European vs. USA eCommerce Web Development

Concerns of an International eCommerce Development Agency

As an internationally conscious e-Commerce development agency, 202 ecommerce is constantly concerned with the fast paced and quickly changing world of web design on the local and international level. Recently we took a look at what aspects separate French and European web design from that of the United States, as well as the general use of global trends within the web design world.

What we found is very interesting, as many of the differences in design rest in the blatant cultural differences between Western Europe and the United States.

Of course some of these points are quite general, but when creating an ecommerce website for mass public consumption in one country versus another, they are important to consider.

Cultural Differences

Beginning with the most basic cultural comparisons between Europe and the US, we found that by-in-large American’s are more individualistic, mainly concerned about short term commitments, have socially balanced attitudes, are more inclined to avoid uncertainty, and tend to strongly identify specific genders within the consumer market.

All these cultural attributes play a part into marketing strategy, and thus into the visual, logical and technical aspects of web design.

Gender Specific Designs

Visually, attributes like a brand or retailer’s gender identity and consumers’ desired certainty play important rolls when designing key pages for retailers and brand websites.

In terms of audience targeting, a website geared towards women will usually have a more stereotypically feminine layout and page design, with visual elements like font and color scheme catering both to the specific products being sold and the attitudes of the perceived consumer base.

For example, the ‘Victoria’s Secret US’ brand website presents itself as seductive and edgy with a black, white, pink/red color scheme, while also presenting large, full page images and advertisements that encourage women to improve their looks and lifestyles with their products.

The fonts featured on this website alternate from serif fonts to sans serif, to handwritten depending on the image or application, giving the separate elements a personal feel.

Website Philosophy 

On the more logical side, this same website features direct calls to action like “Shop the collection,” “Shop,” and, “Shop the trends of the season” while also appealing to customers who want to make up their own minds (as is common among American consumers) with gentle persuasion like “Train like an angel – in the world’s best sport bras,” or “Our soft fleece will keep you toasty.”

These phrases are not specifically calls to action, but rather serve as a suggestion to inquire further into the website.

Retail Websites 

Other more general retail websites like KarmaLoop, Backcountry.com, Pacsun, or William-Sonoma feature a more generalized layout as they strive to appeal to most any visitor to their site.

Using sans-serif fonts and flat design has been the latest trend of the past couple years in modern web design, and in doing so websites are able to present a more neutral ground to consumers, in which they will feel comfortable browsing through the site.
 

These aforementioned websites all cater towards the American ideal of preferred certainty, and the attitude of “what you see is what you get” with the heavy reliance on photography and web graphics.

The neutral page designs allow the featured graphics to tell the retailer’s story, and cater specifically to audiences within the more filtered category pages.

Graphics Integration

In graphics and images, we find one of the second main differences of visual web design between the US and EU; US consumers prefer large images showing the products, presenting a lifestyle, displaying the intended use, and sites often utilize a smartly integrated minimal technical appearance like clear buttons and short/simple text blocks, allowing the images to persuade the visitor and convert them into a customer.

This kind of web design places an emphasis on above average graphics development and artistic direction as well as sophisticated technical support that allows integrations like minimal buttons to function properly, responsively and intuitively on any page of the site.

As a result of this elevated visual expectation present in the US e-Retail market, brands and companies often strive to create a solid, clear visual and ideological identity that sets them apart from any other site that may compete.

Technical Development – Payment Methods

It is clear that most of the latest trends in visual web design originate in the US market through the local heavy focus on simple but elegant presentation.

However to support these ideals, an agency must have an equal balance between graphics creation and the technical capabilities required to carry out such designs – bringing us to address the differences of technical trends of the US versus Europe.

The first operational inclination we noticed when focusing on the US market was the method of payment and checkout process.

PrestaShop offers the “one-page checkout” option to merchants as a result of the “Buy it now” attitude of American consumers.

For developers using another kind of CMS, this feature would require a different technical development from the widely accepted European “5-Step checkout” (Shopping cart, account login/creation, address confirmation, payment method, order confirmation).

Technical Development – Mobile Users

The next technical preference we had to address is the almost mandatory creation of responsive websites. Mobile users now account for almost 30% of all consumers on US ecommerce websites, causing technical developers to focus on creating the same kind of intuitive and easy to use websites for all use methods – desktop, mobile and tablet.

With sites becoming more and more visually based, developments like sliders, animations, flyover button response, menu and category integration, and large full-page images require a good bit of attention.

Simply, these mentioned site developments just have to work well, and respond quickly and accurately to fit the new expectations within modern web-design in the United States – which sometimes is no simple task.

202 in the USA

These main points of preference and predilection provide an endless source of inspiration to 202 ecommerce as we are working to integrate these modern aspects into our web developments.

For an internationally conscious agency like us, keeping changing trends and differences in consumer expectations in mind is the most important priority behind upholding a high degree of technical and ecommerce industry specific expertise.

For information regarding our consulting services, expanding to the US from Europe, or developing your business in the US or Europe, please call:

FR +33 7 83 87 86 76

USA +1 (347) 741 8301