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- The shop logo. Clocking the logo brings the customer back to the front page, from anywhere in the shop.
- The currency block. The customer can choose the currency in which the shop should display prices. This is great for comparing prices in foreign currencies.
- Contact and Sitemap. These two links take the customer to specific pages, out of the shopping context: contacting the shop administrators, or viewing a complete list of all the pages that are publicly accessible.
- Bookmark. This is not a link per se, but a JavaScript action: when clicked, it will prompt the customer's browser to add the shop as a bookmark. The customer can then choose to complete the action or not.
- The search engine. Many customers prefer to look for a specific item through the search engine rather than browsing through categories after categories of products. On some online shops, this is actually the preferred way to browse the site's content for most customers.
- Welcome, XXX. An invitation for the customer to connect to the shop by entering their credentials. If connected, this will display "Welcome, (firstname)".
- Your account. A link to the user's account, or if not connected, to the authentication/registration page.
- Cart: (empty). A quick reminder of the current status of the customer's cart. Sometimes customers select items while browsing and forget about them after a few pages. It is therefore essential to give them a way to keep these products in mind.
The header hardly ever changes throughout the whole buying experience.
This header will be consistent across the entire purchasing experience unless custom changes are applied.
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