New e-commerce entrepreneurs are usually not software engineers or graphic designers. Therefore, many online stores look similar because they rely on basic templates depending on the founder and level of skill.
Content management systems and e-commerce platforms offer flexible and customizable theme options, but most require development or design expertise.
Some platforms, like Shopify, allow users who can write code to interact with them. theme Down to a single pixel. Conversely, a great site design tool like Webflow no code required However, there is still a steep learning curve for using complex interfaces like Figma and Photoshop.
square space
Entrepreneurs may not be thinking square space I recently used this platform when I opened my online shop. Two useful features, Blueprint AI and a grid-based editor, make this platform a “just right” solution for founders with limited products and a need for lots of visual control.
Blueprint AI
Squarespace launched Blueprint AI last year to help merchants build semi-custom websites. The AI guides you through the design of your website by answering a series of questions.
The process is interactive and editable in real-time, producing an attractive, branded site.
Squarespace offers templates and a guided design option called Blueprint AI.
You can get a glimpse of the process here.
First, Blueprint AI wants to know the name of your business and its personality. We called this example “Latin Quote Art Shop” and selected the brand personality as “Bold”, one of the seven options.
- professional
- Full of playfulness
- sophisticated
- friendly
- bold
- eccentric
- innovative
Next, I selected the sections of my homepage and chose a layout for each. My Latin citation examples have an overview and product areas, among other sections.
Users can add pages during or after guided Blueprint AI design.
After Blueprint AI builds the initial design, you can easily add pages. For example, you can add a Shop page with a product catalog, and About and Contact pages.
Blueprint AI offers limited choices color palette Organized by brand personality labels. This step was disappointing given the ability of generative AI to easily provide more colors and even suggest colors based on text descriptions.
The color palette is limited but easy to use.
Next, I selected font The small list reaffirmed that Blueprint AI is a guided tool rather than a generative one.
However, this tool will be part of the Squarespace Editor. For example, Blueprint AI inferred that my Latin Quotes Art Shop offered art supplies because it recommended the heading “Unleash your inner artist.” However, the store’s purpose was to sell wall art featuring Latin quotes.
Once in the editor, users can prompt Blueprint AI to generate text.
At that time I prompted“Write a blurb about a Latin quote art shop that sells framed wall art featuring famous Latin quotes.”Aut viam inveniam Aut faciam” he repeated nine times. AI has finally created “words of inspiration.”
squarespace editor
The second impressive feature is the Squarespace editor. In 2020, Squarespace updated its tools and released the Fluid Engine component.
Fluid Engine has many color and layout options, but its grid system may be the most useful.
Users can select, drag, and resize page elements or sections to “snap” them to the grid. The resulting layout automatically adapts and aligns precisely to desktop and mobile layouts.
The underlying design grid is simple and useful.
I work on multiple ecommerce platforms on a daily basis, including Shopify, WordPress, Ghost, and Wix. Squarespace editor is one of the best editors out there.
Squarespace Editor creates unique and classic layouts.
Just right
In other words, Squarespace may be “just right” for e-commerce startups that need a lot of visual control over a limited product catalog. The platform’s AI tools and snap-in-place grid are much easier than code-based theme modifiers and complex editors.
