Request for quotes for design and implementation work for a Magento e-commerce site.
The following brief gives an overview of the site we want created in Magento and are currently looking for experienced design companies, ideally with some experience of Magento to quote for.
Links to Previous work would also be invaluable.
We request quotes for each of the three stages we need completed, those being
1. Mocks/design
2. Html Template
3. Building the Magento theme
These ideally should give an idea of the timescales you would envisage and we would also appreciate being supplied with an idea of your current availability to complete this work.
[login to view URL] Of Site:
The site aims to offer an easy way for customers to find specific products or products which match their needs from our range, find out about them and then buy them. The site needs to be fully featured but non complicated with simple processes. The site also needs to be pleasing to the eye, we are trying to build a brand and a brand identity.
2. Type of Products:
We offer a range of Giftwares and Homewares. These are all luxury items aimed at trading up wealthies (those who are trying to improve their lives by upgrading to luxury items in particular areas that they see as particularly important, as and when their wealth increases), therefore they are not necessarily all products at the very high end of luxury but they are certainly all of a high quality and of attractive fashionable designs.
Many of our items are small (but not cheap) Gift Items with luxury products for Gentleman, Ladies, Children and even pets. We also sell larger items including smaller designer pieces of furniture. We do sell many items which some might say are not ideal for selling online as they are products which need to be seen to show the real quality, therefore we need to make the most of the way photographs are displayed.
3. Target Audience:
Our target Audience have incomes of around £75,000 up to £200,000+. They mainly live in London and South East England. The ages will range from around thirty to sixty and will be a mixture of men and women usually who will be in long term relationships or married. Despite being a little older our target are the kind of people who still worry about fashion but may go for less brash and decadent and more reserved, sleek and stylish design. Also showing off through their home, the way it is decorated and the objects in it is likely to be more important to them than showing off through the way they look and what they wear.
They are likely to see themselves as Middle Class though others may see them as at least bordering on Upper Class. Their wealth will mean they can have luxury in their lifestyle but they still have to work hard to maintain this lifestyle, therefore they will be loath to waste money and will look for value.
When buying gifts for non family members the target audience will be wanting to impress; they are likely to be part of a social circle with a lot of ‘one-up man ship’ and buying a thoughtful, high quality and original present is essential. We want our site to be somewhere they think of to buy such things. Also within these social circles there is an opportunity for word of mouth we want our URL to be something that they are keen to pass on.
4. Specific qualities in design:
The design needs to look very professional without any gimmicks. It needs to have a contemporary modern feel to it and the colours need to reflect current fashions the navigation needs to be obvious and easy to use for people with different reasons to come to the site and different things they are looking for in a product.
Therefore the navigation needs to allow users to easily find products based on things such as price, brand, room(e.g. Products for the Kitchen, Products for the dining room), Who for (e.g. Gifts for men, gifts for women).
The Homepage needs to reflect what the site is about and have space for examples of products and ranges.
5. Colour scheme and Brand ideas.
The following three Groups of colours are ones that we have had suggested are going to be on trend this Autumn and winter and feel may be a good starting point however we are not designers and you are so the final decision is yours. These are Pantone reference numbers from the Pantone Fabric collection.
Group 1:
7485c
7455c
5455c
7474c
4745c
Group 2:
721c
537c
7527c
Group 3:
729c
442c
6. Elements to consider and to avoid from existing sites.
Harrods - [login to view URL]
Pros
• Different ways to navigate,
• Different styles throughout site
• Very visual not too wordy
• No gimmicks
• Know your on the Harrods site throughout
• Well organised
• Box for delivery info on product page gives most important info
• Idea for items in rows instead of lists.
Cons
• Long checkout process,
• Not easy to move back and forth through checkout process
• Shopping cart doesn’t have same feel as rest of site
• Product images don’t line up with other elements on the page
Dunhill - [login to view URL]
Pros
• Consistent design
• Simple navigation difficult to get lost
• Zooming and panning on a good sized image of product
• Customer service page with tips on sizing, product care and FAQ’s.
Cons
• Design is too dark,
• some products don’t show very well
• not pleasing to the eye
• feels very masculine
• Simple Navigation means few ways to sort products
• Options for adding to cart and prices not shown very clearly on product pages
• Continue shopping from cart takes you to home page rather than last page you were on
• Doesn’t feel particularly like an e-commerce site more of a product showcasing site
Ikea – [login to view URL]
Pros
• Icons/line drawing for each category make navigation quicker also pleasing to the eye
Cons
• Much of the text is too small,
• Pictures of room settings at bottom of homepage are too small to be clear
• Colour scheme is boring and unimaginative and also not that similar to Colours associated with Ikea brand identity already – makes it easy to forget which shop you are on
• Product Images too small
• Feels cluttered
Harvey Nichols – [login to view URL]
Pros
• All important info and navigation in first fold
• Feels fairly uncluttered
• Unique feel to site
• Section for articles helps to build brand as well as bringing people to content
• Options to search by colour, price and brand within categories
• Product pages uncluttered by excessive numbers of links to other pages (but possibly could have a few more)
• Fairly simple checkout process which is consistent with feel of the rest of the site
• Photography shows off brand values well
• Good amount of text
Cons
• Colour scheme too modern and quite brash
• Animation too contemporary
• Aimed at a slightly younger audience than our site
• Little Info on top level categories’ pages
• Little info given on products in category view without clicking on them
Selfridges - [login to view URL]
Pros
• Attractive design not too many colours, not overpowering without being bland
• Source of information as well as shopping
• Easy to change the size of the text, fits with disability legislation
Cons
• Can’t buy online
Amara [login to view URL]
Pros
• Simple Colours allow focus to be drawn to products and images but maybe to simple
• Easy to access sub categories with drop down menu
• Contact phone number strongly featured
• Gift Suggestions section
• Attractive room settings on homepage and many of the categories
• Pages to feature each supplier
• Black and white used to good effect
Cons
• Text to small
• Often three levels of navigation
• Checkout feels bolted on and isn’t consistent with the rest of the website
Macy’s [login to view URL]
Pros
• Colours work together
• Classic menu down the side of the page.
• Boxes for images are used quite well as they make a good layout.
Cons
• All works but fairly uninspiring
• images of clothing not the clearest
• Lots of drab grey
• Not enough photos in settings to many white background shots.
• Doesn’t feel glamorous or classy
7. List of Top competitors
The sites and their retail outlets given as examples are also some of our top competitors with the exception of Macy’s and also Ikea to some extent. Within particular areas of products there are other competitors such as [login to view URL] for kitchenware and Habitat for home wares and furniture. Amazon also stock many items that we sell or have businesses selling through their site.
Dear Sir/Mam ,
We request you to have a look at the PMB for a detailed proposal.
Thanks & Regards,
Anshul Gupta
Manager Sales, Miracle Studios Pvt. Ltd.