I think you hit the nail on the head when you called it your
other store. Most websites seem so generic and don't have a sense of individualism-it would be really nice if you could give it some of your "Anytime Flowers" personality that people get when they walk into your brick and mortar location. The first thing I would do is drop that image of the old FTD (I think it was FTD?) container that I've seen on too many sites and replace it with a much larger, beautiful custom image of your own design. '
Do you not have a toll free number? If you don't, I would get one and have it front and center so potential customers can call if they have any questions. We get a lot of our orders over the phone after (or while) the customer is on the website. Some customers prefer to speak to a real live person and they have come to expect it to be a toll free call.
I registered and went all the way through the ordering process until it came time to pay. The first thing I noticed is that I can put in any address I want and it will only tell me after I submit it that it is out of the delivery area. Can you change that so that the delivery options pop up for only those zip codes that you service? I like the option of delivery or pick up. The second thing (and this is an issue on our site as well) is that the phone number has to be submitted in a particular format, but the site doesn't tell the customer what that format is. We have received numerous phone calls from customers trying to place orders on our site and they get stuck on the "phone number" part. You have to submit it they right way or it keeps kicking back. Frustrating. And my bad for not letting Ryan know about this before....
Another thing that I don't like about the template site is that the only way you can block out deliveries is by saying you're "closed". That's an issue for us on holidays when we're open but not making deliveries.
I agree that there's too much text on the home page without enough flowers, but I don't necessarily think it has to be all product for purchasing. As you mentioned, it's your other store and I think the home page should reflect that-not just what's in the cooler. Whenever I look at anyone's site I always wish I could see an actual picture of the shop so I can get a better idea of what they do. You do have the photo of the shop for your blooming plants....and I really like that. Maybe a nice pic that you can change seasonally under the 'About Us' tab? The more you can do to make it painfully obvious that you are actually a local shop, the better. I'm starting to think we should have a pic of our shop on the home page......
Not only is there a lot of text on the home page but it's in different sizes, colors, and fonts which makes for a very "busy".
I also agree that having your own designs is better. I know it's a lot of work to keep that updated, but it's worth it. We get a lot of comments that our site was the only one that had "different" arrangements when people are searching for a shop.
I know our template site isn't exactly how I would like it....but until we decide to shell out for a fully custom site, we will have to live with some of the limitations. We opted for a template site with a custom banner. It's an option if you want your home page to look a little more unique without spending the full blown custom site price. It was a good compromise for us at the time.
www.trigsfloral.com if you want to look at it.
I pointed out a lot of things that could be improved, but that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of really good things about your site too!
Good luck....it can be overwhelming-I know!
