It’s a foregone conclusion that mobile is the future of e-commerce. We’ve posted before about how you can optimize your website for mobile (if you haven’t by now, you really should ASAP). It’s a necessity, seeing as nearly 80% of Australians own a smartphone. There’s also the fact that more than half of all e-commerce traffic comes from this category. Lastly, Google factors in mobile functionality into its rankings now. Simply put, there’s just no reason to put off this effort. With those said, here are more great tips in going about the mobile optimization process.
Ensure responsiveness.
First off, make sure that your site is able to detect the type of device it’s being viewed on so that screen size can adapt accordingly. Begin by designing for the smallest screen possible, then moved towards larger ones progressively. On top of this, users should be able continue their browsing or transactions seamlessly as they switch from one device to another. This way, they’d be able to pick up from where they left off in their customer journey without much hassle, thus increasing your chances of closing a sale.
Prioritize functionality.
Functionality is perhaps the most important aspect of website design. Focus on the menus, the navigation, and the quick links. Keep things simple and make sure that all the essentials (your logo, main menu, search bar, user account options, etc.) are instantly visible when a user lands on your site. Also remember to use icons appropriately and make sure the text is readable. And as much as possible, avoid including heavy images so that loading time won’t be bogged down by those.
Search should be effortless.
An e-commerce site usually houses a lot of content. For that reason, an easy-to-use search bar should be available at every page for your customers’ convenience. Needless to say, this function should provide the user with strong, accurate results. Also, features such as autocomplete or spelling suggestions should come in handy.
Keep forms simple.
Just like your overall website design, your forms should be simple as well—these shouldn’t take the user a while to fill out. Only include fields that are absolutely necessary and valuable to your business.
For more tips, check out the original article.