What's purple, appears lighter than air and generates e-commerce sales? The floating search bar used by American Bridal. As a consumer scrolls down the retailer's web page, the bar containing the box for site search—shaded a feminine tone that wouldn't be out of place at a wedding—floats at the top, like a balloon bobbing against the ceiling. Within its left half, the bar also displays discount offers—in late October, 15% off orders of $75 or more, and 20% off orders of more than $150. Roughly a year after its introduction, the average order value for shoppers using the site search tool was $105, nearly 24% more than the $85 for shoppers not using it, says Jon Hawkins, senior e-commerce manager at XO Group, which owns the e-commerce site.

• Date Launched:1997
• Unique Visitors:NA
• Web-based Sales:Order the Hot 100 issue