In the highly competitive online shopping market, large corporations have made high-quality web design an industry standard. Because of the connected nature of the Internet, consumers are more likely to switch to a competitor if their preferred brand has a subpar web experience.
This is especially true for the younger, technologically-driven consumer who has become accustomed to a certain level of branding and company experience. These consumers are also vocal about their brand experiences to their social groups. According to a Forbes article, “(Young consumers) review, blog and Tumblr, update Wikipedia entries and post Youtube, Vine and Instagram videos. Often these posts concern their consumption activities, interests and aspirations.”
According to three studies conducted by Taylor & Francis Online, consumers take 50 milliseconds to form an opinion about a website. Within that time frame, consumers ask certain questions, such as “Who is this?” and “Am I in the right place?” Brand consistency across platforms factor into consumer decisions as well. An article on Crowdspring, a digital marketplace for creative services, outlined how Apple uses certain principles of design across multiple platforms to achieve brand consistency. Adobe’s 2015 State of Content report supports this claim by discovering 66 percent of web users would rather view something beautifully designed as opposed to something simple and plain.
Consumers also have what’s known as an “attractiveness bias” in which beautiful things are considered better. Beautiful things are also considered to be more functional, whether or not that’s actually the truth. With all things considered and equal, attractiveness of a design takes precedence for consumers over everything else. The article published by Crowdspringexplains creating an attractive experience and using design principles across all platforms and experiences can help businesses separate themselves from their competitors.
Top companies are leading with design. Others that aren’t willing to invest in design because they think it can’t be measured or tied to ROI will fall behind. — John Maeda, design partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
The appeal of good design transcends generational gaps. According to MarketingCharts, 80 percent of members of Generation Z and Millennials agree it’s important for businesses to focus on good design as compared to members of Generation X (87 percent) and Baby Boomers (84 percent).
In all touch points for consumer interaction, its important for businesses to remain on brand or risk potentially losing customer trust. Dirxion online catalogs have customized capabilities, which allow toolbars and navigational features within the catalog to match brand messaging. Additionally, Dirxion’s name or logo appears nowhere within the catalog, the navigation tools or the URL. Doing so eliminates the risk of consumers questioning the credibility of the catalog or wondering if they’ve ended in the correct website.
