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Drop-Down Menu

147 design examples manually annotated by Baymard researchers

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.
Mobile Examples: Besides the desktop examples below, we also have 135+ mobile examples of Navigation Menu implementations.
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 64 homepage and category navigation research findings you’ll need Baymard Premium access. (Premium also provides you full access to 54,000+ hours of UX research findings, 750+ e-commerce UX guidelines, and 77,800+ 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)

10 adhered 4 violated

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)

9 adhered 4 violated

Newegg (2018)

9 adhered 3 violated

Crutchfield (2018)

9 adhered 0 violated

Wayfair (2018)

9 adhered 3 violated

Hayneedle (2018)

9 adhered 2 violated

Argos (2018)

9 adhered 3 violated

Dell (2018)

8 adhered 3 violated

HP (2018)

8 adhered 0 violated

Staples (2018)

8 adhered 2 violated

Crate & Barrel (2018)

8 adhered 4 violated

Grainger (2018)

8 adhered 0 violated

Zalando (2018)

8 adhered 5 violated

Overstock (2018)

7 adhered 5 violated

Target (2018)

5 adhered 1 violated

Rakuten (2018)

3 adhered 0 violated

Lowe's (2016)

16 adhered 0 violated

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

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Drop-Down Menu