Optimizing your eCommerce site for mobile is more important now than ever before. More and more consumers are using their smartphones and tablets to shop online. According to a recent Forrester report, consumer spending on mobile will likely top $93.5 billion in 2018—and reach $175.4 billion by 2022. You are at a significant competitive disadvantage if you aren’t prepared to earn customers on mobile.
The following is a look at some best practices for improving your mobile strategy so you can earn your fair share of online business.
You don’t necessarily have to build everything from scratch to capture a good portion of the mobile audience. As you look for eCommerce platforms to sell through, consider the mobile success of each.
Shopify, for instance, has generated much of its revenue from mobile sales over the last couple of years. The graphic below demonstrates the dominance of mobile during last year’s Black Friday event.
Hero sliders and similar types of dynamic content features are out of style on mobile. These features distract users on a small device screen and slow down processing time. Neither of these is good if users are shopping on the go or looking for a quick experience.
A “hamburger” navigation option at the top of your device reduces on-screen congestion and simplifies access to your readers for the most important pages and resources on your site.
There are a number of factors, small and large, that get in the way of an optimized mobile site experience. The good news is that Google offers a great Mobile Test tool to help you uncover any problems with your mobile site experience.
Run the test for your site, and clean up any problems negatively affecting users based on the results.
Mobile shoppers are heavily influenced by personalized content and promotions. Three-fourths of mobile users indicate they’ve used a coupon to make a purchase, and about half have downloaded an app to receive some type of discount.
Ask your readers to give you access to their current device location so you can personalize offers with local opportunities when applicable. In addition to straightforward price-off incentives, mobile shoppers have a special hunger for free and fast shipping deals.
Even though people spend a lot of time on mobile shopping, desktop computers are still used for a lot of eCommerce conversions. The challenge for eSellers in this scenario is staying engaged with people as they move from one device to another.
To avoid losing out on earned business, streamline your checkout to make it easy for shoppers to convert on mobile. Offer guest purchases, and only ask for basic information like name and email address on a first purchase. You can collect additional details as the relationship builds.
These are some of the essential strategies for eSellers looking to take advantage of the relative strength of mobile eCommerce. Incorporate these into your plans for 2019 to attract and convert more buyers!