In 2021, 67% of all online purchases are happening on mobile devices, with experts predicting this will reach 72% by the end of the year.
With almost half of the entire global population owning a mobile device, that’s a lot of potential browsers ‘window shopping’ on-the-go and checking out in cyberspace.
Even for those browsers who don’t buy using their mobile, they still use their mobile to research potential purchases carefully, before taking the plunge and paying via desktop. This means the mobile experience is a huge deciding factor for their final purchase, and a key part of nearly every consumer’s journey.
As an ecommerce retailer, you can’t afford to ignore the rise of mobile purchases among your customers and miss out on a trend that is only going up.
That’s why we’ve compiled 5 Steps on How to Optimise Your Website for Mobile Conversions, so you can make the most of every mobile web visitor.
Step 1: Keep Up with Them
Mobile browsers are ‘on-the-go,’ which means you have to be quick to keep up with them. Your site should load as fast as possible, but 2 seconds is a good threshold to remember, because half of all users give up on your site after a 3 second wait.
When customers have landed on your site, make sure you have ‘Quick-View’ and ‘Quick Add’ options for each product, which allows customers to view a product, or add it to their basket from the same page and avoids more loading time.
You should consult professional Web Developers to help you with site speed and technical optimisation.
Step 2: Make Sure You Have Enough Visuals
A customer wants to ‘get to know’ a product before purchasing. Unlike a desktop user, a mobile user doesn’t necessarily have the time or screen-space to browse different tabs and pour over reviews, images, and videos on different platforms – so you really need to show them a lot of high-quality visuals quickly and conveniently for them to feel confident enough to hit ‘buy’.
Include multiple mobile-enhanced product images and short videos and give customers the chance to zoom in on products, use 360 Degree Product Spin, click different colour options, and really get to know the product. This increases confidence and makes them feel committed enough to buy.
Step 3: Keep Forms Short
Forms and mobiles don’t mix. Typing information on a small mobile touchscreen is clunky to say the least, and you should keep open text fields to a minimum.
Shorten forms wherever possible and autofill everything you can. Ask yourself if you really need every piece of information you are requesting from your customer and why you need it.
For example, do you really need their date of birth and if you do, can you change the form to a drop-down menu and keep data input to a minimum?
Again, it’s all about keeping things quick and convenient and asking the very least of your customer.
Step 4: Keep the Payment Process Quick & Easy
One study found that offering a range of mobile payment options, such as Google Wallet, Paypal, or Mastercard resulted in a 101% increase in conversions for smartphone users and the option of Klarna alone increased conversions by nearly 50%.
It’s a shame to lose a customer just as they’re about to pay – you’ve already done most of the hard work by this point – so make sure you’re offering enough payment options to give them that final ‘push’.
Another checkout bugbear for mobile customers is typing in lengthy card numbers with every purchase. To avoid this, make sure you offer customers the chance to create an account on your website which allows them to save their payment details for next time. Not only does this speed up the checkout process for them, but it also creates a sense of commitment, and means you can use their email address (if they agree to marketing) to remarket to them.
Step 5: Ask Yourself, ‘is my website mobile-friendly?’
If you have all these measures in place, and you are still scratching your head, wondering why your conversions are down, you may need to look at your website.
Without a responsive design model across your entire site, any optimisation will be a waste of your time and efforts, so you really need a website that has mobile-friendly capability to make the most of mobile shoppers.
Your best bet is to consult a Web Developer Agency to perform a site audit and optimise your website.
Optimise Your Site & Rake in Mobile Conversions!
We hope our 5 Steps on How to Optimise Your Website for Mobile Conversions has given you some advice on how to engage mobile browsers and grow your business online. By optimising site speed, adding multimedia, minimising forms, offering various payment options, and ensuring your site is mobile-friendly, you will enjoy mobile shoppers checking out on your site.
Don’t worry if you are unsure how to implement some of these steps. We recommend consulting a professional ecommerce agency to take care of your website. This way, you can leave it to the professionals, and focus on the day-to-day running of your business!
