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What’s this? Here you’ll find 147 annotated “Drop-Down Menu” design examples from Baymard’s UX benchmark of 60 major e-commerce sites. (Note: this is less than 1% of the full research catalog.)
Having a user-friendly interface for the main navigation drop-down menu is as important as having a solid underlying category taxonomy, as what the user sees and interacts with largely determines if they will be able to navigate the site intuitively or are halted every time they try to browse the site’s categories. Hover-based drop-down menus (aka “mega menus”) are currently found at 88% of all top US e-commerce sites — yet our testing shows that they require the utmost attention to interaction details if they are to perform well for users.
More ‘Drop-Down Menu’ Insights
- During our testing, what often at first seemed like minor navigation design details would end up severely misleading the test subjects. This led to fundamental misconceptions about the site’s hierarchy, selection of overly narrow scopes, inability to traverse back up to broader categories, etc.
Learn More: Besides exploring the 147 “Drop-Down Menu” design examples below, you may also want to read our related articles on “43% of Sites Have Severe ‘Flickering’ Issues for Their Main Drop-Down Menu” and “E-Commerce Usability: The Main Navigation Should Display Product Categories (18% Don’t)”.
Get Full Access: To see all of Baymard’s 62 homepage and category navigation research findings you’ll need Baymard Premium access. (Premium also provides you full access to 37,000 hours of UX research findings, 640+ e-commerce UX guidelines, and 50,000+ UX performance scores.)
Sephora (2018)
15 adhered 2 violated
Foot Locker (2018)
14 adhered 3 violated
Victoria's Secret (2018)
14 adhered 2 violated
GAP (2018)
14 adhered 5 violated
Gilt (2018)
14 adhered 2 violated
Macy's (2018)
14 adhered 1 violated
Nordstrom (2018)
14 adhered 2 violated
Adidas (2018)
14 adhered 2 violated
ASOS (2018)
14 adhered 2 violated
Walgreen Co. (2018)
13 adhered 1 violated
Costco (2018)
13 adhered 3 violated
J.C. Penney (2018)
13 adhered 1 violated
Tesco (2018)
13 adhered 0 violated
Marks & Spencer (2018)
13 adhered 5 violated
Neiman Marcus (2018)
12 adhered 3 violated
Nike (2018)
12 adhered 2 violated
Home Depot (2018)
12 adhered 1 violated
Sears (2018)
12 adhered 1 violated
John Lewis (2018)
12 adhered 2 violated
REI (2018)
11 adhered 1 violated
Disney Store (2018)
11 adhered 3 violated
Etsy (2018)
11 adhered 1 violated
American Eagle Outfitters (2018)
11 adhered 4 violated
Best Buy (2018)
11 adhered 1 violated
Office Depot (2018)
11 adhered 0 violated
Williams-Sonoma (2018)
11 adhered 3 violated
Build.com (2018)
11 adhered 0 violated
Debenhams (2018)
11 adhered 2 violated
IKEA (2018)
11 adhered 2 violated
Ann Taylor (2018)
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Musician's Friend (2018)
10 adhered 3 violated
Cabela's (2018)
10 adhered 2 violated
Bass Pro Shops (2018)
10 adhered 3 violated
L.L. Bean (2018)
10 adhered 1 violated
Toys'R'Us (2018)
10 adhered 7 violated
Urban Outfitters (2018)
10 adhered 2 violated
Microsoft (2018)
10 adhered 1 violated
B&H Photo (2018)
10 adhered 0 violated
Amazon (2018)
10 adhered 2 violated
Walmart (2018)
10 adhered 1 violated
Kohl's (2018)
10 adhered 3 violated
Northern Tool (2018)
10 adhered 1 violated
H&M (2018)
10 adhered 4 violated
TigerDirect (2018)
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Newegg (2018)
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Crutchfield (2018)
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Wayfair (2018)
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Hayneedle (2018)
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Argos (2018)
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Dell (2018)
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HP (2018)
