Selling online, as with brick-and-mortar retailing, is more than simply having products to offer to customers. Buyers make purchases based on many things apart from the item itself. Customers want to understand the purpose of the retailer and have confidence that the seller is legitimate, safe, and honest. Corporations have spent billions over the years creating this understanding among their active and potential customers, through logos, design, copy, and service. Creating this understanding is called branding.

For an online store, branding is very important. However, unlike the offline shopper who drives to a store, parks, and enters the store to spend several minutes shopping; an online shopper may click to your online store, spend a few seconds to determine if they wish to remain, and leave to visit another website. Therefore, your store's brand—it's graphics, copy and function—must address the following in a matter of seconds: