Arrival at Danier.com provides what looks to be a leather fashion e-commerce website, yet it leaves much to be desired in style and presentation. This is unfortunate as the products themselves reflect a much higher calibre of quality.

The substandard layout and navigation quickly erode perceptions of the brand upon arriving. Additionally, the dull earth tone palette, regardless of whether it is part of the Danier brand, is poorly used in application and proves to be uninspiring.

While the website seemed slow to load in some instances (even on pages that are not image intensive), it did offer several positive aspects worth mentioning. Visitors can shop in either Canadian or American dollars, with sections devoted to what’s new and what is on sale.

As the site offers both Canadian and American versions, it would make sense to provide a difference in images, even if only on the landing page. As trends differ from various regions, this would present an opportunity to brand the website to appeal to each target market.

Functionally, it may serve its purpose, but such a solution nowadays can probably equate to lost opportunities as well. From the website’s lack of alignment with the brand to the antiquated shopping cart, this is one website that doesn’t convey the potential strength of the brand.

As a primary source of information among potential new customers, failure to recognize the need to revamp its website to reflect the attributes of the Danier brand will surely result in lost opportunities to competitors such as Wilson Leather.

With such a bland first impression, it raises the question of whether branding was initially considered or applied to the website as an afterthought. Hopefully Danier will recognize the need to invest in one of its brand’s strongest assets—its website.

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