Good location. Ample parking. Inviting layout. Retailers do everything they can to make sure as many people as possible have access to their store. Unfortunately, many online retailers are still neglecting a very large (and quite important) category of consumers: mobile shoppers. A cleanly designed website won’t appeal to those shopping on their mobile phone if the product images and descriptions are being shrunk to unviewable sizes.

Why is this important? A recent story at HubSpot stated that only 15% of U.S. shoppers surveyed have used their smartphone to make purchases, as opposed to 68% reporting they have used their computer. These numbers, however, don’t reflect those who use their smartphones to browse for items before making a purchase on their computer or in the store. HubSpot compares browsing products on a mobile device to window shopping. Therefore, it is crucial to convert your online store to a mobile-friendly design to attract and retain all mobile shoppers.

We recently worked with National Artcraft, an online retailer of creative craft supplies, to make their content responsive to mobile phones, implementing a new mobile component that automatically alters the navigation and product displays to allow for larger images and text when shopping on a smartphone. The desktop version of their site looks and behaves largely as it did before.

Many eCommerce solutions such as Shopify, Bigcommerce and Volusion offer mobile-friendly, responsive templates you can use to build (or convert to) an online store. A local rubber manufacturer, Custom Rubber Corp., recently hired us to create an online store to complement their informational website, so we set them up in Shopify using a mobile-friendly design that reflects the look of their main site and provides a clean and inviting shopping experience regardless of the shopper’s platform.

The need to accommodate mobile shoppers is growing quickly. Whether you’re looking to convert your current online store or build a new one, we can help you select and utilize the various technology options available to make it happen efficiently.