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In-Depth
Websites That Get It Right
Designing a website is an art. When done properly, it draws customers in. Here are some jewelry websites that got it right.
By Lara Ewen
Without a website, a business is invisible. This is not a trend, but a new reality. While the merits of one social media platform versus another are the subject of fierce and frequent discussions, the need to have a branded website is no longer debatable and having a website is no longer optional. It’s how a business strengthens its relationship with existing customers, and it’s overwhelmingly how new customers find out about a business. This holds true for both international clients and those much closer to home.
In Deloitte’s 2014 Annual Holiday Survey, 72 percent of smartphone owners and 69 percent of tablet owners indicated they would be using their devices to assist them with their shopping. Respondents said they were using their devices to find store locations, read online reviews, browse for gift ideas, check product availability, compare prices, get discounts, do self-checkout and yes, make purchases.
That means that having a website is as critical as having a phone number. “There are still companies that have a very low profile online,” says Todd Johnson, managing director of Avatar New York, a web design, ecommerce and digital marketing agency. “The ones that don’t have a site are the ones you don’t see.” Simply put, having a website makes a business visible.
Some businesses have attempted to sidestep the expense and effort of creating a website by staking a claim on one social media platform or another because, for the most part, creating space on those sites is free. Still, experts insist that having a Facebook page is not enough. “A website is an essential means for brand communications in the digital age,” says Mark Gale, project manager at Humaan, a digital design and development agency based in Perth, Australia. “Social media can form part of your digital presence, but these channels on their own do not prioritize a company’s brand over the brand of the social channel itself.”
That’s why creating and maintaining a well-designed website should be an essential piece of every company’s marketing strategy. Conversely, a poorly designed website — one that does not function efficiently or is cumbersome, slow and/or confusing to access and navigate — can be as much of a hindrance to a brand’s image as having a nonworking phone number. “Some business owners see that they are now serving Millennials, and those Millennials are digital natives,” says Ryan Matzner, director and chief strategist at Fueled, a mobile design and development firm with offices in New York, Chicago and London. “If there is a company that has a crappy website, Millennials will be less likely to use that company. Having a good website is part of establishing a trust with the Millennials.”
Good design does not have to be expensive or elaborate. It does, however, have to make sense. “The website’s gotta work,” says Zachary Lazare, principal and creative director at Lazare Design, a web, print and brand strategy company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. “If it works beautifully and it seems like someone put some thought into it, and it feels organic and snappy, then that’s a great website.”
The website also must serve the purpose for which it was designed. “Once you decide to have a website, you need to decide what its goal will be,” says Johnson. “Is it a landing page, in case someone finds you online? Or do you want to test out ecommerce? A website is just an extension of a business. The point is that the internet is there to facilitate business. So how do you differentiate yourself so that you get the phone call?”
One of the more obvious ways to distinguish a company online is visually. That can be through a creative use of typography, or clever videos or photography. Most importantly, the creative content must be true to the brand.
“Honesty sells,” says Lazare. “People want to see a company through photos that establish and make an emotional deposit with them, so that they become part of your tribe. People are drawn to the authentic, and we can identify a snake in the grass. We subconsciously can tell the difference between a stock photo and a professionally shot photo. It takes trust to purchase something online. We buy products because we trust the retailer, so when someone uses stock photography, it means either they can’t afford real photography, or they’re lying to us, or they’re lazy. So design comes down to the quality of your content. And stock photography is like wearing a mask.”
Another often-overlooked component of a successful website is its ease of use. Visitors should be able to help themselves to the features of a site without having to struggle, and they should know what is expected of them once they find the information they are seeking. “Have obvious calls to action and something that tells visitors what to do,” says Johnson. “Don’t force them to figure it out because then you can start analyzing whether people are doing what you’re telling them to do.” For example, is the goal asking people to sign a mailing list? Add items to an online personal scrapbook or wish list? Call the store? If a site is asking people to do something and they’re not doing it, then it’s time to take another look at the site and consider why that is.
“The number-one most important component on a site is that there needs to be a sufficient amount of information that people can self-serve,” says Matzner. “If I don’t get enough information out of your website — hours, where you are, what your products are — I’m not going to pick up the phone and call you. I’m going to hit the back button and find another site.”
