Once upon a time, there was an entrepreneur named Bob. Though that's not his real name, considering he is currently (at the time of writing) the third wealthiest person globally, you might have a guess.
Bob was an ambitious and capable person. Standing at 5 feet 7 inches, there might have been a touch of Napoleonic influence, but let's just say he poured his heart and soul into his business. Maybe his early Montessori schooling played a role.
So, Bob founded a company. Let's call it "Congo" (hint: it's a river), and it outperformed any other e-commerce company before it.
Bob started this business in a garage in 1994. Fast forward to 2023, and Congo is officially the world's largest online retailer and marketplace, smart speaker provider, cloud computing service, live streaming, and internet company.
"I want my site to look different," I used to hear often when discussing things with my clients. It's less common these days, but occasionally the desire to be different trumps logic in people's minds.
How "different" should you be in e-commerce? Unless your motivation is innovation, probably not a hell of a lot.
Does this mean I'm advocating not standing out and just looking like every other brand out there? No.
What I'm saying is that your brand is one thing, and good e-commerce practice on your storefront is another. They are related, but always remember that good UX will create a brand no matter how ugly, but a fancy logo and being "different" won't get you far.
If you're not providing these, check those points off first, and only then start looking at things you think should be "different."
Photo by Ferdinand Stöhr.
