We can’t explain BOGO Bowl better than they do it themselves:

“We believe all dogs – whether they’re in their forever home or waiting to find one – deserve high quality nutrition. That’s why we make it easy for dog lovers to help at-risk dogs in their own communities by doing something they’re already doing – buying great food for their best friend! By working together, we provide food to shelters and rescues giving dogs the time they need to find the perfect family. How cool is that?”

We think it’s pretty cool.  For every bag of BOGO Bowl dog food you buy, they’ll donate a bag to charity!  It’s a fantastic way to help out our four-legged friends in need.  Visit their new Volusion store to get some great dog food and to do your bit for the world’s needy pooches.

Jerry Leigh is one of the largest producers of licensed souvenirs & apparel in the United States.  Based in Orlando, Florida, they’re well positioned to serve their target market: tourist destinations.  That’s right – they make the things that cause your suitcase to be dramatically overstuffed on the way home from your vacation.  The next time you’re jumping up and down on your Samsonite in an effort to squeeze in that Donald Duck water bottle, you can thank Jerry Leigh.

Other than the fact that Mickey Mouse is always fun, there’s another good reason to talk about Jerry Leigh’s new Volusion store: it’s not a retail outlet.  It’s a wholesale site that can only be utilized by preregistered clients.  That’s not necessarily earth-shattering news (that a wholesaler would use Volusion to better serve their clients) but it’s worth pointing out when it happens simply because there are far too many wholesalers out in the world that have failed to recognize what a useful tool an ecommerce site can be.  There are wholesalers out there (you know who you are) who still take orders over the phone while working from a printed catalog.  We know the old ways can be comforting, but come on!  It’s the 21st century for crying out loud!  Put down the invoice pad and pick up your mouse!*

*Don’t actually “pick up” the mouse or it won’t work.  We’d like to assume that you already knew that, but if you’re a wholesaler without an ecommerce site, there’s a chance that the operational subtleties of the personal computer are entirely baffling to you.

BTTF.net isn’t just the Internet’s leading dealer of Back to the Future-related merchandise, they also happen to be an old Brand Labs customer.  We designed their current site and just recently we created a great new Deal of the Day page using Volusion’s built in functionality.

Deal of the Day is a proven way to engage your regular customers and encourage repeat visits, which is perfect for a site dedicated to a series of movies about returning and returning and returning.

If you aren’t currently using Volusion’s Deal of the Day, you’re missing a great opportunity to build loyalty and move product.  You’re also missing the chance to…

… this is usually the point at which we’d say something clever and quote the movie or something like that, but you know what?  For all of its deep impact on popular culture, Back to the Future is almost entirely devoid of catchphrases except for ones that only make sense in context, so we’ll just end here by saying:

Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.

See?  It just doesn’t work.  Our apologies.

Ensuring that hipsters and nerds are not walking around topless, frightening the general populace with their pasty white skin and ironic shoulder tattoos, Old School Tees is more of a public service organization than a Volusion store.

If you’re looking for a wide variety of ways to prove to the world that you’re not likely to be running for public office any time soon, Old School Tees can hook you up.  Perhaps a sexually suggestive Fred Flintstone shirt will do the trick.  If not, the perhaps a mildly sacrilegious Big Lebowski tee?  Either way, Old School Tees is ready to put something on your chest that’s quite a bit funnier than the large food stains that usually reside there.

The uninitiated might immediately assume that Aggressive Mall is a documentary about the insane cultural phenomenon commonly known as Black Friday.  Its a totally fair assumption, but it’s also totally wrong.

Aggressive Mall is a Volusion store (designed & developed by us, in case that wasn’t completely obvious)  dedicated entirely to skate culture – and when we say “skate” we’re talking specifically about rollerblades and everything related to them.  Apparel, parts, accessories, magazines, DVDs; Aggressive Mall has it all.  They can even build a custom pair of rollerblades to your specifications.  There’s only one critical thing that that their comprehensive selection doesn’t offer: catastrophic medical coverage.  Insurance is for cowards and leftists anyway.

As promised, we’re going to start catching you up on what we’ve been up to while we’ve been rebuilding our site.

Luna-C isn’t just a Volusion store – it’s a brand, offering a full line of exclusive men’s apparel inspired by the world of professional racing.  The inspiration isn’t just skin deep, either.  Luna-C also takes its cues from racing when choosing the high-tech fabrics they use to create their products.  Utilizing the latest advances in UV protection, weatherproofing and self-cleaning fabrics, Luna-C definitely puts its money where its mouth is.  Add in the undeniable cool of high-strength carbon fiber and this may well be the most future-y, macho clothing line ever created.  It’s like these are the clothes that spacemen wear when they go cruising for ladies.

… like those guys in the picture.  They’re clearly astronauts… race-car-driving astronauts.

Spring may well be the first season that springs* to mind when you think of weddings, but autumn has its charms.  Spring is delightful for its brash showiness, but autumn has depth – sophistication.  The same could be said for autumn brides.  Just ask our own autumn bride, Mariell.

Our latest custom Volusion store design client is Mariell, a bridal manufacturer and wholesaler.  Founded in 1987,  their bridal accessories are available in nearly 4000 retailers nationwide and their new Volusion site will offer all of those clients easy access to their enormous inventory. This is all very good news for anyone who’s in the market for 10 dozen rhinestone-covered fascinators, and who isn’t these days?

Congratulations on your new site, Mariell!

*Some puns are nearly unavoidable.  Apologies.

Restyling the product page is one of the most common custom Volusion programming requests we receive.  We understand completely.  When you’re building your brand identity you don’t want the effort to stop at the product page.  That’s why we’re so excited about the custom Volusion product page we just completed for Willow Street Boutique.

Willow Street is a fashion apparel site and since they’re all about creating that special look, they asked us to help them by creating a way to show that complete look on their product pages.  They wanted to have the ability to prominently feature items related to the one on the current product page so that the customer could make a whole outfit without backtracking.  So if you’re looking at a skirt, you could see the top & shoes that would complete the look.  It’s a fantastic way to increase add-on sales… if only there were some way to make it happen… wait.  There is.  Hire us.

Check out the custom solution we created after the jump…

(more…)

Beer makes everything better – bowling, Oktoberfest, dinner with the in-laws, ecommerce… everything.

love2brew is dedicated to beer – like massively dedicated.  They can sell you beer brewing equipment, beer ingredients, beer books… pretty much everything except for actual beer beer.

In addition to providing everything you need to make your own personal brew, the site can teach you how to make it happen via love2learn – the love2brew knowledge base.

So, if you’re interested in beer for reasons other than just drinkin’ it, love2brew was built for you.

Side note: look at that glass over there!  Look at it!  It just makes us want to lick the screen!

Here’s yet another entry in our ongoing parade of custom Volusion Templates – Salty Supply!

We must admit that when we first heard the name of this site, we imagined some sort of online potato chip superstore, but that misconception was entirely attributable to our personal massive ignorance and our deep love of salty snacks.  Anyhoo, Salty Supply is all about being the absolute best online supplier for all of your aquarium-related needs and not so much about Pringles.

… which is too bad, because when you think about it, salt water fish are probably among a very small number of creatures on Earth who can eat Pringles without worrying about how the salt content will affect their blood pressure.

… just sayin’.