Today I am looking at a web site –”www.myessentialsalyceplatt.com.au“. I remember her as the barrel girl on Sale of the Century, but she is also an actor, singer and now designer. This site has just three products, a lightweight sun-wrap (think kimono’ish with multiple ways of tying), a dress and a monocle/magnifying glass cut into an interesting shape and worn as a pendant on a necklace (for reading tiny font on mobile phones and menus – very clever and much more glamorous than squinting and complaining about bad lighting).
The thing I love about this site is its focus: just three clever products (with a few different colour/fabric combinations) which have been created because someone thought “why can’t I get that?” So many sites are overwhelming with their offers, yet this tight range is simple and easy to understand. The interesting thing is that she doesn’t seem to have specific manufacturing or design experience – she had the idea, created some drawings and went off and found a manufacturer. Of course the inspiration in this is that if she can do it so can you.
That said, she does have the benefit of some pretty well-known friends (plus her own profile) to help spread the word in mainstream media – but people who are not famous manage to sell things everyday too.
So, what do I like?
Great focus, simple and well executed idea and site – pricing is accessible (I know that’s always a subjective one) – clear pictures of how the outfits look in the different colours as well as a “how to wear” info sheet.
What would I change?
More information on what the fabrics feel like: even better, include videos showing the fabric moving/being worn. It can be tricky to know how fabric will drape from a static shot, and when shopping online any uncertainties can be a block for your shoppers: they need to say “I want it now”, rather than a “I’m not sure, I’ll think about it”.
Make it easy to tweet, facebook or blog it on: add some links/widgets for these on the front page: even though the target market looks a bit older these guys are still online and talking.
So overall, great idea nicely executed: I hope it does well.
Note: the image at the top is created by entering the text from this post into the very cool Wordle site.
opinioniste 