The purpose of this website is to act as an advertising platform for Gordon's Guns. It will hopefully bring in new customers and allow the company's marketshare to increase. The website needed to allow customers to learn the store's physical location and hours of operation as well allow them to view the store's inventory. Since the store's custom shop is a service that allows the business to stand out from its competitors, customers should be able to view examples of the shop's previous work and begin the process of creating their own custom firearms.
To ensure these needs were met, the website includes a contact page to provide information about the store location and how to contact the business. An inventory page was included with a table showing available brands and an explanation of the store's sales policies and fees. A page for the custom shop was created to highlight the quality of the shop's firearm customizations and an explanation of how to commission a custom firearm.
Home
The home page, like all the pages, is based on the same template which uses a green frame to draw attention to the content at the center of the page. Different colors and fonts seperate the sections of the page to further differentiate the sections. Green and orange were chosen as colors because they are connected to the outdoors and hunting (things that the shop's customer base enjoys). Brown was used for the links so they would stand out against the background and still fit with the outdoors theme. The pages are left with little embellishment to not overwhelm the visitor and distract from the business itself. The home page presents a quick overview of the business and directs customers to the inventory and custom shop pages to see what the business can offer them.
Contact
The contact page contains more specific information about locating and contacting the store. A table was used for the hours of operation to make it easier to read and the email address was bolded to draw attention to it. A newsletter sign-up form was included to inform potential customers about deals and specials. An image was included so customers could recognize the storefront.
About
The about page contains information about how the webpage was created, why certain design choices were made, and discusses room for improvement. The center area is laid out to seperate sections to make the information easy to read.
Inventory
The inventory page includes a table of the available inventory and an explanation of the store's background check policy and fees. The table containing the inventory will give customers an idea of what the store has in stock before coming to the store. Images were included in the table to make it more eye-catching.
Custom Shop
The custom shop page includes a short advertisement about what types of services the shop offers, directions on how to order a customization, and an explanation of the store's guarantee for custom commissions. This page also includes images of finished works to further entice potential customers. The images were arranged in a table to give the page a bit more organization.
Deals
The deals page consists of advertisements for various monthly specials. Tables were used to display firearm specifications and prices for the ammunition. A table was also used to arrange the hat images at the bottom. I also included a video review of the firearm from YouTube to generate more interest in the firearm.
One possible improvement would be a search feature for the inventory page to search through the inventory and view results. Another improvement would be a reservation form to reserve an in-stock item that the customer wants. Yet another improvement would be a page for customers to enter which specific firearm they are looking for so the store can try to fulfill their request. I would also like to make the site more responsive and interactive, perhaps with pop-up galleries. I would also like to eventually expand the site to include specific product pages.