During the launch of our e-commerce website for celebrity and twice Michelin star chef Tom Kerridge, we had various meetings where the phrases ‘luxury’ and ‘high end website’ were thrown around the room. We’re happy to have delivered a website which met the brief, and provides an amazing platform for Tom to build his online brand. But, it led us to realise we’ve never spoken on our blog about what we believe sets a website out from the rest in the luxury arena.

For Tom Kerridge, the branding was kept sleek and stylish, with a clear colour scheme. Having a clear direction of what you’re trying to achieve with your branding is important as it’s this that brings the company to life. Whilst planning your branding, make sure your colour palette is chosen carefully. Many high quality brands steer clear of bright, primary colours and loud colour combinations, instead opting for more muted, subtler colours. This can be seen on Tom’s website with the accents of the golden colour on the logo, calls to action, and to highlight the key areas.

Whilst there may be a temptation to add lots of features and jazzy animations, in reality, many luxury websites are actually rather stripped back; focusing on the product -or service- they’re selling and their branding. This isn’t to say you can’t have a bit of fun with a luxury website; there’s definitely a place for it, it just takes some consideration to integrate this intelligently to add value to the website. The overall rule is to keep it simple and clear in design so it’s easy for customers to use and navigate the site, which will result in higher engagement and in theory, increased sales and enquiries.

Photography is a key area of a website. It draws a customer in from the homepage, and, if it’s an e-commerce website, is the deciding factor if they will make a purchase or click off the website. Whilst stock images can work if completely necessary, nothing can beat high quality images showcasing your product or service on your website. If a stock image is necessary, be creative! Don’t just throw in a photo of actors and their cheesy grins, think of what would best represent your industry in an abstract manner. A website we created for Brown & Newirth, a London based jeweler is the perfect example of a website created around high quality images. Their fine jewelry is sold in retailers across the UK, so they launched their own website to gain online attention that they are the artisans behind the jewellery in the stores. The images (and site as a whole) needed showcase the products in a way that made people want to purchase a Brown & Newirth ring.

As you can see on the product pages, they’re all very clean and clear; with a white background and black clear text which allows the rings to speak for themselves without any fuss around them. When you’re planning the photography for the website, it’s important to always keep in mind that whilst using an online shop a customer can’t physically try on or see the product as they would in a shop, and so giving a customer that same experience through a computer screen is something we constantly work on with our websites.

One of our clients who have managed this superbly, are the Vintage Watch Shop. Selling luxury time pieces, their photography is an incredible standard. All watches are able to be seen from multiple angles and there is a roll over zoom feature so an interested customer can see the vintage watch’s every blemish which adds a level of transparency between them and the business. Above seeing the watch in person, this is a great feature of the website and allows a customer to know they’re seriously interested in the watch before contacting the company.

By studying the Google Analytics reports of our various clients’ websites over recent years, we have noticed that 25% of the total traffic comes specifically from mobile and tablet devices. This is why it’s important a website works responsively; meaning it will scale itself to work on multiple devices, allowing for an enjoyable user experience. Having a stunning, well designed website with well worded content no matter what device it’s accessed on will go a long way to boosting engagement levels. 

As a digital team, we offer a solid understanding of how to communicate your message to the widest possible audience. Video is undoubtedly an amazing way to showcase a product/ service and communicate the best features, boosting engagement levels. We have a range of experience in video, which includes inserting them into Tom Kerridge’s website as a way to personalise the experience and ensure the customer is aware that these products have all had a huge input from Tom- he didn’t just put his name to a range of products.

The Great British Exchange are an online marketplace, working B2B to allow retailers and producers to sell and buy beautiful British made products. Their banner space is an area we wanted to show the personality of the brand, as well as allowing the GBE to showcase the type of products they sell.

Working with luxury high end brands is always a fun task; bringing to life the product or service. If you have a brand you want to give new life to as we enter the New Year, or a new website you have a passion for, we’d love to be involved!