Consumer demands for eCommerce stores continue to inspire constant innovations and technologies from companies around the globe. Some businesses have already started to implement AR and VR features on their websites, others have created ultra-fast checkout processes, and some have mastered omnichannel selling. However, despite the quick developments in eCommerce, many online stores are still sorely lacking one key factor that will lead to ongoing success: mobile optimization.
Why Mobile Optimization is Essential
Businesses must ensure that their websites are suitable for mobile shopping in order to remain relevant to shoppers. According to expert predictions, sales from mobile devices alone are expected to make up 54% of total eCommerce sales by 2021. Companies that neglect to update their online stores to accommodate for m-commerce could end up losing customers and missing out on potential sales.
On the other hand, business leaders that have taken steps to create a mobile-optimized site have experienced a number of advantages, including:
- Improvement in SEO. Google has started to rank websites based on their level of mobile optimization, and there are rumors that the search engine may eventually prefer to crawl mobile sites rather than desktop sites.
- Increased Conversions. If a customer can’t easily navigate a website from their smartphone, they will quickly exit that store and find a different place to search for their products. When a site is optimized for mobile, shoppers are likely to spend more time browsing and, subsequently, purchasing items.
- Faster loading speeds. Some older websites may have images or videos that take several seconds to load on certain devices. In some cases, these graphics might not load at all on smartphones or tablets. Not only does this deter potential customers, but it can make your business seem old-fashioned or unreliable.
- A more competitive edge. A large percentage of online retailers still haven’t made the digital leap to cater to mobile shoppers so those that do can experience a significant advantage over their competitors.
What Does Mobile Optimization Entail?
The process of mobile optimization includes several crucial factors that business leaders must display on their websites. For mobile commerce to be as simple and enjoyable as using a laptop or desktop, the following features have to be taken into consideration:
- Readability. Mobile optimization has to make the text large enough for shoppers to read without having to zoom in and scroll from side to side. Nobody wants to constantly re-adjust the web page while searching for a specific item.
- Layout. Little icons and dropdown menus can be easily operated on a desktop computer, but it can be far trickier to navigate when a shopper is using their finger to scroll and click through the site. Buttons and menus need to be adjusted accordingly to minimize accidental clicks from users.
- Checkout process. Merchants should strive to eliminate unnecessary forms during checkout, as time-consuming or confusing checkouts can lead to increased cart abandonment. Companies should also accept a variety of payment methods to make it convenient as possible for shoppers.
Benefits of the Mobile Optimization Initiative
Creating a mobile-optimized website can seem like an overwhelming task for countless business leaders, which is why Magento created the Mobile eCommerce Optimization Initiative. Led by well-known experts from PayPal and HiConversion, this initiative is designed to tackle common problems businesses experience during optimization of their site. Being a part of this engaging and helpful community provides members with a number of exclusive benefits, such as:
- Access to over 250 experiments conducted around the world by integration partners.
- Advice and tips from developers, system integrators, designers, merchants, and others from around the globe who want to share their insights about m-commerce.
- Increased revenue (participants saw an average increase of 7.5% per visit).
- Sponsored use of the HiConversion software for a full 60 days.
- A complimentary mobile analysis of your site, including identification of weak points in your checkout process and a final report with detailed insights and advice for optimizing your site.
- An introduction to a Magento Certified Partner who is also participating in the optimization initiative.
- An array of checkout processes designed with mobile users in mind for merchants to test out for themselves.
The vibrant community of the Mobile eCommerce Optimization Initiative has allowed numerous professionals to bring their websites to the next level by implementing various tests and checkout processes within their online stores. If you would like to experience increased conversion rates and sales on your own site, click here to learn more about the initiative, or click here to join our community today!
