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(Brent) #1

PROJECTS
Zheľrz#Hfrpphufh


WEBFLOW ECOMMERCE


Don’t we want to create a store that’s not only
visually distinctive – which of course has its own
value – but also stands out because of how well the
content (products) and design mesh? How deeply
the products inform the design not only visually but
also in terms of information architecture, content
strategy, taxonomy and more? If people don’t buy
products but experiences, don’t we have to give them
an experience?
Enter the other end of the spectrum: the code-
heav y solut ions. You r Magentos, Yo!K a r ts, Shopi f ys
(if you’re willing to pay hundreds of dollars a month
for full design freedom). Here the sky’s the limit.
As long as you’ve got a team of developers, an
enterprise-scale budget and a design team with the
chops to customise them.
And that’s all there is. There’s no middle ground
between code-free-but-boilerplate and code-heavy-
but-custom.
But that’s all poised to change (very soon) with
Webflow Ecommerce.

CRAFT CUSTOM


ECOMMERCE SITES


John Moore Williams looks at how the upcoming Webľow Ecommerce is
set to help designers and devs build truly bespoke online stores

You know what’s wrong with ecommerce site
design right now? It’s that you only have two
options to get a store live on the web and that they
occupy opposite ends of a spectrum. That spectrum
is creativity.
The extremes of the spectrum are occupied by
templates and code respectively and as creativity
increases, so does the need for coding ability. At
one end, you have the template-powered estore
offerings. Your Pattern (by Etsy) sites. Your
Squarespaces, Weeblys and Wixes – and, for most,
your Shopifys. Easy to set up, easy to launch, easy to
sell with. Assuming you can get people to your site.
These options have dramatically lowered the
barriers to entry for online commerce. They’ve made
code-free ecommerce a reality. They’ve also brought
to life a host of sites you may remember from your
last browsing session.
That’s not the worst thing in the world, of course.
But as creatives, don’t we want something a bit more
than that?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JOHN MOORE
WILLIAMS
w: webflow.com
t: @JohnAMWill
job: head of content
strategy at Webflow
areas of expertise:
Web, UX, devices, content,
strategy
Free download pdf