This eCommerce Store Design Breakdown will help you understand how you should be structuring your luxury fashion and accessories brand’s website for higher conversions.

From storefront design to UX, your e-commerce strategy can make or break a sale. We analyzed how The Cambridge Satchel Company has set up its store design to pinpoint what they do right with their branding and user experience.

The Cambridge Satchel Company is a leading luxury leather handbag brand that is popular for its handcrafted leather handbags. These bags are loved even by celebrities, especially because of the care and skill put into making each piece.

Disclaimer: Of course, no one has their e-commerce web design figured out to the T, and this luxury leather handbag brand surely has a few areas of improvement that we’d love to share with you. Contact us for an eCommerce store design audit. 

However, in this eCommerce store design breakdown, we’re only focusing on what the brand does right.

Why we like the eCommerce store design of The Cambridge Satchel Company

Note: We have created this design breakdown on the basis of two things – the store’s branding as well as how equipped it is to drive conversions. Because in the end, that’s what it is all about! 

1. Consistent branding across all pages

The one thing about luxury fashion brands is that their branding matters the world to them and to their consumers. If the brand conveys one message through their branding and another through their digital assets, there’s an immediate disconnect – and this includes your online store.

The Cambridge Satchel Company is all about the British Craftsmanship. Right from their product pictures on the homepage to every web page across the site, you will see them following that as their “theme”. All their pictures are conceptualised to give a very British vibe, further reinstating their branding.

You will also notice that they have kept their store design clean. There are no distractions or frills, conveying minimalism all the way.

Want to learn about the importance of eCommerce branding? Here’s a complete guide for you.

2. Clean navigation menu for visitors to self-segment

When shoppers land on the storefront, they are shown a very clean navigation menu with very few options to choose from. This way, shoppers are not confused over which product type to browse through but instead, can start browsing products based on their gender. This smart interaction on the navigation menu helps the luxury brand self-segment its visitors as soon as they land.

The luxury brand doesn’t overwhelm its shoppers despite its large product catalog. Instead, when shoppers hover over one of the menu items “Women” or “Men”, they see a nested dropdown with different product types. Shoppers can then choose between different bag styles, newly arrived items, or even just the entire catalog for the gender.

3. Editorial header image to create a striking first impression

One of the biggest mistakes that merchants make is adding a slider as their first header. Sliders slow down a website, impacting your search engine ranking. The Cambridge Satchel Company uses an editorial image showing their products in use and creating a visually-pleasing story for new store visitors.

They also avoid showing any buttons and CTAs within their header image, unlike other brands that feature a collection and nudge visitors to browse as soon as they land on the storefront. This helps the luxury brand ease their visitors onto their website rather than pushing them to take action.

4. Seamless dive into the product catalog with a “Trending Now” section

As shoppers scroll down the storefront, they can see a few best selling products listed. They can browse through a few of their top products without having to load the complete product catalog.

By displaying a few of their trending products, the brand can get shoppers to dive right into browsing all their products seamlessly.

Through this “Trending Now” section, shoppers can hover over the product listing and view the different colors and variants available for each product rather than having to load the individual product page to see other variants.

5. Highlight buttons with a unique mint green accent

While the luxury brand’s storefront consists of editorial-style product images and a minimal background, they use a mint green color to highlight their buttons and get store visitors to notice these crucial parts on their storefront.

Whether it’s to get shoppers to sign up for their newsletter or guide them to different pages on their website, the striking buttons placed at the end of each section does the job!

6. Important details above the fold on the product page

When shoppers land on the product page, they see all the crucial details at the top of the page, like the product name, price, color variants, and most importantly, the “Add to Cart” button.

By keeping the “Add to Cart” button above the fold and making it stand out against the minimal product page, the luxury brand can draw shoppers’ attention to it and nudge action faster.

As shoppers scroll down, they can view detailed descriptions, guides, and care instructions within collapsable sections. By keeping heavy information within collapsable tabs, the shopper isn’t overwhelmed with a wall of text they would usually face on the product page. Instead, they can expand different sections based on what they want to know about the product.

The product image slider is sticky, ensuring that shoppers can view the different images while reading about the product they are interested in.

7. Frictionless customization options on the product page

Personalizing a product that the shopper plans to buy online is usually a tedious process but the luxury fashion brand has been able to make it as simple as possible.

The Cambridge Satchel Company allows shoppers to personalize their products, whether they want to add an embossment or a symbol. Shoppers can choose to customize the product directly on the product page, choosing the color, placement, and content of their embossment or their symbol.

8. Personalized recommendations showing items in the similar product color

Most brands set up recommendations at the bottom of a product page to continue engaging store visitors and ensure that they don’t drop-off the website. The luxury leather handbag brand shows recommendations based on the color of the product that the shopper was looking at.

Shoppers buying leather products tend to lean towards a specific color for the product they are looking for. By showing recommendations based on similar product colors, the brand is able to engage its store visitors in a unique and meaningful manner.

9. Providing context and building credibility within the cart page

Once shoppers add an item to their cart, they can see a section with the product image, name, and price, summarizing their order details. Besides this, shoppers can see relevant details that will help them shop, from the payment methods available, whether free shipping is available, and details about delivery times.

By structuring this information better, the luxury brand was able to convey crucial information and make their cart page readable and easy to skim through.

10. Ability to subscribe to a stocked out item

Oftentimes, merchants remove products that are stocked out from their catalog. The Cambridge Satchel Company takes stockouts as an opportunity to understand product popularity. Instead of removing the product, the luxury brand labels the item as “Sold Out” and replaces the “Add to Cart” button with a subscription form.

