Both web sites, Coldwater Creek and ModCloth, have great hypertext features. They are each targeting different audiences and I believe they are well-suited for each of their audiences. Coldwater Creek's target is middle class women, 40's and up, who desire well-made stylish clothing. ModCloth's target audience is young women in their late teens through their 30's. These young women purchase ModCloth's clothes and accessories because of the site's unique style and flare. Because the audience is a bit different for each of these web sites, I believe both have a few different hypertext features.

Coldwater Creek's web site contains hypertext links that emphasize to the reader the quality clothing that Coldwater Creek offers. Readers have many opportunities to closely examine the clothing on Coldwater Creek's web site before they purchase them. They can make use of the links to read customer's opinions, as well as see the article of clothing from five different views, and even listen to a video about the garment.

ModCloth emphasizes fun, unique clothes and accessories. Their readers can click on the article of clothing and read a description, but also see what ModCloth suggests as accessories to go along with clothing piece. One of ModCloth's goals is to engage the reader and there are many opportunities for the reader to do this. Readers can give their opinion on the article of clothing or accessory by writing a review, clicking a link that says they "Love it!" (which puts the clothing piece in a separate page where the reader can have all the items they love), as well as blog about ModCloth clothes. These are all hypertext features that fit this age group of readers for ModCloth. This type of hypertext features would not work for Coldwater Creek readers - these women are too busy and most would not be very interested in blogging about Coldwater Creek's clothes. Buying good quality clothes at a good price is what Coldwater Creek's readers are interested in, and the Coldwater Creek's web site gives readers opportunities to do this.

Both web sites were easy to navigate, except for the lack of the Home link for ModCloth's web site. To get back to the homepage, I had to delete part of the URL each time I wanted to navigate there. ModCloth has many links on its homepage, so I am assuming it is an oversight that they do not include this important link.

Interestingly enough, ModCloth has a couple additional hypertext links and pages that Coldwater Creek doesn't, and the reason is probably because of the age difference of their targeted audiences. ModCloth has a link on the bottom of its homepage that is entitled Green Certified Site, with the site's emphasis being green. One of their features that is an example of being "green" are gift cards.; ModCloth giftcards are not mailed but emailed to the recipient, to save on paper and trees.

Another link that ModCloth has that Coldwater Creek does not have is the About Us link that explains the web site's origin, along with pictures of the two young teens who started the business. Scrapbooks are very popular with this age group, so the page also features a scrapbook that has pages that can be turned by a click on the arrow (and also makes a "turning page" sound.) These additional hypertext features are very creative and engaging to its reader. The age of ModCloth's target audience is used to sharing personal information, as most have grown up with Myspace and Facebook, where sharing personal information is very natural. Women in their 40's would not be interested in these different hypertext features - except possibly to read the history of Coldwater Creek. If Coldwater Creek did share more personal information with its readers, and added a link similar to ModCloth's, it could help its readers become more connected and committed to their web site.

One other distinction between these two web sites is that ModCloth is a store only on the web, whereas Coldwater Creek has stores through the United States, catalogs, and a web site. ModCloth has become a popular web site (see See Us in the Press), so their hypertext presence on the web appears to be strong.

ModCloth - Click here to read my Rhetorical Analysis of ModCloth's web site.


Coldwater Creek - Click here to read my Rhetorical Analysis of Coldwater Creek's web site.


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