Earlier this year it was revealed that during the first three months of 2016, mobile e-commerce transactions accounted for a whopping 48.9% of UK e-commerce sales. This news marked a significant milestone for e-commerce in the UK, and the message for retailers is clear: ignore the trend for mobile at your peril.
If you’re unsure what your business should be doing to attract and satisfy mobile shoppers, this blog post is for you.
Wait, what exactly is mobile e-commerce?
Mobile commerce, or m-commerce, is a term used to describe commercial transactions carried out via wireless (mobile) technology, including tablets and smartphones. M-commerce services are widely considered to be user-friendly and easy to access, which is perhaps why we’re seeing web traffic increasingly dominated by mobile users.
Mobile shoppers will navigate your website in a completely different way to e-commerce shoppers on desktops, and your website should reflect this if you hope to make the most of mobile traffic.
Five things to consider when optimising your business website for mobile
1: Embrace responsive design. Now
If you want to make the most of your mobile audience, you must take this into account by optimising your website design to suit both mobile and desktop shoppers. A responsive design (template adjusts to display perfectly on a variety of devices, not just mobile) is a must and will contribute towards creating a seamless experience for your customers across all platforms.
2: Take security seriously
Being forced to repeatedly enter bank details online for repeat purchases is enough to drive shoppers elsewhere. Using mobile payment technologies, like PayPay and Apple Pay, offers your customers improved security, convenience and speed – three perks universally appreciated by anyone making purchases online.
3: Delve a little deeper
How do mobile shoppers use your site? Which pages do they head for and which do they avoid? A digital agency will be able to use analytics tools to help you examine your web logs. The results will enable you to spot patterns that could point towards problems within specific areas of your site that could be driving away mobile shoppers.
4: Make your site user friendly
Quick. Easy. Efficient. The more you can do to enhance the shopping experience for shoppers on mobile devices, the better. Begin by making the entire shopping experience as intuitive as possible by simplifying your menus. Also, if you stock a lot of products, consider adding a search function to your site to help people get where they want to go with minimal fuss and link-hopping. Don’t forget to look for ways to improve page load speeds too. Studies have shown that mobile users have zero patience for slow-loading websites – 40% of online shoppers will abandon a website that takes more than three seconds to load.
5: Listen to your customers
Your customers are at the heart of everything you do. By listening to feedback (both positive and negative) about your website and ordering process you’re empowering your business to make changes that will maximise returns from mobile users. Whether you use social media channels, surveys or heat maps, paying attention to you customers’ likes and dislikes has never been more important in the battle for mobile traffic and conversions.
Get your brand noticed with help from Fluid Digital
If you need help optimising your e-commerce site for mobile, get in touch with the award-winning digital experts at Fluid Digital today. Our professional, tailored web design service will guarantee your business is perfectly represented online with a beautifully designed, responsive website that allows mobile users to browse with ease.