In mobile commerce, op­tim­isa­tion tech­niques are used with usability in mind. From the design to the ordering process, a mobile online shop should always put the user at the centre of its efforts. Sites that are not optimised for mobile devices suffer greatly, with over 70% of smart­phone users leaving within the first few seconds and 30% turning to competing sites. Con­versely, a strong focus on the user ul­ti­mately helps to convert visitors into customers. Online merchants can make the most of this turnover potential by op­tim­ising their online stores for smart­phones and tablets. We’ve gathered 10 hot tips for creating a user-friendly m-commerce platform.

1. Con­cen­trate on the es­sen­tials

Every online store owner should start by asking them­selves this question: what does my mobile website really need? Consider your website’s specific features, and which are necessary for tablet and smart­phone users; not everything included on the desktop version is required on a mobile device. When de­vel­op­ing and op­tim­ising mobile sites, website owners are not only con­fron­ted with the physical chal­lenges of creating a new interface, but also the challenge of adapting to different user behaviour. Define the core functions – those that are most fre­quently used. Pri­or­it­ise the most important features and let the others take a back seat. That way, you can create a reduced design with full func­tion­al­ity. ‘Less is more’ also applies in terms of per­form­ance. More stream­lined content ensures shorter loading times and a lower bounce rate.

2. Clear structure

Since mobile devices have a limited screen size, mobile sites require a clear and simple structure, with clean, clearly formatted pages and an intuitive menu nav­ig­a­tion. The menu should be short and concise. Logical website ar­chi­tec­ture also increases usability. This means that the nav­ig­a­tion should include just a few important cat­egor­ies and a small number of subpages. The user should always be able to find their way to the home page without any hassle and all important aspects (such as the shopping basket and main nav­ig­a­tion, for example) should be easily visible. As a website owner, you should keep smart­phone users’ click patterns in mind, and ensure that the design enables simple and intuitive operation.

3. Content: quality, not quantity

Limited space also affects the length and quality of your content. Online users are selective in their reading behaviour. Therefore, during your content planning phase, you need to remember to publish short and succinct texts, which use clear sub-headings and high­lighted words in order to give the reader a general ori­ent­a­tion. The smaller the screen, the more difficult it becomes to com­mu­nic­ate complex content. Therefore another key principle of mobile op­tim­isa­tion is reducing content to the bare es­sen­tials. Cut out any filler words and replace flowery language with precise, simple sentence structure. Mobile users tend to only read clear, com­pre­hens­ible content. Like with desktop websites, mobile online shops can only gain the attention of users with genuine benefits and helpful in­form­a­tion.

4. Reduced design

When it comes to online shopping, visual appeal plays a key role in at­tract­ing potential customers. Many online store owners worry that this will mean they’re forced to sacrifice their creative vision on their mobile site. But in m-commerce, it’s easier than you might think to create a reduced and func­tion­al design that still appeals to users. Avoid over­whelm­ing visitors with su­per­flu­ous gimmicks and strong contrast, and instead go for a sleek and clear ap­pear­ance to make your site look pro­fes­sion­al, modern, and engaging. Remember to use large images and other mul­ti­me­dia content sparingly, as this will have a negative impact on both loading times and the per­form­ance of your mobile site.

5. Brand awareness

It’s important to be conscious of your brand’s image at all times. You should therefore always ensure your site is re­cog­nis­able and that your corporate design is displayed on all devices. In order to create a uniform design on all devices, you may want to consider the mobile first strategy, which ensures the design is first displayed on the smallest possible device and can later be trans­ferred to larger versions.

6. Usability for touch­screens

What makes surfing the internet on smart­phones and tablets unique is the fact that the user navigates with their finger or thumb, rather than with a more precise mouse pointer. This is a key point that is integral for the design of a mobile site and also regarding call to actions. Rather than forcing the user to zoom in and out, you should make an effort to in­cor­por­ate mobile device’s features (such as swiping back and forth) in the nav­ig­a­tion. If users are able to find products easily with a simple search function, this will also have a big influence on your shop’s usability and con­ver­sion rate. Support visitors by placing the search function in a prominent place, use auto-complete and auto-correct and offer in­tel­li­gent filter functions.

7. Take advantage of the device’s functions

While limited screen space presents a range of chal­lenges, mobile devices also have many distinct char­ac­ter­ist­ics that online traders can take advantage of. For example, if a online shop also offers its products in brick-and-mortar stores, website operators can integrate a location-based service on the mobile site in order to lead the customer directly to the closest branch. In­teg­rat­ing click-to-call services is another worth­while option. Please note that website operators who want their apps and mobile websites to detect users’ locations via GPS or other tracking functions should inform users and explain their in­ten­tions in the interest of trans­par­ency. This will help you gain the trust of potential customers.

8. Optimise your shopping basket

The shopping basket lies at the heart of every online store, but the risks and potential weak­nesses that come with it also make it one of the most vul­ner­able points. Therefore, in m-commerce, op­tim­ising your basket is essential for reducing cancelled trans­ac­tions and max­im­ising suc­cess­ful con­ver­sions. Above all else, you should ensure that the functions are simple to operate and that users can manage their products without hassle. You also need to enable syn­chron­isa­tion with the desktop version of the site so that, if need be, customers can start shopping on a mobile device and finish the process on their PC (or vice versa). 

9. A more secure and ac­cess­ible payment process

In addition to the shopping basket, the payment process is yet another important area for op­tim­isa­tion in both e-commerce and m-commerce; online shop owners need to ensure that there are suf­fi­cient payment functions and that the re­gis­tra­tion process is simple. Instead of a com­plic­ated process with several steps, you should have a simple and clearly laid-out trans­ac­tion process in the form of a one-page checkout. Make sure any forms that require the user to enter in­form­a­tion are designed ef­fi­ciently and only ask for data that is com­pletely necessary for the trans­ac­tion process. Users also enjoy the freedom of being able to create an order without needing to sign up.

10. Security and data pro­tec­tion

In mobile commerce, there’s no way to get around providing adequate security for your users. The safe transfer of customer data is a vital aspect of internet security, without which, the entire operation can fall apart. Many mobile devices now support HTTPS and can thus prevent un­au­thor­ised access to sensitive customer data. One effective method of gaining the customer’s trust during the trans­ac­tion process is by dis­play­ing a trust seal or cer­ti­fic­ate. These seals serve to reassure users that an in­de­pend­ent body has reviewed the online store and judged that it is in ac­cord­ance with general standards and laws. When you allow your store to be evaluated by an in­de­pend­ent body, they also test your mobile website’s usability – another important aspect for users.   

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