Also consider that customers might not use the website if they cannot access it from their mobile device or tablet. That’s why a site must be responsive. “Responsive design is a technique whereby the website content is reformatted for display on different-size screens,” says Gale. “The obvious benefit of this is in how mobile and tablet devices can display website content differently from a desktop. As a result, the user experience must be tailored and adapted to each device. Website users will have various ways they want to interact with the content based on the device. Responsive design caters to this and ultimately makes for a better experience and, in the end, a better interaction with the brand.”
In addition, responsive design removes a barrier between the customer and the customer’s access to a brand. “Any website that has some sort of limitation — such as it can only be used with Internet Explorer, or it’s in Flash — that’s a bad website,” says Keenan Bowen, interactive producer at NORTHBYNORTHWEST, a digital studio with offices in Spokane, Washington, and Boise, Idaho. Bowen explains that making a website responsive will not only improve its usability, but will also help keep visitors from leaving the site once they arrive. “These days, people want more information, but they want it in a different way,” he says. “If your site has a high ‘bounce rate’ with mobile devices,” says Bowen — meaning visitors go to your site and then leave or ‘bounce off’ right away — “making it responsive will help you see that overall bounce rate decline.”
Creating a website that is simple to use, easy to access and in keeping with the brand’s overall image is not just important for the short term. Today’s technology moves quickly, and making sure a brand is using all the available tools now will pave the way for a smoother transition to technology’s next phase. “We’re in a trend called the consumerization of the web, where consumer-grade websites are considered the best and the highest quality,” says Matzner. “It’s all about function. The original web was a new version of a phone book. Then people said, ‘Wait, we can make money here!’ And so there’s ecommerce.”
Forward momentum is not slowing down. New ideas, including wearable technology, are coming fast and furious, and businesses will need to be ready to adapt quickly to those new technologies. “Businesses that start to embrace digital strategies now will be well placed to benefit from any future advancements,” says Gale. Johnson agrees. “Make sure that you’re using technology that allows you to take advantage of new technology” as it emerges, he says. “Connect with social platforms. And make sure that what you’re building now won’t leave you stranded later, and will allow you to keep up.” On the following pages, you’ll see websites that get it right.
Name: Alex Sepkus
Lithuanian-born jewelry designer based in New York City
Website: alexsepkus.com
Launched: 2013
Designed by: Gaumina, with offices in Lithuania, Ireland and the United Kingdom
Also active on:
Facebook | Pinterest | Google+
Exquisite attention to detail is the hallmark of designer Alex Sepkus, and the designer’s online jewelry gallery is focused on bringing that detail to the user. Each item on the site is displayed in zoomable format, allowing visitors to get up close and personal with every piece. “We wanted to let the user examine the pieces in zoomed view, to experience ‘the moment before touching,’” says Rokas Grigaliunas, art director at Gaumina, the company that designed the site. “The main goal when constructing the website was to enhance the beauty of the product and give the user a sense of immersion into a digital journey.”
The site’s underlying features are designed to reinforce that sense of immersion. Unadorned backgrounds, product-focused photography and intuitive interactive elements, such as disappearing pop-up windows and a simple but effective search tool, all serve to highlight the jewelry and create a surprisingly intimate product experience. The site also includes a scrapbook-style component called “My Jewels,” which allows visitors to save favorite items for later viewing. Collectively, these details serve to bring visitors fully into the brand’s realm. Says Grigaliunas, “When a woman enters the website, we want her to experience a dramatic sensual change from boring text into aesthetic satisfaction as she discovers the magical cues of Alex Sepkus’s world.”
Name: The Clay Pot
45-year-old jewelry store in Brooklyn, New York
Website: clay-pot.com
Launched: 2013
Designed by: Web Studios West, Burbank, California
Also active on:
Facebook | Twitter | WordPress
When Tara Silberberg, owner of The Clay Pot, decided to update her website, she had a lot of ideas on what to do — and what not to do. “You really cannot use vendor photos for anything, because most of the time they’re terrible, and you need to have consistency of format, lighting and visuals,” she says. “My site is all photographed by me. That is very important.” Silberberg, who says her site is currently on its “fifth or seventh” iteration, has developed the site’s look and feel over time.
