Hi Leanne,
I've taken a look over the site, and my opinion is that it is quite flat. I would suggest far more structure as well as more detailed information be added.
The home page itself is seriously busy, a little hard to know exactly where to look really. You really do need to work out what sort of branding image you want to delver to your customers, and design around that.
At the moment, the site has the feel of an unfinished site, and that can scare away the most seasoned online purchaser, let alone ones that aren't that confident to start with.
The good thing here is that you know your market, it's clearly identifiable. I would suggest you take a look around some bricks and mortar stores of the same genre. Look at the colours they have used, see how the store is laid out and so on.
The biggest mistake people make when developing a website in my opinion is not really having a firm idea of design and layout. Most never even consider looking at bricks and mortar stores for ideas, they tend to look at other online shops, so what you can quite often end up with is with the blind leading the blind, and a whole lot of flat looking sites.
In this case, you could get some definite ideas from some good online shops, toys r us for example
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It's not about copying a design, but it's about seeing how colour pallets work, how certain things are brought to the customers attention and how a shop flows to create a very smooth and enjoyable shopping experience for the customer.
Absolutely no need to reinvent the wheel with website design. It's already been invented, and if the wheel is working fine for others, then all you have to do is put your tyre on it and away you go. Just make sure your tyre has plenty of tread and air lol.
To gain a good understanding of marketing you have to be very analytical. Look at how someone else is doing it, and then work out why that method is working or why it isn't.
Example, have you ever asked yourself why they play music at a some shopping centres?
The obvious answer is for the customers pleasure, however when you look at it more closely, music can be used for a few reasons. Yes, customer enjoyment is paramount, however choosing soundtracks wisely can attract a certain targeted customer, while actually keeping unwanted customers to an absolute minimum.
Smells are used in the same way, and so on. It's just an example of when you see something that a shop is doing, don't just assume it's for a basic reason, look closer at the technique and you may well find it's something you can incorporate yourself to good effect.
Now in the event that you do come up with ideas and want to make some changes, then give me a shout out via PM. I will give you the details of my web developer and I'll make sure he looks after you on price :)
In regards to marketing, take a look at this link for a social media marketing idea that might interest you.
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