The mobile market has become immensely powerful in recent years, influencing the shape of retail in the UK and further afield.
Because people can shop whenever they want using a smartphone or tablet, this is exactly what they are doing. In fact the average consumer spends £36 a week while browsing shopping sites during their commute to and from work.
This means that businesses need to be equipped to engage with mobile shoppers and ensure that conversions are still growing. There is even increasing evidence that mobile-optimised websites and dedicated retail apps are doing better at converting customers than desktop equivalents.
With this in mind it can be a good idea to get in touch with an agency like Webfuel Ltd, which offers web design in Nottingham. The professionals will always have great advice for small businesses looking to get a leg up in the mobile-dominated marketplace of today.
But what are some of the things you can do to win over mobile users and shore up the standing of your business for long term success?
Optimise & Thrive
Optimising a site for mobile devices is no longer as difficult and convoluted as it once was, since the underlying technologies have evolved to make it much easier for sites to adapt to different platforms, coping with the device-agnostic consumers of the mobile age.
Responsive web design techniques mean that every visitor can use the same site and pages, with the interface, multimedia elements and text resizing to fit on whatever gadget they happen to be using at the time.
It may be necessary to launch a standalone e-commerce app to compliment your site, but first and foremost you need to get your web presence up to speed before moving your focus anywhere else.
Mobile Shopper Psychology
Although the same consumers that shop online from desktop sites will also use smartphones to make purchases, do research and simply browse, there are some differences in behaviour across platforms that you need to consider.
For example, smartphones and tablets tend to take up the role of a second screen even when people are on their PCs, watching TV or doing anything else that is relatively engaging.
This means that sites have to work hard to grab the attentions of users, since with concentration divided between several devices this is not easy.
