Retail, in the eyes of the everyday customer

Most sites show small product images in site search to maximize how much they can fit on screen.  This makes logical sense.  Some examples–

Example 1: http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/CAMOmnifindQueryCmd?storeId=226&catalogId=40000000226&langId=-1&searchCategory=&ip_state=&ip_constrain=&ip_navtype=search&pageSize=24&currentPage=&ip_sortBy=&searchKeywords=camping+tent

Example 2: http://www.rei.com/search?query=camping+tent

Example 3: http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Navigation?storeId=10151&catalogId=10051&langId=-1&searchTerm=camping+tent

4 column display is an industry standard.  If everyone is following this convention it must be the best, right?

Backcountry.com has taken a different approach, sacrificing efficiency for user experience …

http://www.backcountry.com/store/search.html?mv_session_id=scSxdXRf&q=camping+tent

… and I think they’ve nailed it.  What’s really clever is that backcountry.com gives visitors the choice to switch to the traditional compact view, thus allowing backcountry.com to study user preference.