How to optimize your ecommerce site for mobile experience

How many times have you picked up and scrolled on your smartphone today? Consumers everywhere use their mobile devices countless times throughout the day. It’s no surprise that they’re browsing and shopping for products this way too. 

In fact, did you know that mobile devices make up 78% of retail site traffic worldwide? With the majority of consumers shopping on their smartphones, ecommerce businesses that stay ahead of the game will need to ensure a seamless mobile experience.  

But, how much focus on optimizing the mobile experience is enough to position online brands where they need to be?  

It’s an endless work in progress. Let’s dive in!  

The ecommerce space is fiercely competitive 

In 2024, there were 30.7 million ecommerce sites across the globe—and that figure is expected to increase this year. And because user experiences and technologies are constantly evolving, keeping up with competitors can feel like a fulltime job.  

But knowing how to optimize ecommerce mobile experiences enables online brands to remain fresh, meeting their customers where many of them are–scrolling on their phones.  

Not all screens are created equally

Flat displays, desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile phones have more in common than the screen; each device relays information, but the technical requirements differ.   

The hardware in a laptop is more robust than a cellphone, providing higher-quality media experiences. Downloads tend to be faster and the system itself can handle more data. And with less screen size available, mobile phones offer less space to get the same message across than larger screen devices.  

If only there was a way to migrate those same visually-rich, resilient displays into the mobile customer experience.  

Good news! There is, but it takes backend web know how and finesse in UX (user experience) design to make it happen. 

Common mistakes in ecommerce web design 

There’s a lot that goes into optimizing a brand’s online presence; it starts from understanding why website issues happen. Functionality across multiple pages and reliable systems integration require more than solid execution, brand sites need constant monitoring. And because digital landscapes change, vulnerabilities arise and the effects can infiltrate every part of the customer experience. 

Many times, website design is one of the customer’s first points of direct contact with an ecommerce business. Site optimization enhances that customer’s experience by streamlining each site visit and engaging seamless purchases.  

But optimization can’t hide the flaws of a poorly performing website: 

• Muddy design, low-quality images 

• Minimal or inaccurate product descriptions 

• Complex shopping cart experiences 

• Improper payment gateway integrations 

Without a strong, resilient, mobile shopping experience, customers may never stay at a retail site long enough to get to the order fulfillment stage. 

How to ensure mobile shopping optimization 

Ready to make your ecommerce site more mobile-user-friendly? Try this step-by-step list.  

1) Easily-digestible design.

The typical screen size of a mobile phone is 6.5 inches, less than half the size of a laptop. Online retailers must make the best use of the smaller space by blending clear imaging and concise messaging with intuitive navigation.  

During the design phase, ensuring the customer journey is engaging and provides a natural flow of what’s next helps ecommerce brands direct customers from product to purchase seamlessly. Instead of lengthy product descriptions, for example, bullet points can do the trick. 

2) Finger-friendly to the touch.

Digestible design is only as good as its ability for the customer to take action. Consumers navigate mobile phones with their fingers, some more delicately than others. Make sure the click-thru buttons are sizable enough to find easily, yet placed on the page with enough space around it to avoid mis-clicks.

3) Make it responsive.

This is where things can get sticky, especially without help from experts in responsive web design. With U.S. adults spending more than 11 hours a day across multiple electronic devices, ecommerce brands need to create positive buyer journeys on desktop and mobile. Fluid grids help designers engage responsive sites, defining web page layouts by columns creating the right proportions specific to the device, for brand symmetry and consistency throughout user flows.  

4) Keep it simple.

People expect to shop in the moment convenient for them, even if it’s 4 in the morning. Online shopping sites allow them that luxury, but the success rate of customer conversions is hinged on the level of simplicity involved. For website menu drop downs, image carousels, and search icons, make sure to place them where the customer will naturally go on the page, giving the viewer less work and more time to enjoy the site. 

5) Keep it quick. 

Patience and online shopping don’t necessarily go hand in hand. A user typically gives a mobile ecommerce site about 15 seconds before exiting. With so little time, site responsiveness and quick page loads are everything to keep potential shoppers intrigued and engaged. Many ecommerce brands rely on open-source HTML frameworks, like AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages), to compress large image files, and increase page load speed.  

6) Ensure easy checkout.

For ecommerce brands and their customers, nothing can be a bigger buzzkill than a broken shopping cart experience. It’s like showing up to a concert and having the headline band cancel at the last minute. To ensure conversions and upsells, keep the checkout process easy-peasy. Give purchasers mobile-friendly field forms with autofill options, and digital wallet accessibility, for a 1-2-3 step buying solution.  

7) Let the content do the work.

Add more value to page content and site visits by incorporating SEO practices—allowing retailers to think global and act local. Customers often search for products by geography, even when they intend to buy online, so include locations in company descriptions whenever possible. Optimize the mobile experience further by including meta tags in images, product headings and descriptions, helping retail sites remain relevant in searches. 

8) Test, revise, repeat.

Digital-based businesses require constant change to mirror customer preferences and trends and manage inventory while forecasting demand. These characteristics can put extra stress on retail websites with design, product, and SKU updates. Optimizing mobile experiences is an ongoing requirement and testing the system keeps hiccups to a minimum, provides KPIs to measure what’s working, and identifies areas needing attention. 

With the benefits an optimized ecommerce site can bring to customers’ mobile shopping experiences, navigating the expectations and costs can help businesses come up with a plan on how and when to get started. 

The cost of optimizing for mobile experiences 

A new website can include mobile responsiveness in its initial design, though existing online shopping websites can integrate the qualities using the foundational website already in place. 

Depending on the amounts of products, product lines, and the anticipated web traffic, the costs to maximize the mobile experience may differ. For websites not built for responsive design at all, the costs could run upwards of $10,000; though it’s important to analyze the investment based on projected returns. 

Ecommerce retailers and omnichannel businesses find the values far outweigh the costs when optimizing websites for mobile experiences. Because the online shopping visit is streamlined and more functional, time spent on the site is more enjoyable, increasing conversion rates, positive brand perceptions, and customer loyalty. With the added web traffic, ecommerce sites can rank higher in search engines, which escalates brand visibility and interest.  

Enhance your mobile order fulfillment with a 3PL 

As with any ecommerce business, optimizing the mobile experience is one piece of a larger order fulfillment whole. Taking a customer purchase from shopping cart-to-delivery involves many steps in the warehouse, where inventory takes center stage. After all the hard work, testing, and perfecting a brand website, the efforts could be all for naught if the product delivery is late, damaged, or inaccurate. 

Complementing a cool, mobile-optimized website with exceptional logistics experience is more than smart—it’s essential. Working with a 3PL provider specializing in ecommerce is like having a scalable partner there to help grow business. From cart to delivery, WSI streamlines your supply chain with tailored logistics solutions from a 3PL you can trust.