Our congratulations to everyone at Big Brown Box, who were the winners of the inaugural Best Site Design award last week at the Online Retailer Industry Awards 2010. The awards were extremely competitive and drawn from over 170 nominated online businesses around Australia; the Best Site Design category in particular boasted some of the most innovative online retailers in the Australian market.

The Big Brown Box website and the key reasons for its win were described by the ORIA judging panel:

“A site that is simple to use, with minimal clicks per purchase was at the top of the list for Big Brown Box. Simple search refinements, a clear and uncluttered home page and dropdown hover menus make it easy for customers to find exactly what they're looking for. With a wide range of personal and home electronics, the prominent free shipping icon is appealing for customers, and the customer service number and live chat function is further reassurance.

Offering some of the top electrical goods brands, the site delivers a simple, no fuss shopping experience, offering good prices and secure delivery for those who know what they are looking for. With extra details and specifications available on each product via pop up hover menus, all the information a customer could need is easily accessed via the UI.”

Big Brown Box’s eCommerce Manager, Nigel Price, said of the win:

“The team at Big Brown Box are over the moon with this award. To be recognised by our industry peers for the new site design is fulfilling so much hard work. We spent a lot of time planning the new site and focused on integrating consumer insights gleaned from extensive research. The new design has helped to dramatically simplify the purchase process while maintaining access to key information to help inform consumer decisions before the checkout. So far the response from our customers to the new designs has been excellent – to receive this accolade from the ORIA judges is simply the icing on the cake”.

Big Brown Box is a subsidiary of Radio Rentals (owned by the Thorn Group Limited) who retail a large range of consumer electronics, appliances solely online which allows them to keep costs low by cutting out unnecessary overheads.

Fontis is the Magento Solutions Partner for Big Brown Box and has worked closely with the Big Brown Box team to realise their eCommerce vision in the 12 months since the site relaunched on the Magento platform.