With this subscription form, shoppers can choose to leave their email and subscribe to be notified when the item is back in stock.

By capturing subscriptions for stocked out products, the brand can gauge the product’s popularity and plan out its manufacturing better. Once the item is back in stock, the luxury brand sends an email to subscribed shoppers and brings them back to buy the product they expressed interest in.

11. Catalog browsing made easy with search filters

When shoppers land on a collection, they can choose to go through all the items within the collection or narrow down their search based on specific attributes like product color, size, and price range.

The luxury handbag brand has a fixed sidebar for the search filters so that shoppers can change their filters while browsing all the products, making the search experience as effortless as possible.

12. Stylized product labels to provide more information and nudge action

While browsing the catalog, shoppers are shown labels within different product listings, from scarcity-based labels like “Only 4 Left” to labels boosting social proof like “Limited Edition”.

Such labels help the brand draw more attention to specific items within their catalog, nudging more sales. A product label like “Only 4 Left” will make interested shoppers want to buy the item sooner rather than deliberate over their purchasing decision.

Meanwhile, a “Limited Edition” product label signals to store visitors how the item is one of a kind, making them curious to know more about the product.

Also, please note that they keep the product label colours in sync with their eCommerce branding. Despite that, they are able to clearly mark products from one another.

13. Dedicated promotions page listing all their exclusive offers

The Cambridge Satchel Company has set up multiple types of offers, from monthly giveaways to student discounts. They display all these promotions within one page, making it easier for their store visitors to find and access these discounts.

The page is custom-designed, with large banners and a short description of their promotion along with how to redeem it. The luxury brand has thought through different ways to aid their store visitors in purchasing from them, letting them join the luxury brand’s email community, providing a student discount, and even informing them about the free shipping available for UK shoppers.

With such a page, the luxury brand keeps visitors more engaged and motivates them to shop their products by finding a promotion they are eligible for.

14. Wishlist pop-up, allowing even anonymous shoppers to save items

One of the most unique parts of the on-site experience is the ability to save products that the shopper views while browsing the store. On the product page, shoppers just need to click on the “Add to Wishlist” button under the “Add to Cart” button and the item is saved.

They can later access this wishlist from the top navigation menu. The luxury handbag brand ensures that it isn’t intrusive by making these important pages highly accessible without pushing shoppers to create a customer account.

When shoppers click on the “Wishlist” menu item, they are shown a pop-up that contains all the items they saved. Here, shoppers have the option to add these items to their cart directly or even create a customer account for themselves.

Shoppers can also share this wishlist with others or even send it to their own email by clicking on the email icon within the wishlist pop-up. This is perfect if customers don’t want to commit to creating an account and a password but still want to buy products from the luxury brand later on.

This wishlisting experience ensures that The Cambridge Satchel Company isn’t bothering shoppers while they are browsing the store but enables shoppers to save items without going through the hassle of signing up.

15. Delightful referral rewards

The Cambridge Satchel Company has set up a referral program, rewarding shoppers with a 15% discount for referring new customers to the luxury brand.

The referral page is fairly straightforward, forgoing usual referral program tactics that fill an entire page with terms and rules. Instead, the luxury handbag brand has a picture of their products with a few lines of text explaining the reward and a clear and eye-catching CTA button that lets them get started with referrals.

When shoppers click on the “Give 15% Off” button, they are shown a registration form so that they can create and share their referral link. Once they register, the shopper can choose which channel to send the referral link through like Facebook, email, or text. They can even just copy the referral link and share it manually.

Might we just say this again, but do you see the consistency in their branding here as well? If your store isn’t consistently driving a point, you’re losing out. Contact us for a free branding and eCommerce store design consultation.

16. Well-structured footer with easy links to important information

The footer menu usually includes all the information that the store visitor needs besides the product catalog. The footer links provide a sense of credibility, especially the legal and refund information pages. They also create another opportunity to engage shoppers, like letting them read your brand’s story, guiding them back to your collections, and other dedicated pages. It’s crucial to plan your footer links better for easy skimming and access.

The Cambridge Satchel Company has structured its footer menu based on the most important links like collections, sizing guide, and customer service, cascading down to less important and procedural links like their press and their legal pages.

Is your e-commerce store design made for frictionless and engaging shopping experiences?

The Cambridge Satchel Company ensures that every part of their store experience is easy and frictionless, making sure that shoppers are constantly engaged from the time they land on the website to checkout.

When setting up your store design, it’s crucial to think of how your customers would be interacting with your website, how you can make their journey as easy as possible, and reduce drop-offs. When adding features like wishlisting and referral programs, you need to figure out a way to integrate these features within the shopping experience without being intrusive.

So a few tips we always recommend to luxury and lifestyle brands like The Cambridge Satchel Company are as follows:

• Keep your branding consistent across all the pages
• Make sure the theme you choose for your store and for your product images, is in line with your brand message
• If you’re following a minimal approach, make sure your web design and your web copy, both convey the same
• Always keep your website clutter-free as luxury shoppers want to focus more on the products, less on the frills
• Make sure you have included all the important product details that reflect the value you bring to potential customers
• Keep your store navigation easy and intuitive; just as it would be in an offline, brick and mortar store
• While the look and feel is of utmost importance, don’t ever forget usability and conversions from your eCommerce store design

If you’re looking to identify problem areas within your on-site customer journey or want to revamp your store design to better reflect your brand, you can get in touch with our e-commerce experts.