Ecommerce Web Design – Giving More Importance to These Pages

May 6th, 2013

Having a very good and informative website is great. But having a very proficient and neat website, especially an E-commerce website, is a must. Normally people focus on what matters most on their website – the presentation of the products, quick and responsive web design and customization of the online shopping cart. These are the basic things a good website must focus on to have a presentable E-commerce website that looks inviting to a customer’s eyes. But sometimes people seem to miss out on some little points that need attention too. Giving a bit more importance to these pages will contribute to a better, more enticing and improved E-commerce web design for your business.

The 404 Page: The 404 page simply tells your customers that the page they requested cannot be found on the server. This may be disappointing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything to rectify the situation.

Your 404 page doesn’t necessarily have to mean your business with the customer is over. You can choose to add links to where users can get back to the right path. Your 404 page doesn’t have to be a dead end. You can also throw in some fun designs to keep your user focused on reading more and staying on your webpage. You can even show some clearance and possible featured products or promotions.

Putting a little effort to your 404 can save you a lot of potential customers.

The Thank You Page: E-commerce websites are so often focused on converting visitors to customers that they sometimes forget how important the Thank You page is. You thank you page, aside from showing your customers your appreciation, holds a lot of opportunities for you and your business.

Adding a confirmation message to your Thank You page depicting that the sale has been processed is one great idea. You can also add a ‘share’ link so users can share their purchase with their friends via social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter or by e-mail.

You can also give back to your customer by putting a discount code on the Thank You page. This can give your customer a little push to purchase more from your site. You can combine this strategy with showing some additional products giving you that second order that you want.

The Landing Page: The landing page is very critical in how your customers perceive your business. More often, customers tend to stray their eyes on websites that do not have a very inviting landing page. You can improve their first impression by first making sure that your website branding should match whatever your ad shows. It must have the same logo, color, font and even the same discount advertised.

Your landing page must also have a short description of your business and your goals in a few sentences. You can even add some short testimonials and comments from other customers somewhere in the page. You can place conversion buttons like ‘add to cart’ or ‘buy now’ strategically on your landing page, making it easier for your visitors to become buyers in a short amount of time.

The Contact Us Page: Your Contact Us page gives your customers the opportunity to ask more about your services and to get in touch with you. It should contain the basic contact information for your company such as hyperlinked e-mail and contact number. You can strategically place the contact information for easy utilization. For long websites, you can place your contact information at the top so clients don’t have to scroll down further for your contact information.

Giving more importance to these pages in your E-commerce web design can help you in converting visitors to buyers and attract more potential clients, further improving your business.

Magento vs osCommerce vs OpenCart – A Comparison [Infographic]

February 22nd, 2013

If you are looking for a CMS for your e-commerce store, you are probably struggling with the same issue as many other businessmen – which CMS is suitable for your business? Even though you have spent countless hours exploring various possible options, you haven’t been able to make a decision yet. Well, Forix is here to make your decision easy.

As one of the leading e-commerce solution providers in Portland, we decided to take our expertise on the subject, and simplify your decision with an infographic that compares the 3 leading content management systems – Magento, osCommerce and OpenCart.

Get an overview of the e-commerce industry, evaluate various CMSs, make an easy decision and take a confident step toward setting up your first online store. The information graphic presents an in-depth comparison of the features of the 3 CMSs in the form of a chart for quick comparison. It is filled with critical information, statistics and illustrations such as the date of release of the CMS, the latest version, the platform used and the number of websites using it.

The infographic also provides useful market share statistics of various content management systems. Based on the analysis and research data, Magento, with a market share of 23%, has a competitive advantage over other top CMSs. Following Magento, (with margins of difference of more than 14%) are osCommerce and OpenCart with market shares of 8% and 6% respectively.

According to statistics, mobile e-commerce sales have shown a staggering increase over the past few years. From $3 billion in 2010, it is projected to reach $31 billion by the year 2016. It is evident from research data that the usage of these content management systems for e-commerce will reach greater heights in the near future.

When you have a well-defined set of requirements, it becomes easy to decide on a CMS. Of course, the next consideration is who you choose to create your e-store. Forix provides e-commerce website solutions that can be tailored to meet the needs of any business. With an e-store built specifically for your target market, it becomes easy to enhance brand perception, fetch maximum ROI and provide customers with a seamless experience that keeps them coming back.