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Staples (2018)
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Crate & Barrel (2018)
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Grainger (2018)
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Zalando (2018)
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Overstock (2018)
7 adhered 5 violated
Target (2018)
5 adhered 1 violated
Rakuten (2018)
3 adhered 0 violated
Lowe's (2016)
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Walmart (2016)
14 adhered 2 violated
Walgreens (2016)
13 adhered 1 violated
Rakuten (2016)
13 adhered 2 violated
Target (2016)
13 adhered 2 violated
Hayneedle (2016)
13 adhered 2 violated
Nike (2016)
13 adhered 0 violated
Bass Pro Shops (2016)
12 adhered 2 violated
B&H Photo (2016)
12 adhered 0 violated
Neiman Marcus (2016)
12 adhered 2 violated
Crutchfield (2016)
12 adhered 1 violated
L.L. Bean (2016)
12 adhered 0 violated
Ralph Lauren (2016)
11 adhered 3 violated
TigerDirect (2016)
11 adhered 3 violated
Toys'R'Us (2016)
11 adhered 2 violated
Home Depot (2016)
11 adhered 1 violated
Build.com (2016)
11 adhered 0 violated
Disney (2016)
10 adhered 4 violated
Amazon (2016)
10 adhered 4 violated
Kohl's (2016)
10 adhered 1 violated
Cabela's (2016)
10 adhered 3 violated
J.C. Penney (2016)
10 adhered 1 violated
Victoria's Secret (2016)
10 adhered 3 violated
Microsoft (2016)
9 adhered 1 violated
Etsy (2016)
9 adhered 2 violated
Barnes & Noble (2016)
9 adhered 1 violated
Crate & Barrel (2016)
9 adhered 3 violated
Sears (2016)
9 adhered 1 violated
Macy's (2016)
9 adhered 4 violated
Sephora (2016)
8 adhered 3 violated
HP (2016)
8 adhered 1 violated
Sony (2016)
8 adhered 0 violated
Foot Locker (2016)
8 adhered 5 violated
Staples (2016)
8 adhered 0 violated
Newegg (2016)
8 adhered 2 violated
Nordstrom (2016)
8 adhered 2 violated
Overstock (2016)
8 adhered 1 violated
American Eagle Outfitters (2016)
8 adhered 3 violated
Office Depot (2016)
7 adhered 0 violated
Costco (2016)
6 adhered 11 violated
Best Buy (2016)
6 adhered 5 violated
Wayfair (2016)
6 adhered 0 violated
Williams-Sonoma (2016)
4 adhered 4 violated
Dell (2016)
1 adhered 5 violated
Neiman Marcus (2013)
10 adhered 3 violated
Nike (2013)
9 adhered 1 violated
L.L. Bean (2013)
9 adhered 0 violated
Amazon (2013)
9 adhered 3 violated
Urban Outfitters (2013)
9 adhered 2 violated
Hayneedle (2013)
8 adhered 2 violated
REI (2013)
8 adhered 0 violated
Cabela's (2013)
8 adhered 1 violated
Walmart (2013)
8 adhered 5 violated
Target (2013)
8 adhered 0 violated
Disney (2013)
7 adhered 1 violated
Build (2013)
7 adhered 0 violated
Microsoft (2013)
7 adhered 2 violated
Kohl's (2013)
7 adhered 1 violated
CDW (2013)
7 adhered 3 violated
Home Depot (2013)
7 adhered 0 violated
Newegg (2013)
7 adhered 2 violated
Macy's (2013)
7 adhered 2 violated
Sears (2013)
7 adhered 3 violated
Staples (2013)
7 adhered 1 violated
Toys'R'Us (2013)
6 adhered 2 violated
Overstock (2013)
6 adhered 1 violated
Lowe's (2013)
6 adhered 3 violated
TigerDirect (2013)
6 adhered 2 violated
Musician's Friend (2013)
6 adhered 7 violated
Office Depot (2013)
6 adhered 1 violated
Crate & Barrel (2013)
6 adhered 4 violated
Bass Pro Shops (2013)
5 adhered 3 violated
Wayfair (2013)
5 adhered 2 violated
J.C. Penney (2013)
5 adhered 1 violated
Nordstrom (2013)
5 adhered 2 violated
Dell (2013)
5 adhered 4 violated
Costco (2013)
5 adhered 4 violated
Ralph Lauren (2013)
4 adhered 0 violated
Rakuten / Buy.com (2013)
4 adhered 4 violated
Williams-Sonoma (2013)
4 adhered 1 violated
Sony (2013)
4 adhered 0 violated
Best Buy (2013)
4 adhered 3 violated
HSN (2013)
3 adhered 3 violated
Walgreens (2013)
2 adhered 2 violated
Barnes & Noble (2013)
2 adhered 1 violated
Dell (2013)
2 adhered 1 violated
PC Connection (2013)
1 adhered 1 violated
Grainger (2013)
1 adhered 3 violated
OfficeMax (2013)
1 adhered 1 violated