It’s been a very busy 2 months here at Blair Candy! It’s time for our online candy store to be redesigned. I’ve been through 4 redesigns since 2000 and this flip is a step above the rest!
For those of you who have never had the opportunity to undertake a challenge like this, it’s sort of like completely gutting the inside of your house or office, or building a new home from the ground up. It takes a lot of thought and work to pull it all together.
Yes, a new website design is just like flipping or decorating your home or office. You pick new colors to paint the walls (background), choose new furniture (programs), new pictures (products), but no matter what you do or buy for either, it all must flow together. This makes it easy to maneuver so no one trips and falls or gets lost from room to room.
You would think, considering this is the 4th redesign we have been through, this flip and the navigation choices should be pretty standard….
Oh if it would only be that easy lol
Just like what’s hot and what’s not in the carpet business or the candy bar business; Things change! As I’ve looked over many website for ideas, I noticed many seem to be making sections now called shop by brand or manufacturer. I was confused if this would work for us? Would I be wasting a lot of space on something that many might not know anyway?
Would the average candy lover know to click on the Tootsie Roll brand to find Black Crows, Caramel Apple Lollipops or Junior Mints? How about those looking for a Clark Baror Candy Buttons? Would they know to click on the Necco brand for those?
I’ve grown up in this family candy business and have sat behind this desk for 28 years and I still don’t know who makes several of these candy items we sell. I often find myself cheating and looking in our in-house computer system to match up a novelty candy item to the manufacturer with the branding behind them.
It’s not like we are selling cars by GM or TV’S by Sony! Many of our manufacturers have so many different brands under their belts, it gets confusing.
So do I keep the sections lined up like we always have and let people search for gummy candy, candy bars and lollipops, or do we also give them a little more to think about? Will the average person know that Tootsie Roll Inc, also owns and manufactures a lot more than their name sake, Tootsie Rolls?
I still have many new colors, programs and products to add to this redesign, but you can be sure this flip is being designed with our sweet customers in mind!