The current format is mobile friendly but still retains her store’s particular charms, and is backed by a powerful shopping platform that allows her to sell her wares online, expanding her brand’s reach. “We wanted to switch to a shopping platform that would keep up with the times,” she says. “And we integrated with Amazon, so we do Sold By Amazon (SBA). This means I get a cut on all the product I sell through them. The trick there is volume, and I pay for the packaging and the shipping.”
Silberberg also streamlined her navigational process. “It turns out no one wants to shop by theme,” she says. “Men just go to a list, and they are either looking for a designer or a stone or an item, like a ring. So now we have drop-down menus. When a customer has to search for something themselves, you need to make it easy.” By limiting search options, Silberberg has been able to better help her customers find what they’re looking for. Still, there are some things customers will not find on her site. “I don’t sell bridal online,” she says. “People who are getting married really have to try on things to make sure this is the one piece of jewelry they want for the rest of their lives.”
Name: Dodson’s Jewelers
127-year-old jewelry store in Spokane, Washington
Website: dodsonsjewelers.com
Launched: 2014
Designed by: NORTHBYNORTHWEST, Spokane, Washington, and Boise, Idaho
Also active on:
Facebook
Successfully bringing a traditional brick-and-mortar store into the digital realm requires a sense of history coupled with a deep understanding of the store’s innate brand. So when Penn Fix, president of Dodson’s Jewelers, decided to create a website, he chose to work with a company with whom he had a long-standing relationship. “I’ve always been suspicious of manufacturers supplying a website and just putting our logo on the bottom,” says Fix. “We have been involved with NORTHBYNORTHWEST for 20 years, and they made all our print and television ads. So they used the fact that we’re the oldest jeweler in the Northwest, and they understood that we wanted to get our message across on different platforms.”
In addition to designing a fully responsive site that works well over multiple devices, the NORTHBYNORTHWEST team worked to create a site that would keep the essence of Dodson’s store intact. “It’s our job to emulate that in-store experience,” says Jason Miller, former digital director, NORTHBYNORTHWEST. “It’s very unique. And they want to respect their older demographic, and they want to appeal to younger people and brides. They want to blend the old and new.”
After deciding against selling online, amid concerns that it would deter the store’s established audience and be at odds with the brand’s core customers, site designers focused instead on the store’s history and its visual appeal, using proprietary photographs that also tie in to the store’s commercials and its overall visual message. “We wanted to make sure that a certain feeling comes across on our site,” says Fix. “I think so many companies are so concerned with letting everyone know what brands they have. But Dodson’s is the brand. We want to set ourselves apart by focusing on Dodson’s as the brand.”
Name: Efva Attling
Stockholm, Sweden–based jewelry designer
Website: efvaattling.com
Launched: 2012
Designed by: Efva Attling Stockholm and Panagora, Stockholm
Also active on:
Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | YouTube | Instagram | Instagram
The online store for Swedish jewelry brand Efva Attling is as polished as the brand’s designs. Simple navigational tools, a creative and thoughtful use of original photography and a fast, smooth checkout process ensure that the site’s design never interferes with the customer experience of the product. According to the Efva Attling team, the site was designed to showcase the entire product line while creating a sense of brand and communicating the “soul of the brand.”
Insisting that all the jewelry was shot in the same style helped achieve an overall design cohesion, no matter which area of the site a customer visits. A robust built-in search feature allows visitors to quickly find exactly what they’re looking for, or sort by type of jewelry, material or collection. The home page also features shortcuts to the brand’s most sought-after products. Additionally, the site automatically identifies the user’s country to determine the language used and includes a built-in feature that allows customers to switch easily between Swedish and English, which embraces the brand’s original Stockholm-based customer base while allowing for an expanded reach. This seemingly small aspect highlights Efva Attling’s roots without alienating its newest customers.
