Have you ever wondered why is Google the search behemoth today? One of the major reasons is that it has transformed our ability to look for answers. We look upto Google for as simple things as the definition of a word or its meaning. Two decades back, you would’ve had to pull your dictionary off the shelf to find a meaning to your query. Now, you just have to open your phone or turn on your computer, type or speak the word, and get an answer in a few seconds, with little effort on your part.
But does this form of digital shortcutting exist only on Google? Well, the answer is no! Mobile apps now have self-contained search functions as well. Mobile commerce, also known as M-commerce, is on a rise as smartphones and tablets have taken over the markets all over the world. In fact, eCommerce traffic from those small screen devices has been surpassing desktop traffic, with a significant proportion of 65% in 2019. Indeed, there are 3 billion people with smartphones, and 1.3 billion who own computers.
Reason? A phone is usually considered more versatile as it ensures more value to the end-user than a desktop. One can also observe a massive increase in phone usage over the next few years as the technology gets cheaper. Google will not rank your site higher if your website is not mobile-friendly. If your users have a bad mobile experience, they are most likely not returning to your website. Now that you can see the value of M-commerce, we are sure that you must be wondering how to optimize M-commerce performance.
But What Does Mobile Optimized Design Mean, Anyway?
A responsive design means that no matter how big a screen starting from a smartphone, to a tablet or a computer — the website will fill the screen space and present the information in a comprehensible and clear way. The proliferation means that designers have to adapt to variable screen sizes and come up with new methods for a plethora of different devices starting from iPhones and android phones to laptops and desktops.
Best practices for mobile sites while designing mobile-friendly site search and product filter
- Think Small Screen
Less is more when it comes to a smartphone. Since phones aren’t as powerful as a desktop, you should make sure that your website is optimized to load quickly, and that your web host can handle the traffic. Ultimately, the best key takeaway is simple- remove all the excess clutter.
Remember:
- Design for a small screen space.
- Be a little more focused and cut down on information and content.
- After your mobile site is in place, you may find that you don’t need to add more to the desktop version of the website.
- Overhaul your current marketing strategies, as the screen space has shrunk significantly.
Vitaliy Vinogradov, CEO of Modern Place Lighting, is of the opinion that switching to a mobile-first design led to 30% more conversions compared to desktop. Excess plugins, pop ups, or any other screen inhibitors must be removed on the mobile version of the site.
Site-wide pattern search field
If you want to get higher eCommerce conversion rates then you want customers to pay attention to something, which you will have to make it prominent. That's why the full-length search field is expected in the eCommerce design for the mobile experience. Similar to the design to the desktop counterpart, search is expected to be placed on top of the page on mobile view so visitors can instantly look for what they have landed, after getting to the site. To give them a nudge for searching around, add some catchy message or text with conversational messages.
Create a Consistent User Experience
Before creating a mobile friendly design, entrepreneurs build a website meant to be viewed on a desktop and then design a mobile version.The problem? Your desktop website might have an entirely different look and feel compared to its mobile site. For instance, Facebook’s application on the phone is different from the mobile site and the desktop site. Remember, a simple, responsive design is completely jarred of differences in user experience.
Improve Your Site’s Loading Times
Website’s speed is particularly essential in a mobile-first world. Ofcourse, keeping your site’s loading times to a minimum is always undeniably most important. In fact, optimizing the website’s speed not only help you keep your bounce rate down, but will also help in improving your users’ experience, which is a plus point in eCommerce conversion rates.
Perhaps, performance becomes even a bigger priority when you are optimizing a website for mobile users. A few years back, Google introduced its “Speed Update,” which made website speed a ranking factor for mobile pages. It is important to understand that it is critical that you consider how well your site performs on mobile devices if you want it to be easily found in search engines. A simple statistic would be that a user has an attention span of less than 3 secs. So if your site does not load in 3 secs, chances are high he will drop off.
Sort and filter
Sorting and filtering are very important for m-commerce, when the screen size is squeezed. Take price as an example. Sorting by price from low helps you to bring the desired items to price-sensitive shoppers.
A pinned filter is also a good method as the prospects won't have to scroll up to update the filter options. However, it takes up the space for product showcases. One can definitely opt for an “up to top” button like the upward arrow to ensure smoothness.
The bottom line
Site search and product filtering have a powerful impact on eCommerce conversion rates and hence both need to be optimized for mobile shoppers which is preferred mode by most customers. When customers are able to find their desired products easily then they will be more satisfied and more likely to swiftly pass through the sales funnel. Research on the above-mentioned tips to acquire more sales on your eCommerce site through smartphones.
