As Big Commerce highlight, mobile commerce is the natural progression of eCommerce. It’s essential that businesses harness the power of mobile shopping.
However, like with any business venture, there are pitfalls to avoid. In this blog, we’re taking a closer look at five factors that might be stopping your mobile eCommerce strategy from flourishing.
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1. Poor Visual Design
Research conducted by Google found that 73% of shoppers will switch from a poorly designed website to one that makes the purchase process easier. This shows that good design is essential to getting mobile eCommerce right.
To the uninitiated, you might assume that your mobile site works as a mini version of your desktop website. We’re here to tell you that’s definitely not the case.
The different screen sizes and differing demands of a mobile site make designing it a totally different ball game.
One common mistake is to include too many visual elements in your mobile website. Another is to overload every page with text. Both of these elements can lead to confusion and frustration on the part of your visitors.
If you don’t have a clear, streamlined design on your website, shoppers will feel less confident in what you have to sell. Keep paragraphs of text to the essentials and, while it is important to include visual elements on your site, keep size in mind.
2. Slow Loading Times
Did you know that 45% of users will only wait 2-3 seconds for a website to load? If it takes longer than 3 seconds, 40% of users would rather abandon your site and go in search of another.
Efficient page loading is essential to the success of your mobile commerce endeavors.
The good news is: there are some tools to help. For example, Google’s PageSpeed Insights is a great tool to help you understand how quickly your pages load and what is holding you back.
Optimize your website with page loading times in mind, or you might miss out on valuable sales.
3. A Long Checkout Process
There’s nothing more frustrating than an unnecessarily complicated checkout. No shopper wants to give their life story when they’re just trying to buy a new t-shirt. And the process can be even more rage inducing when you’re trying to fill out details on a small phone screen.
In order to keep your customers to completion, you need to ensure that your checkout process is optimized for use on mobile. Tim Jenkins, UK Director of e-Spirit, says: “Forms need to be easy to fill out with the small keypad, only ask for relevant information to keep forms short, provide secure but easy log-in functionality.”
4. No Blog Content
Statistics show that consumers like to use their mobiles to window shop. There’s no better way to bring window shoppers to your site than through blog content.
No website should be without a blog, and this is equally true for a mobile friendly site. Having a blog gives you a space where you can share engaging content with potential customers from across the web, and this can lead them to down the golden path to purchasing your products.
5. Neglecting Security
For some reason, mobile security isn’t talked about the same way as desktop security. The sad truth of the matter is mobile devices are just as vulnerable to malicious attacks. These can come from downloading free apps or outdated software.
The lack of conversation around mobile security can lead consumers to feeling insecure about making a mobile purchase. Offering secure payment methods, like PayPal, can make consumers feel your mobile site is more trustworthy. It’s important to keep this in mind when planning out your mobile commerce strategy.
Tips for Improving Customer Experience on Your Mobile Site
Across all of the points raised here, one thing is the common thread: you need to give customers the best user experience.
If you want to harness the growing power of mobile commerce, here are some DOs and DONTs to keep in mind when it comes to designing your mobile site:
DON’T create a separate site for mobile. Once upon a time, it was encouraged to create an entirely separate website just for mobile. Now it’s considered much better practice to have one site that works across multiple devices.
DO design each page with optimal load speeds in mind. In the world of online shopping, speed is key. On average, customers will only wait around 3 seconds before looking elsewhere.
DON’T use teeny tiny font sizes. A smaller screen might make you inclined to design everything smaller, but teeny tiny text is a no-no. No-one wants to have to pinch zoom all the way in to read your blog content or squint to see your product descriptions.
DO check your site design on multiple mobile screens. Not all mobile devices are identical. Your website might look one way on an iPhone and totally different on an Android. Make sure you test on a variety of devices and screen sizes to make sure you’re giving the best user experience possible.
Help and Support for Mobile eCommerce
We know how important mobile commerce is for business owners. We also know how overwhelming the process of getting it right can seem. If you need help and support with your mobile website, consider CreativeMinds consultancy services. After all, we’re here to help you!
