WEBSITE ONE: TRUE RELIGION

1. Introduction

Be greeted by the flash animation of a Buddha playing a guitar, the mascot of True Religion Brand Jeans.

This American clothing line birthed forth in Dec 2002 by husband and wife team Jeffrey and Kym Lubell after the concept of luxury denim was introduced in 2000, marking the evolution of denim from a material of a working man to that of the rich men. The Los Angeles based premium denim company has become known for its intense attention to detail, including fashion-forward seams, gaudy embroidery, and innovative hand-sanded vintage washes.

Many celebrities around the world have worn True Religion (TR) jeans, further boosting its popularity, thus catapulting the brand into fashion limelight.

As of 2007, True Religion has boutiques in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Short Hills, Los Angeles, New York City and Miami. The flagship store is located in Manhattan Beach, California. Counters in departmental stores like Sak's Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale's, Urban Outfitters are available all over US. Getting the license to sell and distribute TR across the world is also available for interested departmental store or boutique owners.

They are also listed on NASDAQ( National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Systems) as TRLG.

Many doubt the sustainibility of True Religion as compared to Levi Strauss who has been in the denim industry since 1853. Plus the image of the jeans, worn mostly by the rich and celebrities, the brand might become far too distant for an average person to relate to.

Using the business model of a Virtual Storefront, True Religion is able to reach out to the masses without compromising it's initial purpose and allow more people to browse through it's selections and know more about their designs and styles.

2.Features of the Website

Homepage:

Be greeted by an array of denim jeans with clear signages to let consumer know where to go.

On the left side of the page: Press photos, Distributors, Licensees, Investor Relations, Company Profile and Contact.

On the right we have signing in of account, and links to the basic grouping of clothes according to Woman, Men, Kids , the actual store locations, order tracking, shopping bag as well as new arrivals.

The design is basically simple and comprehensive to use.

ETEW attempts to sign in to experience for ourselves the online shopping experience.

3. Online Shopping Experience

Signing in...

Creating an account was simple and quick. Entering the email and password allows you to access the store immediately and browse through all their merchandise.

TR uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology, the most widedly used data encryption coding system for a more secure e commerce transaction. This protocol allows applications to communicate across a network in a way designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering and message forgery.

Browsing...

On logging in, you would be able to browse for the different range of clothing they have by clicking one of the options on the left or heading straight for the denim guide by selecting options according to gender, style, wash, size and fit.

After deciding on the pair of jeans, a detailed product knowledge and size specifications are stated beside the picture, together with the price and the product ID

You make choose to view more shots of the jeans or look at the list of alternatives that's automatically generated acoording to your preferences. After deciding, you may add the item into the shopping bag and proceed for check out.

One hind sight using online shopping for mechandises such as jeansis that it's hard to visualise whether the cutting of the jeans would fit and would not be sure if the size would fit nicely as different jeans might have different cuttings.

Checking out...

The page summarises the product, size and colour as well as displays the inventory of the e -store.

TR uses PayPal and credit cards like Visa, Mastercard and American Express as mode of payment. The IP address of your computer will be logged as well for fraud prevention.

Billing address is entered and details like choice of shipping fees, and allow you to insert gift messages if you have a message for the person you wish to give to.

Should you accidentally closed the page or logged out before you submit, the items in your shopping bag remains and the personal particulars are intact when you log in using your email address and password.

4. Thoughts

It's a straightforward and easy to understand website to browse for the items you want.

The detailed categorisation with the inventory of what's available on the e-store prevents consumers from making a futile search.

Aesthetically, it's generally pleasant to look at . Simple yet sophisticated. Instructions are clearly stated which does not prevent confusion.

The have little flash animation but it reduces the time spent loading the video which sometimes might cause the website to lag and cause consumers to lose patience should they have to always wait for the graphics and flash to load each time they click a button.