Editor's Note: ECommerce-Guide's latest critique is of a site that sells lingerie and other related products. Some images may be considered unsuitable for some viewers in a work environment. If you have any questions or concerns about viewing the site, please check with you company's HR department or your supervisor.

Yesterday, we introduced you to Shelly Riddle and her e-commerce Web site www.set-the-mood.com. She was selected for ECommerce-Guide.com's latest site critique candidate. She took the site live in March of 2003, but results so far have been less than stellar. Our expert panel takes a look at how Riddle can improve her site and (hopefully) see her sales increase. While some of the advice may come across as a bit harsh, sometimes people need frank advice about what's wrong with their business in order to move forward successfully. And we'd like to see Riddle succeed with her business.

James Maguire, ECommerce-Guide.com Columnist
First, let me apologize if I sound harsh. I don't mean to but, honestly, Set-the-Mood seems bound for failure.

There are a number of peripheral problems, like the URL (users have a problem with one hyphen in a URL, much less two), and the poor site design.

But the core problem is one of branding.

It's clear that you're not making your own clothing, but who is making it? A lot of sites sell things they don't make, but they still provide the brand name of the manufacturers who make the goods.

Since you don't list brand names, I don't know where your clothing comes from. With that information hidden, the site seems kind of shady. There's not an apparel store of any kind that can sell apparel without some kind of brand identity. Even if it's a cheap brand, that's okay — as long as the prices are cheap, you'll still have customers.

Set-the-Mood.com's design and lack of branding are hurting its business. Site owner Shelly Riddle relies on the site for her income.

But to hide the brand altogether? It doesn't seem like you're for real.

Related to the problem of branding is the problem of the site's identity. We don't who owns or operates the site. Since it's obviously the site of a small, independent merchant, is she someone who has a background in clothing sales, even on a retail level? Other than saying you're located in "beautiful Southern Colorado" (a vague location), I don't know who you are — at all.

So why would I send you my money, for merchandise that I don't know the brand of? I can guarantee that your customers are the most trusting people on the Internet.

Some other points:

• You offer free shipping over $100. That's a high bar considering your prices are so cheap. You need to be willing to lose a limited amount of money on shipping to build a customer base — think of it as a loss leader.
• Your site offers: "Join Our Private E-Mail List For Instant Discount Code You Can Use Now!" That's a good idea, but a user has to send you her e-mail before they learn what the discount is. Don't make us guess. Tell us what you're giving us.
• You also offer: "If you see something here being sold elsewhere for less, we'll beat their price! For more information, please see our 110% Low Price Guarantee." Of all the text you present the user with, this is the most effective - but it was buried in the site. Take away the clutter on the splash page, and make this point clear. It's a very persuasive sales tactic, if you stand behind it. But a casual shopper would never find it.
• In your meta keywords, you don't have the phrase "buy lingerie." I recommend researching the most common terms that people use to search for lingerie, then building text around them to increase your organic (unpaid) search listing. You can use this page at Google to research keywords.

Devin Comiskey, Managing Editor, ECG
When Riddle agreed to participate in our latest critique, we ran into a major problem right away. Our friends over at WebTrends offered to provide a detailed analysis of Set-the-Mood.com's site statistics to find out where the site is losing visitors and also where it's getting them. Unfortunately, Riddle's ISP only provides daily web statistics accessible via a secure Web page. The ISP does not provide the raw, historical logs many e-commerce sites rely on.

This bump in the road meant the WebTrends could not participate in this critique. Therefore, my first recommendation is for Riddle to find another ISP. I can't imagine running my own online business without knowing what's going on behind the scenes of my site. Without valid statistics, there's no way to really tell how, where and why a site might be losing visitors and, hence, sales. I understand that moving any site to a new provider can be difficult. But given that Riddle relies on her site for her income, it's imperative she make this move, in my opinion. Otherwise, she's shooting in the dark and will never know how visitors are reacting to her site (other than leaving without purchasing any items).

Design-wise, there are a few improvements I can point out right away. First, since I browse the Web on my PC using only Firefox, I get an error on every page on Set-the-mood.com saying "Additional plug-ins are required to display all the media on this page." I click a button that searches for the appropriate plug-in, but nothing is found. I have no idea what plug-in is being used, but whatever it is, it needs to go. I don't see any reason to be using an unknown or proprietary plug-in. If you must use dynamic media on your site, stick to something designed in Flash or JavaScript.

Being a bit pickier, many of the images on the site are poor. For example, most of the images on the bodystockings page were obviously scanned from a magazine or other color print brochure. You can see the ink spots. By tweaking a scanner's settings, you can avoid this screening effect from happening and the images will look better, as if you took them yourself. Before that, I would contact the wholesaler for better images. Many wholesalers make their product catalogs available to resellers via email or CD.

