Therefore, the online store will not be published at the same time as the thesis report. The theoretical part of the thesis will deal with various aspects of the design of e-commerce and online shopping.
Purpose
The online store will sell art prints of artworks made by the author of this thesis, Elias Nissilä. The empirical part of the thesis will include the implementation of the theory on the online store that will be created.
Objectives
Since the online store that is created in the task will sell artwork, it makes sense that the store itself is artistic and thus visually pleasing and aesthetic. The online store will be built using Squarespace, which is a platform used to build online stores and websites.
Research questions
Similar color schemes used in the artwork will be used in the online store to create a sense of unity between the products and the sales platform. A logo will be created for the store and the brand itself, which will create a visual image of the brand.
Project tasks
Boundaries of the project
Conceptual framework “Creating online store Printelias”
Qualitative research
A qualitative research method will be used in the thesis, since the implementation of the project is an online store. Flexibility is important, as an online store has the potential to grow and change over time based on customer behavior.
Project-based thesis
Quantitative data about the usability of the online store will be available after the publication of the site, in the web analytics of the online store. As Printelias sells art, the online store experience will become visually pleasing and aesthetic, to create a brand identity that relies on art.
E-commerce
It is important that Printelia's online shop is functional, so that customers can quickly browse and easily buy works of art online. The disadvantage of this is that customers have to wait for the delivery time of the product.
E-commerce platform
Online stores are also very convenient for customers, as they can research and buy their products at the same time from the comfort of their own home. Businesses that start online with a website without a pre-existing business are called "pure click-through businesses," while businesses that exist before they set up a website are called "brick-and-click businesses."
Domain name
By having a domain name that is easy to remember, online store visitors can find the page by typing it directly into the URL bar. Relatively short domain can make it easy to spell and at the same time make it easy to remember.
Web analytics
It is important that the domain name is easy to spell, as this means that the potential customers will have an easier time finding you, as they will not misspell the domain name. However, if a domain name is not easy to remember and the visitor has not bookmarked the store website, they may have difficulty finding the page. Keywords are words that describe the website's business and they also make a website more visible in search engines.
By having a keyword in a domain name, it describes the site's industry while helping it gain visibility. Data is highly valued in modern organizations because information is a crucial tool to get a clear picture of the way a business is doing. It is important to know the trends around your company, because adapting the business strategy to known trends can be a useful tool.
Aesthetic web design
A customer should be able to easily find different products in different categories and if they decide to buy a product, they should be able to add it to their shopping cart and order the product from there. Since the artworks will be sold in two different sizes, the buyer will be able to easily choose the desired size. For the Printelias online store, thanks to Squarespace (Squarespace website 2020), a mobile-optimized version will be automatically generated.
Platform (Squarespace)
Online store navigation
Shopping cart
Products & Categories
Customer service
- Colors
- Purchase button color
- Logo
- Psychological design
Therefore, the theme and colors of the online store should be created taking into account the customer's preferences. An important goal with the creation of Printelia's online store is to make it aesthetic, therefore beautiful and pleasant to use. Because the store must sell art, it is expected that the visitors to the online store have an understanding of visual beauty, which makes it important for the user experience of the website itself to be as aesthetic as possible.
The minimalistic design makes it easier for the customer to make a purchase without too many clicks in the online store. The online store will be designed in such a way that it will be aesthetic and functional for the visitor. The usability of the online store is important to achieve the highest possible sales.
Using Squarespace to create the online store makes it possible for even a person with no apparent IT skills to create. The ultimate goal is to make the online store work to generate sales. The implementation part of this thesis report includes the decisions that were made to create the online store.
Colors
Color of the “Add to cart” button
The survey found that black was the most popular color choice for brands that sell clothing, which means that black is not a bad option. Clothing and art are both products of visual beauty, which makes them close to potential customers. Black was also a color that is present on the online store, but not dominant, which makes it suitable for the store's visual aesthetics.
Choosing a red color would have been another option as red is the most popular color for purchase buttons on popular online shopping sites. However, red was not chosen for this online store because the red color is not present in the store design anywhere else in the store, so it would have disrupted the overall color scheme. Figure 3 below shows what the "add to cart" button looks like on an online store product page.
Logo
After creating the visual part of the logo, the brand name was written below the logo. After designing the contours of the logo, colors were added to the logo in a way that fits the design of the online store. Image 4 below shows what the created logo looks like in the header of the online store.
Domain
Homepage
The title is the same on all pages in the online store to make navigation easy, regardless of which page the customer is on. The slogan refers to the walls in people's homes, which is the most common place where people put paintings. Below the slogan is a sentence that directs customers to make a purchase referring to the slogan: ''Choose your favorite prints here and give your home a visual upgrade''.
There are three artworks from three different categories, and below the display case there is a big black button ´´BUY NOW´´ which leads customers to the store page with the products and categories. Another option was to add buttons under all the categories in the showcase, but this made the home page look more busy and had the potential to distract the customer, so only one button was placed at the bottom of the home page to guide customers to the products. At the bottom of the home page and all the pages there is a footer that can contain information such as contact information.
In the case of this online store, the footer has the name and city of the artist, as well as a link to social media and a customer support form. The next page of the report includes Figure 5, which shows the home page of Printelias.com.
Navigation
Products & Categories, and the store page
The Black&White category includes Abstract Human Figures and Abstract Shapes categories, while excluding all artworks that have colors other than black and white. These four categories help the navigation of the customer, because the categories describe well the artwork included. The categories allow customers to filter out artwork options they may want to exclude.
For example, if a customer wants to buy black and white artwork, they can easily select the right category. Initially, the artworks that have received the most attention on social media will be placed among the first products that a visitor to the store sees. In the future, it is also possible to use web analytics statistics to promote the best-selling artworks.
Image 8 on the following page shows how the store page in the online store looks before you select a category.
Shopping cart
Web analytics of Printelias
Customer service
Product images
More options
Original artworks
Adapting to statistics
Legal aspects
GDPR is one legal aspect that will be incorporated into the Printelias online store prior to publication. The return policy is another legal aspect that will be included in the online store before publication. The aesthetics of the online store includes both the visual part of the user experience and the usability of the online store.
Platforms make it easy to create an online store that is functional and aesthetic, but the decisions that affect the result are made by the creator of the online store. The research and work done on the online store and the brand itself were particularly helpful in establishing a brand image early on. And not only is the online store functional and easy to use, but it is also aesthetic.
Using Squarespace as an online store creation tool is what made creating an online store very practical. While creating this thesis, I learned a lot about creating online stores, starting a business and writing a report. The most interesting topic I learned about during this project was creating online stores and web design.
