Ok so where was I? Ahh yes, I remember.
So at the beginning of the year we took delivery of our new website.
The new layout really clarified each product group. This had been a key requirement in the design brief I had given Ardes.com. We also required the retention of our existing colour scheme as our old website. Ray re-used this colour scheme to great effect and enhanched it greatly adding additional extra colours for our shoping cart.
The 'cart' part of the site really suprised me. They had designed the page layout to include the cart on every page of the site. This meant that a very clear navigation structure could be maintained while keeping the customers selected items with them; no navigating away from the products to view their chosen items.
This was a great system. One example is that we sell lots of different interior doors, specialising in oak door patterns, as well as handles, hinges etc. The big bonus with this cart system is that the client can see their chosen items as well as items they may also want, ensuring a match. Let me give an example to clarify: -
We sell a particular range of doors called Wordsworth which has many different options. The best sellers are the solid pattern (for bedrooms, bathrooms and the like). 
So lets assume the client puts 10 of the Wordsworth 4 Panel Internal Oak Doors into their cart and continue shopping.
They also want some glazed doors and find the Wordsworth 4 Light Sandblast pattern 
and add 4 of these to the cart also.
Lo and behold there is a difference of opinion. Maybe the husband wants some clear glass so he can see his collection of tropical fish which are in the dining room while ihe is in the living room watching TV. So they decide to look at the Wordsworth 4 Light Bevel Glazed pattern. 
If you look at this image you can see that the customer views the cart goods as well as the new selection. Then without leaving this page they can decide to add this new door or stick with the other.
The same sort of thing applies to choosing door fittings. Viewing the handles whilst also being able to see the door greatly helps selection of matching items. You don't really want Georgian levers on a flush oak door now do you?
We thought this design feature was a great, erm., design feature.
So all in all we are well pleased with the site.
But........
