https://gunshopcommerce.com/blog/10-best-gun-store-ecommerce-website-designs
Gun store eCommerce websites are unique in that they have to show products but also promote the brand well to gain customers for, hopefully, life. It’s important to show your products in a positive light with good photography as well as tell a story about your brand. You’ll want to make sure that your user-interface is also well designed and planned out well to avoid any confusion for users who are looking to find a specific product or product part in an industry with many options. We’ve highlighted some of our favorite websites in the gun industry and what we consider to be the best. Read on to see the top ten websites we’ve found in the gun industry and remember these are in no specific order.
Sig Sauer
It should be of no surprise to anyone that Sig Sauer, one of the largest names in the gun industry, has a fantastic website. The homepage layout is pretty simple with short videos showing some of the products in the marketing panel and simple CTAs with micro-interactions underneath the marketing panel indicating some of the main parts of the site to go to. The overall aesthetic of the site is nice and clean with one highlight color – a yellow mustard which contrasts well with the darker, masculine interface. We also love the block layouts that are on the internal pages like the Company page and Blog page for example which divide up the content well with nice photography of the brand. As far as the product pages go, these are well-organized too and feel less template-y than a lot of other product pages for gun companies. Best of all, the videos and photography are detailed, interesting, and clean which always promotes a professional feel for any eCommerce store.
Benelli
Benelli, an Italian gun manufacturer, has a very sophisticated website design that we find simple, nicely designed, and overall well organized. This site pairs nice photography with well planned white space and content which is always a good combination for any website, especially eCommerce. The homepage design features a larger marketing panel image, products, categories, a newsletter sign-up, and video all on the homepage. This might sound like a lot for just a homepage but Benelli has done a good job at keeping it organized and each section visually separated. Each main navigation link goes to a pop-up with the subpage categories which is something we don’t see very often but the way they have done this is clean and allows the user to easily navigate from one page to the other. As far as product pages go, these are packed with information about each product including photography, specifications, features, downloads, and video.
Hamilton Rifle Company
We might be biased here since we designed and developed Hamilton Rifle Company’s website but we find the website design well-suited and nicely designed overall for the eCommerce gun industry. The header of the site is nicely organized and is behind a camouflage pattern to go along with the hunting theme of some of their products. Gun Shop Commerce is also proud to have created the logo design for Hamilton Rifle and we are happy with the modern, updated look. For the homepage, we planned out a shorter marketing panel that shows different brands and products rotating in a clean, simple way. The homepage also features different products like rifles, pistols, knives, and new products divided by product categories so the homepage isn’t overwhelming with products but still shows off some best sellers. For the overall aesthetic, we’ve divided up the site into equal parts of white space and content with the darker interface design to show contrast and visual interest. The internal pages are pretty reminiscent of what a traditional eCommerce website looks like with clean product images, tabs, and filters but this works for them pretty well. Overall, this site design is traditional, easy to navigate, and flows well while still remaining interesting visually.
Springfield Armory
Springfield Armory, an American gun manufacturer, has a website that is both unique with the left side navigation and clean with well-organized photography and information. We love that they took a different approach when it came to the user interface by having the main categories and logo anchored to the left in a vertical, scrolling bar. This is something you don’t see too often on eCommerce sites and when well done, like Springfield Armory, it can make for an interesting visual experience. This homepage features a rotating marketing panel, products, call-to-actions, and a section linking to some of the most recent news articles. The way that this has all been planned out is blocked out well and aesthetically pleasing. One thing that we find really captivating about Springfield Armory’s site is how their blog is it’s own complete layout and links off to another URL called TheAmoryLife.com. The blog has a nicely designed layout and it’s obvious that they do a good job with writing new content frequently which are both important things for a good eCommerce website design. Another nice thing about this website is the firearms selector tool which allows a user to find a firearm based on certain criteria they may want like purpose, type, caliber, and more. This makes for an easy and user-friendly way to find products rather than by search or by mulling through multiple category pages.
