Responsive web design has become one of the most important trends in the world of digital marketing. As you may already know, responsive design “responds” to the device the user is using to deliver the best possible browsing experience. However, the majority eCommerce companies have not embraced this web design format. If you belong in this group, there are several reasons why you should make the change.
The first reason is that more people are making purchases from mobile devices whether it’s from a smartphone or tablet. It’s estimated that around 20 percent of visitors (on average) on a website consist of mobile users. Being able to provide the optimal experience for these devices easily translates to higher conversion rates. For companies doing respectable gross sales number, a mere one percent increase in sales conversion is worth far more than the cost of investing in responsive.
The second reason is that mobile phones and tablets are just the beginning. There’s no telling what other devices people will be using to browse the web in the future. We are already seeing people use their television to browse the Internet. Several years down the line, people may start browsing the Internet on car display panels, digital alarm machines, 3D screens, etc. Setting up a responsive website will help eCommerce companies future-proof against new technology, digital trends and changes in browsing habits.
The third reason is that responsive design will help eCommerce companies scale their search campaigns faster while minimizing resources and expenses. A responsive design will allow companies to build links and content for both their mobile and desktop search campaigns. This is far more efficient and effective than managing and building on two different sites – one mobile site and one main site. And since links will be built for one site as opposed to two separate sites, it will be easier to get results from SEO efforts.
Finally, responsive web design allows for an outstanding user experience which helps in many ways. One of the big changes that transpired since the rise of mobile usage is how the search engines deliver results. Websites that are correctly optimized are gaining an advantage as ranking algorithms are favoring relevance based on factors like the number of clicks, average time spent on site, and website abandon rates. A better user experience also facilitates a wide range of marketing objectives from viral marketing, community building, to branding.
It’s understandable why responsive design isn’t embraced by the eCommerce industry. Redesigning a large website takes a long time; testing compatibility for multiple viewing formats needs to be intensive; and optimizing every version of the website can be demanding. With that said, companies need to understand that there are big rewards to be had for making the jump. Many brands saw a big jump in conversions and revenues (as much as a 50 to 60 percent increase) after making the changes.
And while smaller companies justify not investing into responsive due to small budget, it may actually be a smarter investment earlier on. There is much less to optimize, test, and design if a site is smaller which means that it will be far cheaper to implement all the necessary responsive design changes. The bottom line is that responsive design can be a huge asset to eCommerce companies. There are very few cases where it hasn’t paid off when it was implemented correctly, so you should seriously consider investing in this design format.