I think basically. the site needs to say to the user. .
yes this is the site I was looking for. If you can place something that give the user that impression, then you have best part solved the problem.
A user might have looked at a few sites before they arrive, shopping on the net is not as quick and easy as people hope for. it can be time consuming clicking through pages.
A sticky page will stop them in their tracks. Creating the right page for your market may not be as easy as listening to advise. It might involve thumbing through a hundred hundred newspaper ads, and then writing down the ones you can recall. or the steady adverts that work, and noting what ads do not appear again - ever. If an advertiser finds an ad that works. It can often be found popping up in lots of publications. . Little tricks like this you will need to work out for yourself . experiment.
I experiment all the time. currently I am working with this page.
classic car parts - I do not expect it will impress you. . But for a web user looking for car parts. . It seems to work. . The underlying message is yes we have parts coming out of our ears.
The page presents them with the option of simply listing what they need. . and letting the site do the work.
From here user click to a navigation page. . to find the right category.
But, your customer will not be impressed with the design of a page like this. You will need to compromise on just about everything. to keep the aesthetic acceptable - and sticky. and sell the product. then try to work out how to get Google to like it. It is also a
catch them page, for the visitor that has spent two hours looking for a part -
But you may need several doorways to get an effective 'Stickiness'
I do not think there is any easy answer, or a standard across the board answer. I think the right design for your user probably will involve the content they are looking for. Your customer should understand what their buyers want. . If not you might be looking at a lot of research. . You could still end up with a very nice site. . that your peers like, and your customer is left selling nothing.