Loyal ecommerce shoppers often like to set up an account with etailers they visit frequently. This means that how you set up the “My Account” page can be important. In terms of design and usability, it is important to cater to your ecommerce shoppers. All of the examples below are the My Account pages for various etailers. Each represents the first thing that comes up when the My Account selection is made on an ecommerce Web site.

Personally, I like the Apple My Account page:

This page illustrates the following features:

• Fully navigable to the rest of the ecommerce Web site (including shopping cart)
• Order status
• Change account information option
• Company phone number easy to see
• Clearly states that you are logged in
• Search capability
• Simple, uncluttered design

Another interesting example is the Skechers Web site. In addition to having most of the features seen on the Apple My Account page, Skechers includes product recommendations. Those shown for me are not personalized, since I haven’t ordered anything yet. Presumably, as you place orders, your My Account page would reflect your preferences.

Another interesting feature can be found on the Wine.com My Account page. At the top, this ecommerce Web site keeps a running total of how much time is left for you to ship to make it to a major holiday — in this case Valentine’s Day.

An example I wasn’t too thrilled with is this one from Viva Terra. On the My Account page, your address immediately pops up. Not pleasant if you are not at a secure location. (Note: When I saw this, I changed my address for the purposes of this exercise. The address shown is not, in fact, my real address.)

Here are some more examples of My Account pages. Which do you like? And which do you dislike? Why?