Fashion e-commerce website design: what makes a clothing store easy to buy from
By Core Concepts · · Fashion & retail
A clothing store has a problem most shops do not: the customer cannot try anything on. Every part of a good fashion site exists to close that gap, and to do it without slowing the visitor down.
Show the product, then get out of the way
The picture does most of the selling. Keep it large, on a plain background, with the same crop for every product so the grid reads as a collection and not a collage. Show each colour as its own picture, not as a dot the visitor has to imagine. In our Vael template the swatches on every card change the product picture in place, so a visitor can compare colours without opening anything.
Make sizing the easiest part of the page
Uncertainty about fit is a common reason people leave a clothing site without buying, and a common reason they send things back. Three things help:
- A size finder that asks for one or two measurements and gives a single answer.
- Fit notes in plain words on every product: runs large, cut close, size down if between sizes.
- Sold-out sizes shown as sold out, not hidden, so nobody chooses a size and then finds it missing.
Once a visitor has told you their size, remember it. Vael preselects it on every product and in the quick-add row.
Let people filter by what they actually want
Category is the obvious filter. Size in stock is the useful one: there is little point showing someone twelve pieces when four are available in their size. Add a sale toggle and a simple sort by price, and stop there. A small catalogue with five filters is slower to use than one with two.
Keep the bag one step away
Adding to the bag should never take the visitor off the page they were browsing. A drawer that slides in, confirms what was added and offers a clear way on to checkout works better than a redirect to a separate basket page. Show the total early, including shipping, and say how far the order is from free shipping if you offer it. Costs that only appear at the last step put people off.
Sell outfits, not only items
People buy clothes to wear with other clothes. A "pairs well with" row on each product and a small set of complete looks give visitors a reason to add a second piece, and help the ones who are not sure how to wear the first.
Say where it is made and what it is made of
Fabric, origin and care belong on every product, in a sentence each. If you repair what you sell or publish your workshops, say so plainly and only if it is true. Claims about materials and sustainability are regulated in many countries and customers check them.
Be clear about delivery and returns before checkout
Free returns, the returns window and delivery cost are part of the buying decision. Put them in the announcement bar and next to the add-to-bag button, not only in the footer.
A storefront is not the whole shop
A template gives you the front of the shop: the pages, the catalogue, the bag. Payments, stock and orders are handled by a commerce platform behind it, such as Shopify or Stripe. When you choose a template, check how the two connect. Vael keeps that connection in one function, so the storefront stays the same whichever platform you choose. Our guide to customising a template covers the rest of the launch.
Templates in this article
- Vael: An e-commerce storefront for fashion and clothing brands. $79.