The way that people shop and spend money has certainly changed in the last few years, with cash transactions on the decline. It’s definitely no surprise given how attached we all are to our smartphones that mobile shopping is on the rise… and given this fact, it’s vital that businesses in the UK do ensure that their websites are mobile optimised or they could find their shopping cart abandonment rate skyrockets.
New research from PayPal has revealed that almost 60 per cent of millennials (those aged between 25 and 34 years old) now browse for new purchases on their smartphones each and every day. And some 30 per cent of Brits plan to use their devices to shop more often in the coming year, climbing to 44 per cent for those aged between 16 and 24.
Furthermore, the estimated yearly spend on mobile phones almost doubled between 2016 and 2017, rising from £13.4 billion to £27 billion. And it’s looking set to reach £43 billion by the year 2020.
As you can see, if you haven’t optimised your site for mobile to make shopping easier for people, it’s likely that you’ll be missing out on some serious revenue. The PayPal study also found that just 18 per cent of small businesses here in the UK currently have a site that will adapt to the smaller screen size of a tablet or smartphone.
“Shoppers are increasingly frustrated by websites that require them to pinch the screen to zoom in and scroll endlessly to find miniature checkout buttons. Other considerations include thinking about the user experience as a whole, the navigation system, what options are there to add items to a shopping basket and what is the flow for making a purchase. It might be that you even consider an app for your loyal customer base,” it was observed.
How to optimise a site for mobile
1.
Think about page speed as this is really important for anyone using a smartphone or similar device to go online. Reduce your redirects, minify any code and use your browser caching to boost page load times.
2.
You should be using HTML5 where you can instead of Flash, as this particular plugin may not be available on your customers’ phones. Which means they’ll be missing out and will be more likely to go elsewhere.
3.
Opt for responsive design for your mobile site wherever possible because this is something that Google prefers. If you’re trying to rank higher than your competitors this could make all the difference.
4.
Consider using a second mobile URL, separate to that of your actual website. This means that you’re able to come up with completely customised content for those going online with their smartphones.
5.
Think about the functionality of your mobile site. You need to make the online journey as easy as possible for your customers. An easy-to-navigate site will always do well.
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