The ecommerce industry has grown and evolved rapidly in recent years. If you’re an owner of an online store, you may have noticed how trends in ecommerce web design and online marketing have changed as consumers’ browsing and buying habits have evolved.
One important development is the growth of responsive web design, which improves the shopping experience for customers on mobile devices.
To better manage your ecommerce site and keep it up to date, it’s important to understand what responsive design is. In addition, you should know why it’s critical to the success of your online store in today’s competitive ecommerce market.
What is responsive design?
Responsive web design is a form of design that adjusts itself based on the device the visitor is using. This ensures that all users have the same experience on the website.
If you design your website only with desktop browsing in mind, your mobile users may struggle to navigate the site. The text may run off the screen and require side-to-side scrolling or images may not appear properly.
Instead of creating separate websites for desktop and mobile users, you can use responsive web design to streamline the design process.
This will make your site more consistent across all devices. Responsive design uses technology that automatically adjusts to the user’s screen size.
It breaks your site down into smaller sections, such as your header, banner images, and sidebar. Then, it stretches, shrinks, or rearranges each of these elements to fit each device as best as possible.
Why is it essential for your ecommerce website to use a responsive design?
With the rise in mobile browsing, responsive web design is one of the must-have ecommerce features for online stores today. Here are several reasons for you to make the switch to a responsive website if you haven’t already done so!
1. Corresponds to the increase in shopping on mobile devices
The most important reason for you to adopt a responsive web design is that mobile browsing is starting to take the lead in the ecommerce industry.
The percentage of online shoppers who use their mobile device to shop for a product is constantly increasing. When you decide to launch an online store, your ecommerce checklist for your site should therefore include a high-quality mobile design to appeal to a wide audience.
Responsive design is the easiest way to create a strong mobile site. It ensures that all of the information on your desktop site is available on the mobile version, and it allows users to browse from any type of mobile device.
2. Adapts to the growth in social media usage
Social media is more popular now than ever, and most people check their social media feeds on their smartphones.
Platforms like Facebook and Instagram provide valuable opportunities for you to connect with your target market and share information about your brand. You probably already use at least one social network for advertising, or you may be considering expanding your presence on social media.
Because so many people use mobile devices to access social media, a significant amount of traffic can come to your site from mobile users. This may occur if you place an ad on social media, share a product photo, or otherwise link to your website from a social network.
For those efforts to pay off, mobile users need to have a good experience on your site. If you use responsive design, there’s a much greater chance of that happening!
3. Improves SEO for your site
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a major consideration for most ecommerce businesses. Search engines drive traffic to your site from shoppers who are actively searching for your products.
People who find your store from a Google search often become customers. For this reason, ranking highly for relevant search terms should be one of your top priorities.
In the last few years, Google has switched from crawling the desktop version of websites to crawling the mobile version. This means that they evaluate sites and determine rankings based on their mobile performance.
If your mobile ecommerce site is slow, incomplete, or hard to navigate, your chances of ranking on the first page of Google results are slim to none.
With responsive design, Google’s bots will have the same experience on your mobile site as your desktop site. The content will be the same, so your search rankings should either stay the same or improve.
4. Offers results that are easy to analyze
To succeed as a small ecommerce business, you should be constantly measuring your results and adjusting your strategy. It takes a long time to fine-tune your web design, SEO, and marketing campaigns, so careful and accurate analysis is key.
It’s generally far easier to measure and analyze user behavior and other metrics with responsive sites than with other types of design.
You can track conversion rates, users’ movements, time spent on the page, and other data that can help you improve your strategy and increase sales.
5. Improves user experience
There are several common customer complaints about the mobile ecommerce experience. One of the biggest issues is when the site’s menu is difficult to find or navigate from a smartphone.
Another frustrating experience for shoppers is having to zoom in to click on links or view photos of products.
Shoppers won’t stay on your site if they don’t have a positive browsing experience. It’s very easy for consumers to find another online store from which to shop. You therefore have to offer them an excellent experience if you want them to stay on the page.
Responsive design removes virtually every complaint that consumers have about mobile shopping. Everything is adjusted for the screen size, so shopping is simple and intuitive. This also keeps the experience fairly consistent between your desktop and mobile sites.
Your returning customers may already have an expectation for their browsing experience based on your site's desktop performance. Responsive web design will keep the content and structure of your site mostly the same on mobile devices.
6. Saves time and money
As a business owner, you don’t have all the time in the world. Instead of creating two separate sites for desktop and mobile users, responsive web design saves you time by only requiring one design project.
This is more efficient for the initial design and development process as well as for ongoing maintenance or website updates.
The return on investment is also much better for responsive websites. You don’t have to pay designers or developers to create and maintain multiple sites, so you could save thousands of dollars in the long run.
7. Makes your website faster
Cutting your loading time by just one second can have great results for your ecommerce store. People expect websites to load immediately, and many will abandon a page that takes longer than a few seconds to load.
Because responsive websites adapt to every device, they load quickly for both mobile and desktop users.
The images on your site should be optimized if you use responsive design, which can significantly lower the time it takes your site to load. This will reduce your bounce rate and ultimately increase sales.
8. Increases conversion rates
The overall purpose of strategic web design is to increase your conversion rates. A responsive website is one of the most reliable ways to accomplish that. Once a customer arrives on your site, you want them to stay until they’ve made a purchase.
All of the aforementioned benefits of responsive design can improve your conversion rates. When the browsing experience is easy and adaptable, shoppers can quickly find what they’re looking for.
You won’t lose potential customers who become frustrated by a slow or ineffective mobile site. Regardless of the device they use, your shoppers will have a positive interaction with your site. There will then be far fewer reasons for them to abandon their carts.
9. Keeps your business competitive
Ecommerce is an incredibly competitive industry, no matter what product you sell. There are so many businesses of all sizes offering similar products, so your store needs a competitive edge to succeed. Responsive web design is one way to stay a step ahead of some of your rivals.
Many of your competitors probably already use a responsive web design, but not all ecommerce stores have caught on yet.
By using a responsive website, your store’s user experience will be much better for mobile shoppers than those of rival sites still using traditional designs.
Responsive design: no longer optional in ecommerce!
As mobile shopping starts to overtake desktop shopping, ecommerce entrepreneurs really can’t afford to not use responsive design for their sites anymore. Your website needs to function well on all devices, and responsive design is the best way to make that happen.
A responsive website is better for your customers, and it’s easier for you to build and maintain. When you switch to a responsive design, you’ll generate more site traffic, offer a better customer experience, and see more conversions.
The importance of using a responsive design is just another reason to build your online store with WiziShop!
All of our clients’ websites are automatically created in the AMP format. This ensures optimal user experiences for their customers shopping on desktop and mobile devices alike.
You’ll be able to create an account with the English version of the WiziShop platform in the next few months, so be sure to visit our homepage and provide your email address to sign up for early access and email updates!
