10 One-of-a-Kind E-commerce Websites That Put Ordinary Sites to Shame

This collection of creative e-commerce websites includes those that take a unique approach to creating a storefront, and each are discussed in light of what makes their creative designs work so well.

Hopefully, you too can find some inspiration in the collection below to help you in your own e-commerce website designs. Which of these made a big impression on you?

Mom and Popcorn

This vintage website is a very unique experience in that it jumps off the page and makes you forget what decade you are really in. Although not the typical clean cut design of most popular e-commerce sites, it remains easy to use and bursts with creativity. It is very easy to find what you are looking for and the prices are prominent. You don't have to click around aimlessly to figure out what to do next. Five stars for Mom & Popcorn!

The Affair

The Affair is a UK based, offbeat clothing company that makes no apologies; neither for its darkness and morbid atmosphere, nor for its unique shopping design. Although simple and uncluttered, it is anything but standard. For one thing it has a discreet but impossible to miss shopping cart link in the corner. When an item is added to the cart, there is an animation of the selected item dropping into the shopping cart. This is a great touch because so often people click several times to be sure their selection was made and end up with too much in the cart at the end. With The Affair's unique concept, there is no confusion. Another useful feature is that each product's thumbnail offers a 360 degree view so you can examine it from all angles. It's these details that make all the difference.

Storenvy

Storenvy is ingenious, both in concept and in execution. It takes social networking, Etsy, and Pinterest and combines them all into one with an interface as easy to use as Blogspot. It allows users to create their own store to sell stuff, or to buy by browsing hundreds of items from different sellers at once. It is able to pack a lot of information and products into a small space without getting cluttered or confusing. It comes with a built-in store creation wizard to make it super easy to get out there and sell your goodies. I only wish I had thought of it first!

Saddleback

Saddleback is a beautifully and meticulously designed website that sells all types of leather products. Every element of the site contributes to its design, which is a breath of fresh air from other designs that can be weighty and cluttered, even if nice looking. The attention to detail is what makes this rich site still completely practical and usable. One particularly nice touch is that it includes a list of the sites of their business rivals, making it easy to see that Saddleback is the complete package.

Heartbreaker Fashion

Heartbreaker has a pleasant design with a good use of patterns and textures, which is what makes it different from other creative e-commerce websites. The trend has been to avoid patterns because they can distract shoppers from the product. When done right, however, it can really enhance the store front. Heartbreaker also has a handy shopping cart box in the footer of the site as well as the top. Even though it breaks the mold, it is still very user friendly, and even stronger for it.

Oi Polloi

Oi Polloi is a retro site that sells clothes and footwear. It is surprising to find that it does not have a shopping cart immediately available - only once an item is selected does a shopping cart (here called a "Basket") descend as an overlay to the site, showing exactly what you bought, what size, and how much it is, as well as a subtotal. So there is not a separate page for the checkout, which is quite efficient in my opinion. Never be afraid to reinvent the wheel!

A Modern Eden

A Modern Eden sells prints, decals, and stuffed animals with strange angular designs. It makes use of trendy colors, and where normally the bright green background would be tacky or distracting, in this usage it is not only appropriate but adds greatly to the fun and feel of the site. The ribbon highlighting the shopping basket icon is a very nice touch as well.

Patrick Ervell

Patrik Ervell sells fashionable men's clothing with a really cool twist. Where expensive men's clothes can often appear stiff or uncomfortable, this site helps guys envision themselves wearing the clothing, with use of live moving models with every product! Normally this is a huge no-no. Animations can quickly become a very bad idea, especially if there is more than one moving item per page. But Patrik Ervell accomplishes it beautifully, with a sterile white background and simple, concise text only interspersed where necessary.

Marie Catrib's

Marie Catrib's uses vivid pastel colors; friendly, bold text; and interesting dotted lines and patterns to make the pastry and bread products come alive. Some unique elements include the ability to search by vegan or gluten-free, a toggle button to hide half the website to focus on browsing, most information in the footer, and having ALL the offered products on the home page of the site. Simple, easy to use, and captivating.

Brand Neusense

Brand Neusense breaks a lot of rules by being too crowded, having too many colors, and incorporating too many animations - yet, somehow it all works. First of all, the models look like real people, not - for lack of a better word - models. Even more so, though, this creative e-commerce website stands out because the homepage focuses more on the various brands it sells and on ads than it does on its product. It is designed thoughtfully for its target market, and that's all you can ask of a web designer.

So whether you have an upcoming creative e-commerce website design project coming up or you need to revamp your e-commerce site design, use the examples above in your decisions. Doing your research and noting what others do right (or wrong) is one of the best ways to create a website that puts ordinary to shame.

The Art of Storytelling

Column inches. Sound bites. Web page real estate. Inbound links.

These are the metrics by which the success of a public relations campaign is measured.

If you have news or information about your company that you want to share with the world, how do you go about trying to secure these publicity gems?

The key to getting from point A and point B is the story.

While this might seem like a basic concept, there’s much more to it than simply committing facts to paper. You must shape and craft your story strategically to convince reporters, writers and bloggers that it is important and relevant to their audience.