Savage Arms
Savage Arms, an American and Canadian gun store, is another gun shop design that we find really captivating and well-designed overall. We love how they have gone with a red overlay angle-theme throughout the site design including the homepage, call-to-actions, and internal pages. They’ve also been smart with the overall aesthetic colors by only having one main highlight color – a red which pairs well with the gray, white, and black neutrals used. The homepage of Savage Arms has quite a few different sections but is well organized and divided up nicely with a few good micro-interactions. We find it really neat that they have chosen to show off social media on the homepage as well as a devoted landing page for social posts, as this adds a nice personal touch for an eCommerce site and also encourages customers to check out their social media platform which is a good way to promote products. Overall, the nicely designed red angle, good photography, and clean aesthetic make for a top-notch website design and one that is very user-friendly.
FN Herstal – Main Site
It’s obvious that FN Herstal, a firearm manufacturer from Belgium, spent a lot of time and energy making sure their main company gun website is modern and well-designed. This site is packed with micro-interactions and small animations that make the user-interface feel custom and futuristic in many ways. The site aesthetic incorporates multiple shades of blue which creates a monochromatic feel, large text, angles, and informational blocks which pair nicely together and creates an overall feel that is anything but boring. Similar to the rest of the site, the product detail pages show many micro-interactions and color blocks to highlight information about each product. We find it interesting that it doesn’t appear that you can actually purchase a firearm on this main site but they might not be targeting the general public who is looking to buy so this could be more of a brochure-type of product site which works well for them being a global company. If you are looking to purchase from FN Herstal, they do have a totally separate American site which has a completely different feel to it but is also very well done.
Taurus USA
Despite the name of this website, Taurus USA, was actually founded in Brazil but has since then expanded now has headquarters in Miami. Their website exhibits a military feel with clean fonts and rugged backgrounds within the marketing panel which we love. Overall, visually they have done a great job with different textures, colors and picture overlays to create a theme that is both sophisticated yet interesting. We really love how they have even incorporated textures into their product listing and product detail pages to add a rugged feel instead of keeping it on stark white or black as most other gun shops do. We also find the gun finder page on this site a smart element as it allows for a user to choose what type of gun they are looking for based on their needs for a firearm in general. On the gun finder page after putting in the basic criteria, the user is then directed to a clean grid-based listing page of viable firearm options. Not every person shopping for a gun will know exactly what they are looking for or are maybe just browsing the site to check out options available so this is a smart way to direct them.
Walther Arms
Walther Arms, a German weapon manufacturer, has been creating firearms for over 100 years. This company has a rich history and produces many types of guns. The types of guns they produce are broken down on the main landing page into two split categories: defense and competition. This allows the user to go into whichever avenue fits their needs best. From here, each site is a pretty traditional eCommerce site with good imagery, white space, and large fonts. Walther continues the trend of breaking down large categories with image sections like for the main competition page which allows you to choose how you’ll be using your firearm. Visually speaking, this makes each category type dummy-proof for a user unsure of where to go. Overall, this site is nice to look at but also informational and resourceful. We think how they have leveraged block photography with the different sections on each page category is smart and effective.
Anderson Manufacturing
Anderson Manufacturing, a gun shop based out Kentucky, proves that not all eCommerce gun stores need to be neutral colored to have a good looking brand. In fact, this brand chooses to use a signature royal blue color all throughout the site alongside a tangerine orange for a highlight color. We think this pairing works well and helps them stand out from other gun stores which are traditionally black, gray, white, or use very little to no color. Overall, the site is clean and sophisticated from start to finish with a more traditional feel. We really like how detailed the photography and how clean the product pages are.
Daniel Defense
Daniel Defense, an American gun store located in Georgia, has an eCommerce website that is both professional and well-designed. There is no denying that they spent a good amount of time making sure this site is laid out well and well-planned. The homepage has nice photography of their products and lifestyle photography of folks using their products which is always a good choice for any outdoor-related website. Customers are simply able to connect better with photography showing people using the products rather than just straight products alone, although these are important too to show specifications and details. One page that we really like on this site is the Company Values page which shows a lot of great images from their headquarters, brand, people, and products. Showing a page like this on a website makes the site feel trust-worthy and the brand feel relatable to the average customer. They’ve also done a good job of explaining who they are as a company within the content on this page which is refreshing to see and helps them feel less corporate compared to other larger gun store brands. Daniel Defense creates a brand that makes you truly feel like you are helping a friend or a local company which important to many people in the gun industry.