And without further ado…

Embed this infographic on your site.

The Emergency Response Guidebook

December 11th, 2012


The Emergency Response Guidebook to was created by LabelMaster to be the number one resource for information involving dangerous goods and materials. It outlines steps to handle hundreds of hazardous materials, as well as providing critical information on each material. Forix was excited to partner with LabelMaster and bring an updated look to the ERG. What better way than mobile?
Read the rest of this entry »

The Ultimate Mic Locker

November 29th, 2012


“The Ultimate Mic Locker is a musicians best friend. By combining this amazing app with a custom website, users searching for microphones online can find, learn and take advantage of this app too.”

-David Van Veen, Forix Senior Project Manager

Read the rest of this entry »

TedXConcordiaUPortland

November 15th, 2012

TedxConcordiaUPortland is known for their powerful, influential events and speakers. These insightful individuals carry some of the brightest, unique ideas that are aimed to be known, and to improve the people and environment around them. As huge fans of the Tedx organization, and what they offer our community, Forix and Pop Art wanted to collaborate to give back by designing and developing an entirely new website, pro bono. With such a unique opportunity, everyone was eager to get going.
Read the rest of this entry »

Mobile – Web Apps vs Native Apps

July 20th, 2012

Mobile Apps are dominating. You are ready to take the plunge into the mobile world, but where do you start? The experts at Forix are here to help you find your best mobile solution. Watch the first installment in our mobile app series covering native and web apps and keep a look out for upcoming videos!

Forix – What’s Your Favorite Buzzword

July 6th, 2012

Buzzwords – We hate them, we love them, we don’t work in the industry unless we know them. While shooting footage for the Forix – Meet the Team video, we decided to take some time out and ask something a little bit more fun. Here are some of our favorite buzzwords from around the office. After all, we are syngergistic social-media-ninja-gurus that also happen to be SEO wizards. Enjoy.

Meet the Team at Forix

July 3rd, 2012

If you have visited Forix lately, you might have been able to catch us doing some filming. We have some great videos currently in the works: advice for clients, both past, present, and future; expert opinions on the future of web and mobile; candid shots of the team and clients.

For this first video, though we just want to say hi. We gathered some of the team members that you might meet when working with Forix and asked them about their day-to-day tasks and some of their favorite parts of the job.

So, sit back, relax, and ‘Meet the Team’.

When Should I Enter the Mobile App Market?

July 3rd, 2012


At a talk I gave recently, I was asked an interesting question during Q&A. I was asked how a small to medium sized company is supposed to know when to enter the mobile app market and how they are supposed to compete with Fortune 500 companies with near unlimited budgets. I responded that, unless you have a near unlimited budget, don’t worry about it.

The reason that some apps are so expensive is because a company is trying to do something cutting edge with it, and quite frankly, cutting edge is expensive. It isn’t just expensive to build, but expensive to research. Let the big companies make the mistakes, study what they came up with and emulate – just use common sense, note good ideas you find, and apply them to your company.


iPad for Business Seminar – David Van Veen from Forix Web Design.

As far as when you should enter the mobile app market, it’s always a question of ROI. Apps are not cheap, but one way that I have seen a lot of companies enter the app space – especially the medium size companies – has been through what I call “workflow” apps. Now, these are usually intranet apps – apps that are used internally by the company, not for marketing and other external purposes.

Intranet apps typically improve efficiency in some manner, taking pen and paper in to a digital format, allowing employees to do something in the field or on location that they used to require a desk for. The benefits to an app like this are easily identifiable, and the benefits can gain internal approval a lot easier, as opposed to an external app that is typically used for marketing.

An external app, while being a great way to gather new business, is often more difficult to understand and gauge the ROI – especially before launching. You never know what kind of adoption you will get until you actually launch. What I tell clients that are looking to do this type of app is to worry less about the adoption, which you don’t have as much control over, and more about making sure that those that do download your app have a meaningful experience.

Your company must be able to capture and convert these potential customers – use push, give deals, make purchasing easier, etc. Now you are working with something that you can control, and this experience is something that Forix can really help you cultivate.

David Van Veen | Senior Project Manager

Forix to Speak at iPad in Business Seminars This Week

June 10th, 2012

Portland’s own Forix will be featured in 2 seminars put on by the Mac Store in Portland and Seattle this week, covering the topic of iPads in business.

Read the rest of this entry »