Name: Gemfields
International mining company based in London, United Kingdom, and specializing in colored gemstones
Website: gemfields.co.uk
Launched: 2013
Designed by: Jonny Lu Studio, London
Also active on:
Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest
It’s a difficult task to create an elegant website for a mining company. There is a rather overwhelming amount of information that needs to be conveyed, and it can be challenging to find a way to incorporate that into a compelling brand image. Gemfields rises to the challenge beautifully, with a site that is easy to navigate, visually stunning and completely aligned with the brand’s overall corporate branding identity.
“It was important that the website didn’t feel like something burdened with technical minutiae that came out of a laboratory, but rather something that highlights the beauty of gemstones coupled with the process in which Gemfields ethically sources them,” says Jonny Lu, creative director of Jonny Lu Studio, which created the site.
Key elements of the design include expertly written copy that tells a compelling story, reinforced by “considered typography and a restrained aesthetic,” says Lu. Additionally, original photography and video that prominently features Gemfields’ brand ambassador, actress Mila Kunis, help to create a strong visual component. Finally, the site is focused on the user, rather than the product. Lu’s ultimate goal, he says, was “building a straightforward, mobile-friendly user experience that places the created content front and center, with less emphasis on unnecessary tricks.”
Name: Macklowe Gallery Ltd.
New York City–based dealer in twentieth-century decorative arts
Website: macklowegallery.com
Launched: 2013
Designed by: James Matlick and Christian Castellanos, independent consultants, and Peter Rosati, owner, iBeam, Boston
Also active on:
Facebook | Pinterest | YouTube
The simple lines of Macklowe Gallery’s website belie a wealth of information that is both accessible and visually engaging. The site’s home page offers a professionally shot tour of the gallery and simple navigation tools, as well as a built-in search engine that allows visitors to find items on offer. “When the user gets to my site, he should not be confused,” says Lary Matlick, vice president, Macklowe Gallery. “He should have an experience with the least amount of stress.”
Scrolling over any image in the online gallery will bring up a snapshot of information, and clicking on that image will bring a visitor to the item’s full description, which includes scalable photos. Eventually, Matlick hopes to optimize his site for mobile users, making it fully responsive. However, the real treasure of this site is its education section, which provides, among other things, an art and jewelry glossary, museum listings, artist biographies and links to books and articles. Overall, the website creates a one-stop shop for collectors of decorative twentieth-century art, and allows visitors to explore its bounty at their own pace. “Visual appeal is important, because I’m selling design,” says Matlick. “But we also wanted to give the collector the opportunity to do a bit of research. So we have been building this over years.”
Name: O.C. Tanner Jewelers
87-year-old retail jewelry store with locations in Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah
Website: octannerjewelers.com
Launched: 2013
Designed by: Struck, with offices in Salt Lake City, Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles
Also active on:
Facebook | Instagram
The design team at Struck worked closely with the O.C. Tanner Jewelers staff, who prefer to be called sales “ambassadors,” to develop an online presence that would reflect and enhance the experience of being inside O.C. Tanner’s brick-and-mortar store.
“Sales are coming from relationships, and we wanted that conversation to start happening outside of the store,” says Dustin Davis, creative director, digital, at Struck. “And we deliberately didn’t want to do an ecommerce site. We think that having a ‘buy now’ button takes some of the magic out of the interaction.” Instead, the creative team developed an innovative site feature called “My Jewelry Box” that allows sales ambassadors and customers to work together intuitively on the purchasing process. “It’s innovative, and it’s a nice replication of the customer experience in a digital universe,” says Scott Sorensen, creative director at Struck, who was directly responsible for managing the O.C. Tanner site development.
The My Jewelry Box feature allows customers and sales ambassadors to text, chat, share photos and interact in a personal way with each other, without leaving the O.C. Tanner site. It also features Pinterest-style sharing capabilities, and helps keep O.C. Tanner website visitors focused on the store as they navigate through the purchasing process. Alongside custom photography and finely tuned copy, the site provides a one-of-a-kind online experience that seeks to turn browsers into customers.
“Most jewelry stores are offline businesses,” says Davis. “Our goal from the start was to make the site feel as custom as possible. O.C. Tanner Jewelers is truly unique, and we wanted it to come across that O.C. Tanner Jewelers was one of a kind.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - February 2015. To subscribe click here.
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