The motivation of the Mod Cloth web site is to offer women mod retro indie clothing and vintage clothing. In checking out the many links featured on the homepage, I discovered how ModCloth’s web site began. The About Us link on the tool bar across the top of the homepage highlights the story of ModCloth. The site was founded by 17 year old "high school sweethearts Eric Koger and Susan Gregg Koger." ModCloth is "built on a foundation of love for vintage and retro clothing," and "is an online clothing, accessories, and decor retailer that aims to provide a fun and engaging shopping atmosphere" for the customer/reader.

The “fun and engaging shopping atmosphere for the customer” is evident by many features on their web site. On their homepage is a fun, cartoonish female dressed in a retro/vintage outfit, smiling and taking a picture. It is indeed a whimsical picture that makes the reader smile. There is a lot of white space so each feature stands out clearly on the homepage clearly, with purple, pink and blue being the predominant colors.

Under the large picture is a feature entitled Be the Buyer Program. This site features approximately 300 different dresses and allows readers to become a Virtual Fashion Buyer and help ModCloth choose which designs get created. They encourage readers to vote for their favorites and the dresses with the most votes will become ModCloth products. If the reader’s dress is picked, ModCloth sends an email to the reader so she can be the first one to purchase it. This feature indicates that ModCloth is interested in their readers’ opinions. It is evident that the readers’ point of view is highly respected or a feature like this would not exist on this web site. This opportunity for readers to submit their views allows them to become a reader-writer on this web site. This feature helps establish mutual respect between the reader and ModCloth.

The target reader of this web site would be an older teen through their 30’s; but maybe older women would also enjoy this web site. This web site features unique clothes that would interest many young women who want to develop their own style. Many of the dresses are approximately $50, while others are between $200-$350. Clicking on the Accessories link reveals the most unique items on this website – including boots, shoes, head pieces, necklaces, keys, totes, and tights.

For young women beginning their new life after high school, college or marriage, there is a link entitled Apartment that features many fun, unique items for one’s first apartment – Kitchen & Bath, Furnish & Decorate, Gifts& Electronics, and Bookstore & Desktop.

Additional features on the left hand list on the homepage are links to “sale” and “vintage.” Sale items are marked down considerably, many are half-off of the original price. A special link is dedicated to those women who want to soley purchase Vintage clothes.

It is evident, from the About Us link, that ModCloth was started with a love for vintage and mod retro, but it has expanded to include many of its readers’ interests and loves. The owners state they want to hear from their readers and have a web site that readers will come back to many times. This is shown by ModCloth’s expansion from solely vintage clothes in 2002 when they started, to a site that carries more diverse styles of clothing and accessories that readers are interested in. ModCloth keeps their readers up-to-date with the latest trends by the link of New Arrivals and even indicate when the garment is “New Today.” The quantity of the remaining items is also shown. This indicates again ModCloth wants their reader to be informed and make wise decisions.

The link Blog has ModCloth’s employees blogging about ModCloth's clothes and other related subjects, and many of their readers respond to the initial blog. This is another way for ModCloth to solicit feedback from their readers. The way that they respond to their readers’ questions and comments communicates respect for the reader. This in turn tightens the bond with the reader and this web site, sensing mutual respect. ModCloth also encourages its readers to join ModMobile to receive texts for exclusive information and mobile-only contests.

Young people are particular interested in Being Green and this site also promotes the importance of being "green." On its homepage, ModCloth states it is a Green Certified site. This will attract many readers who will readily support this site. ModCloth is only an on-line store. Gift certificates can be purchased and instead of mailing them to the recipient, they are sent electronically. This promotes being “green” and saving paper.

ModCloth wants their readers to get to know them so the link About Us, situated in the top bar on the homepage, has many different features. Along with the written history of ModCloth is a scrapbook of pictures from the beginnings of the web site/store in 2002 until today in 2010.

Making wise spending choices is promoted by ModCloth on their web site. The link Composition and Fit is there to help readers know what specific size they should order. This is very helpful information for the reader and shows that ModCloth has gone beyond the normal sizing information by supplying this information to its readers.

One of the limitations of this website I found was there was no “home” link. To get back to the home page, I had to manually delete some of the URL address. Another limitation is, even though the originators note on their About Us page that they want to connect with their readers through “Twitter” and “Facebook”, there are no direct links on the homepage to sign up for these social network sites.

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

Comparison - Click here to read my Comparison of Coldwater Creek and ModCloth's web sites.




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