Since you, and I, and Google all know mobile browsing is surpassing desktop browsing, the following is a list of ways to optimize your mobile commerce website, to assist in overcoming mobile shopping barriers to greatly improve your users mobile commerce experience within your digital store.

1. Rich information

Although mobile users often want information fast and on-the-go, this doesn’t mean that they want the details skimped on.  Information, such as product or service information, should comprehensive, detailed, and presented in a clear cut, scannable way (with ample white space, bullets, headlines, numbers, font styling, etc) to lead the users to key points. Additionally, information should be presented in a navigable, streamlined way which allows users to find, share, and link your content easily without having to side-scroll or zoom in excessive amounts. Users should be presented with multiple shots and images of the product, while also having the ability to zoom-in and maybe even 360 degree views of the product.

2. Shareable

The information and products presented on your mobile commerce site should be easily shared with others and yourself via email, social media, etc., since browsing on multiple devices throughout the day is common (smartphones in the morning, PC’s and laptops during the day, and tablets in the evening).

3. Speed

We know that someone will leave your website if it fails to load within 3-4 seconds. This is especially true when mobile browsing, as users often want the information in a hurry, on-the-go. If your mobile friendly, responsive website loads slowly, your users will find what they were looking for, elsewhere…maybe on your competitors faster loading site!

4. Efficient design

Oftentimes, which I’m sure you’ve experienced, entering text into forms or fields or even pressing a button on a mobile website is complicated. To alleviate these annoyances, buttons should be quite massive and large, clearly a button by using contrasting colours,  spaced appropriately apart from other objects or “clickables”. The same goes for fields,  they should be large enough also for users to simply enter information into. Bonus points if your site recognizes returning users and they don’t have to re-enter their information into the fields!

5. Navigation

What goes along with efficient design is effective and easy navigation. Design your information hierarchy to highlight the most important information to the users! Present these categories as the highlighted elements of your mobile commerce site. Users need to be able to find product information quickly and easily. Other user friendly mobile shopping features include: “click-to-call” that allows the user to directly call the store via the press of one button; search or search with predictive results may speed up the users quest.

6. Security

Another major factor to consider in regards to mobile friendly websites, and especially when you’re considering mobile e-commerce, is security. People are often hesitant to make purchases via their mobile devices, or even enter their information on a mobile form because they feel that the mobile websites delivered via their smartphone or tablet are less secure than their desktop counterparts. To improve your users trust with your brand and site, we suggest that you implement SSL certificates and utilize secure hosting. Another feature that users love is social proof, whether it be testimonials, quotes from past clients, or even just proof of notable clients, all of which contribute to shaping trust in you with your users.

Now it’s your turn! What ways of optimizing mobile commerce sites have we missed? Please let us know in the comment box below.