Clicking on any product image also launches a full browser window with the image. I'd suggest custom-coding those pages to launch as the same size of the image shown. I've also noticed random sections launching in new windows as well. I'd go through the site and remove these, as it doesn't reflect a professionally-done design.

Also, the overall design of the site looks too amateurish, in my opinion. The red, wavy background image clashes with the over-abundance of purple on every page. Also, there is a heavy reliance on tables — which is fine — but the purple borders for every table and table cell is overwhelming. I'd suggest cleaning up those design elements and sticking to invisible, or maybe even thin, black, borders.

Finally, I'd spend some time looking at competitor sites. Upon doing a Google search of "lingerie" the top sites show what Set-the-Mood.com is lacking: namely product selection and design. Take, for example, Indulge Fashion. While the site also caters to men and children (definitely a weird mix of product), the site has a very professional-looking design and its line of lingerie far exceeds the offerings of Set-the-Mood.com. Each product image is crystal clear and many allow you to zoom in to see details close up. Every product page also has a "We Recommend" column on the right-hand side to encourage further browsing and cross-selling.

Another site that appears near the top of Google's search results is Angel Bodywear. The design is clean, with plenty of white space and gives visitors an air of romance and intimacy. The home page displays a nice, large, clear image that entices shoppers to look at the sale items and buy easily. The pages on the site, especially the home page, are easy on the eyes, whereas Set-the-Mood.com overwhelms. Angel Bodywear also prominently displays its free shipping offer at the top of the page. Set-the-Mood.com already displays and order number at the top of each page (which is great) but I suggest mentioning that all orders over $100 are free. People love free shipping!

Of course, anyone selling in this arena must deal with the darling of the lingerie industry: Victoria's Secret. Spend a lot of time studying their business and marketing practices.

Overall, I think the product line on Set-the-Mood.com needs improvement. Besides the aforementioned sites, I would also check out pamperedpassions.com, cameolingerie.com, flirtylingerie.com and threewisheslingerie.com for an idea of what types and quantities of products are being offered. Those are all top-listed search engine sites.

Selling something such as lingerie online is a difficult proposition. The number of competitors online is tremendous — it seems almost as daunting as selling electronics online. Spend time studying your competitors and find out what they're doing right. Also, highlight your customer testimonials. On your testimonials page (which is linked near the bottom of your navigation menu), you have some very good feedback. I would either move that link higher up on every page and/or use some of the best quotes on random pages. That will help potential customers feel more at ease buying from you.

Dan Muse, Executive Editor, ECG
While this is hot area in which to sell online because so many people (especially men) feel uncomfortable buying lingerie in retails stores, it's also a very crowded market. Unfortunately, Set the Mood suffers on a few different levels. For one, its overall design isn't very sophisticated or particularly functional.

From a functional perspective: On the homepage, the type on the top of the page is very small and hard to read (is it there strictly for search engine reasons?). I think the small image on the top of the page distracts from the Set the Mood logo. Also, you should play up the toll-free number and free shipping more with a bigger and better type treatment.

Also, I'd go with one main image rather than giving those product photos equal weight. Having four equal-size (and relatively low-quality) images isn't compelling. Pick something to focus on. For example, maybe make this the lead item "All Cover girl Sexy Shoes on Special Sale until Sept. 30, 2005." That special sale gets lost as is. Add a photo to draw attention to the sale — have it photographed or, if you're good with a digital camera, shoot the product yourself. I'd push the other images lower and maybe add more product photos.

The other approach is to have an image on the homepage that represents the site's personality. You would have to invest in either a photographer or buy an appropriate stock image. In any case, I think you need a higher-quality photo as your main image.

Another issue is that your inventory seems quite limited. If you can't expand your repertoire, may be look into affiliate marketing programs or some type of partnership to broaden the product offerings.

From a sophistication point of view, I think the site has a bit of a — how do I say this tactfully — trashy feel to it. Not that there's anything wrong with that if it's your intention. I guess there are two ways to go with the overall feel of a lingerie site — Victoria's Secret or Fredrick's of Hollywood. Set the Mood seems to drift more towards the latter. It all depends on whom you see as your target audience. I would give serious thought whether or not you want to keep the Night Moves section.

Other things you need to consider: using Web analytics to see where visitors are going and investing in keyword marketing

On the plus side, I did get the sense that you have a passion for the lingerie market. And that's a great starting point. The next step is to get some professional design help and expand your inventory.

We invite you, our readers, to offer your own opinions of what Set-the-Mood.com needs to do in our forums.

Devin Comiskey is the Managing Editor of ECommerce-Guide.com.