So, the real question is, what makes a good story, and how do you frame it in a way that persuades those who hold the megaphones to re-tell your story for you?

The process of pitching a story is much more art than science.The process of pitching a story is much more art than science, more alchemy than equation. Just like any art form, there is no formula that guarantees success. However, there are a number of tried-and-true tactics you can employ to increase your chances of getting coverage:

Think in literary terms.

Go back to the basics you learned in English lit class. Good stories are built around archetypal themes: good versus evil, perseverance through adversity, the triumph of the human spirit, the hometown boy makes good – the list goes on and on.

Identify the elements of your story that offer universal appeal and frame your story accordingly. For example, a simple press release on your newest executive hire could jump from a passing mention on the comings and goings page to a full-fledged feature if he or she boasts unique personal accomplishments, offers a different perspective or has overcome great obstacles to achieve success.

Make it timely.

By its very definition, news is “of the moment.” Follow news cycles closely and try to find a way to tie your story to current events whenever possible.

Holiday-themed and seasonal stories are always a solid bet, but don’t forget about other observances and commemorative events. Everything from National Breast Cancer Awareness Month to National Safe Boating Week to America Recycles Day could be a great opportunity for you to present a timely story that offers a connection to the news of the day.

Identify your rock stars.

Reporters are always looking for credible experts to provide insight and analysis. Make the media aware of the resources your company has to offer by presenting bios and lists of topics that your key spokespeople are qualified to discuss.

For example, a travel agent could send information detailing the size of her business and years in the industry and offer to share helpful tips on top destinations or how to find the best airfares and hotel rates.

This tactic works particularly well when timed strategically to coincide with relevant news cycles. In the case of the travel agent, she should contact reporters right before the summer and the holidays, when reporters and bloggers are looking for interesting story angles for the peak travel seasons.

Play the numbers game.

Nothing makes for good sound bite fodder like interesting data. Journalists are fact- and, therefore, numbers-driven. A surprising statistic or one that either validates or disproves a commonly held belief is often the spark that gets media tongues wagging.

Add a visual.

Providing a strong visual, such as a photo, chart or compelling video, to accompany your story will definitely increase your chances of coverage. This is especially true when targeting television or web-based media contacts, who often rely on visuals to give depth to their stories.

Also, if you’re planning an event, don’t forget to include a photo opportunity, especially if there will be well-known people in attendance. There’s no easier way to get your event noticed than a photo of a familiar face, whether it’s the mayor, a hometown celebrity or even a prominent member of society.

Do the heavy lifting.

In the wake of budget cuts and downsizing, many traditional media outlets are stretched thin and are grateful for prepackaged stories they can pick up and run as-is when they have a few extra column inches to fill.

Typically, press releases offer solid, factual information that helps reporters build their own stories. However, when targeting smaller news organizations, you may also want to consider sending a fully written article complete with quotes and photos as well as how-to advice, tip sheets or even recipes.

This approach can be very effective for broad-based consumer pitches and is often used by companies such as financial planners, real estate agents, travel agents, party planners, food companies and health care organizations.

Remember that bigger isn’t always better.

Let’s face it, we’d all like to be featured above the fold on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, but often a well-placed local hit is even more effective.

Focus your time and attention where you have the greatest chance of success – and of boosting your bottom line. If your customer base is local rather than national, craft stories that incorporate elements of local interest to help you attain coverage from writers, bloggers and broadcasters that cover your area.

Know their audience and yours.

The demographics – age, gender, education level, professional occupation, income, geographic location and political leanings – of the audience for each media outlet are critically important to determining the story you should pitch.

You can’t pitch the same story to BusinessWeek and Parents magazine. Understand what aspects of your product or service would generate interest in each publication’s core audience and tell your story accordingly.

For example, I once handled the media relations efforts for a small but very rapidly growing online party supply company. We pitched e-business stories to technology trade publications; wrote articles featuring party planning tips for small local print outlets; offered profile pieces on the owner – a working mother herself – to publications targeting parents; and conducted a media tour offering party trends and budgeting tips to national women’s publications, such as Better Homes and Gardens, Good Housekeeping and InStyle.

Keep it simple.

Although there are multiple angles you could pursue for any given story you have to tell, the only way to succeed is to tell it as simply as possible.

Remember that the reader may have little, if any, familiarity with your business or industry. Break down complex information, avoid using jargon or technical terms and use language that everyone can understand and relate to in some fashion.

Put it to the test.

The most important question in determining the strength of a story is “Would I read an article on this topic?” If you cannot honestly answer “yes,” either go back and reframe it or skip it entirely.

Reporters need to know that what you give them is worthy of their time and attention, so if it’s not worth yours, don’t pass it along. Ultimately, if you want to achieve long-term PR success, it’s important to cultivate your reputation as a source of interesting, factual and relevant information.

By inundating reporters with stories that are not legitimately newsworthy, you’ll do more harm than good and make it far less likely that they’ll take your call when you have something truly valuable to share with them.

If you employ these 10 tactics, you’ll create a strong pitch that will stand out in a sea of bland, boilerplate press releases and greatly increase the chances that your story will end up in the headlines rather than the recycling bin.