Small Merchant

SILVER: Web Channel

Birthdayinabox.com

This site is a savior for busy parents and anyone else planning a child's birthday party. Birthday in a Box offers up more than 100 themes for kids' parties and baby showers, plus thousands of party supplies and accessories such as pinatas, decorations, favors, personalized invites and banners.

WHY IT WON A SILVER AWARD: For a small site, Birthdayinabox.com does a lot of things right. For one, take the top and left-hand navigation: It's comprehensive and offers you enough choices, and the user isn't totally dependent on text search to navigate throughout the site.

The merchandising range is impressive. “Great merchandise categories: first birthday, parties under $100, personalized, baby shower,” said one judge, noting that the cross merchandising enables shoppers to complete the entire party.

WHY IT DIDN'T WIN A GOLD AWARD: The copy is basic, “nothing too flashy,” noted one panelist. There's an opportunity for improvement here. — TP

Creative director: Heidi Weber

Marketing manager: Nicole Beidler

Webmaster: Laura Federline

Merchandiser: Kerry Maguire Cox

Photographers: Meg Lang, Guy Crittenden

Business analyst: Laura Hill

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