Overview
Each of the Microsoft Commerce Server releases included a fairly basic, blank Retail Solution Site to help get the customers started on their own web-based stores. Often the task of creating a robust and visually appealing web presence was hindered by the somewhat stark and bare-bones sample sites. One of my first projects was to help improve the site design as a way to showcase the built-in abilities of Commerce Server. For the Retail 2002 Site broke new ground by incorporating many of my design suggestions: CSS Styles and Layouts, Skinnable elements, and improved navigation. This site was one of the only ones to allow a truly international site out of the box, with the ability to switch to bi-directional languages, with multiple currencies and locales supported

Commerce Server 2002
Retail Sample Site

Stepping Towards Web 2.0
With MIX 07 on the horizon, the Commerce Team was tasked with creating a new sample site utilizing the newest rendering technology, SILVERLIGHT. This XAML based approach would provide a new opportunity for site navigation and media presentation. For my part, I began exploring navigation options that broke away from the traditional left-pane model ( I also took the liberty of borrowing images and video from several known sources, as it was for internal use only ).

In the above examples, there are areas of the UI dedicated to embedded video (with necessary playback controls), plus rotating thumbnails of products related to the page or selection. Note the navigation scheme in the middle image - the intention here was to overlay a dynamic view of all the store's categories for quick perusal by mouse, or with a touch-sensitive screen, breaking out of the traditional hidden menu metaphor.

The fictitious "AdventureWorks" store
MIX 07

The Final Site
In the end, a more traditional navigation model was chosen. The site still featured embedded video and rotating product thumbnails, along with product image viewing and other standard features. For the final release, rights were secured for all imagery and names (including the fictitious "Adventure Works" store). The AdventureWorks logo was my own design.

In the end this became the world's first functional retail e-Commerce site based on WPF and Silverlight. As a demonstration, it was a resounding success and the visual design recieved many compliments during the event. Unfortunately the site which used to host this sample is no longer functioning.