Tips for Optimizing Your Site for Mobile Shoppers

When retailers first began to see a dramatic increase in traffic coming to their websites from mobile devices, few people could blame them for going with a quick and easy approach to just getting a mobile-optimized site live. Even with a mobile-optimized site, however, many retailers didn't see the conversion numbers they anticipated and just assumed that mobile "isn't working" and that consumers simply don't shop on mobile devices.

While it's true that it's likely to be quite some time before retailers see the same type of conversion rates on smartphones as they do on their desktop sites, there's a huge discrepancy between what some retailers are seeing for a conversion rate on their mobile websites. It can range from 0.2 percent to 4 percent for commoditized goods.

I'd argue to any retailer that claims that "mobile commerce isn't working" that they just haven't built a mobile website correctly. There are a few important considerations that retailers must take into account when building a mobile website that's primed for conversion.

Site Speed
In our multidevice world, the use case of how people interact with each device becomes important. When consumers are using mobile websites, they're more likely to be on the go and out and about with spotty reception. Therefore, site speed is paramount. If the site takes too long to load, they'll simply give up. Obviously there's a trade-off between having a graphically appealing mobile website and one that performs fast. Test and retest your site speed on the major mobile devices — iPhone, Android, BlackBerry — to see how well it performs. Caching also plays a key role here.

Navigation
While most retailers think it's safe to reuse their desktop navigation, mobile actually requires a much more shallow navigation. Realistically, most mobile shoppers want to get from the homepage to product page in as few steps as possible. Including a drop-down menu and shallow navigation reduces the number of pages your visitor will have to go through.

Category Pages
Just like on a desktop website, when consumers come to a category page they want to be able to narrow down their search results. Including faceted search and features such as sort by price, color and promotion work just as well on a smartphone as they do on a tablet. In fact, it could be argued that these are in some ways more important for your more impatient mobile customer using a smaller screen size.

Product Pages
There's an art and science to getting a product page optimized for mobile done right. It starts with the images, particularly for apparel products. If someone is going to decide whether to buy something from a small screen, they prefer to see multiple product images. They also like to be able to zoom in to get a good view of the product material, helping to give them confidence in the quality of their purchase.

Including scrolling navigation for size selection is a must. Another important factor to consider is where you place the "add to cart" button. In my company's usability studies, we've come across mobile websites which have the "add to cart" button about two mobile page lengths down. Without an obvious "add to cart" button in sight, consumers weren't aware that it was a commerce-enabled site that they could actually buy from.

Checkout
The final hurdle in mobile shopping is without doubt the hardest. This is the point when many consumers will simply quit. Anybody who has ever had to type their credit card, shipping, billing and account details on a mobile device will understand why most people drop off at this point. But there is some hope. Including a mobile wallet option such as PayPal or Google Wallet can dramatically increase conversion rates, sometimes as much as 30 percent. I always recommend to our clients that they actually show what mobile wallets they accept on their homepage so consumers know it's an easier mobile website to make purchases on.

Wishlist and Add to Favorite
In our multidevice world, consumers often browse on one device and buy from another. Adding a cross-channel wishlist whereby a consumer can save something they see while browsing on their mobile device and purchase later when on their desktop is an important part of the cross-channel mix.

Today, retailers report that nearly 20 percent (on average) of their traffic comes from smartphones and tablets. Some reports claim that it won't be long before nearly 50 percent of traffic will come from mobile devices. It's imperative for retailers to learn how to get mobile right while it's still in its relative infancy, as it won't be long before mobile commerce will be a significant source of revenue.

In the ultracompetitive world of retail where there's little brand loyalty, retailers need to be constantly aware that if they don't create an easy shopping experience on mobile that their customers will quickly defect to another retailer who does.

Danielle McCormick is the senior director of marketing at Skava, a provider of omnicommerce solutions for retailers.