright purple is also a marketing strategy that catches the attention of the online shoppers.  The contrast between the black and white, as well as the bright purple, blue, and orange allows the online shoppers to navigate through the page easily and draws the businesses key points to the online shopper’s attention.

Overall the elegant and clean colors go very well with the graphic displayed in the middle of the page. The graphic is of a woman with porcelain skin, blonde hair, minimum amount of makeup, and a white dress standing in front of fall trees.  This ethereal-like image of the woman and the colors used portray the type of online shoppers they want shopping at their site or mall.  This is especially shown on the left side of the website where the names of all the high end brands are placed.  These shops include: Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co, etc.  The high end brands that are displayed show that the mall seeks shoppers that are willing to spend a lot of money and are into designer brands.  Because the site has these designer brands and an image of a woman, Fashion Square Mall directly points to females, which are more than likely to make up most of the online shoppers, as well as in store shoppers. Directing our attention to the specific marketing pieces displayed on the site we are able to clearly see what businesses what out of us without them directly telling us.

Like we have previously discussed there are many sorts of displays that draw online shoppers to businesses websites. Ranging from the layout, special discount offers, or even the color schemes, we notice that many different aspects make up a well put together website.  Taking each of these concepts in consideration buyers are now able to browse websites more efficiently than ever before. Websites are mentally judged by people using computers because of what other websites have to offer and depending if it’s as accessible compared to other similar branded websites. The look and feel of a company’s badly put together website can easily show much lower profit difference when compared with a neater and thriving website that is more appealing to the shopper. Even though online shoppers tend not to break down all the details of our favorite company’s websites, it still remains one of the crucial parts to a company.