I think that having a really good professional website requires a lot of moving parts behind the pages. Inventory control, ordering process including ability to return products, quality photos and descriptions of products. IMO a critical tool for any website is a really good search utility. If a user can't find a product that is actually in stock then that is a lost sale. In addition, the owner needs to be able to view a variety of reports that will tell him/her what is selling, how many, etc, etc.
Clearly the interface to the users needs to be logical, clean and well organized and presented. None of these things are easy to accomplish for a non web-designer.
As for our sponsor's websites - many of them are small companies and the reality of overall limited $$$ v.s. Webpage design $$$ is a harsh reality. Sure there are some sites that could use some help. But my experience with sponsor sites has been good. I generally can find what I am interested in and if I can't find it and I think they may have it I just call them to find out. I have never been disappointed when I needed to call for info.
Ed
