The trend among web designers now is to make their sites “mobile responsive.” No matter how hard you work on creating a fantastic online presence, if it isn’t optimised for mobile devices, you will lose a substantial amount of potential visitors. Having a site that is optimised for mobile use is now crucial if you want to attract the attention of your target audience. Be sure your Magento online shop is optimised for mobile users whether you’re just planning Magento development or already have a store up and running. You might consider updating to a mobile-friendly, responsive web design (RWD) for your existing Magento store.
Fortunately, your Magento-powered business can be updated with mobile-friendly features using a variety of web tools. In this article, I will discuss some of the greatest options for optimising your Magento e-store for mobile use. But before we get to it, let’s take a look at the responsive design definition and the main drivers of making adaptable web design.
What is Responsive Design?
When creating a website, a responsive web design (RWD) strategy is taken to ensure the best possible viewing experience for visitors regardless of the device they are using to access the site.
Because of the increasing number of shopping-related technologies, this style of interface design has recently become more popular. Online purchases may be made via a variety of devices, including desktop computers, tablets (such as iPads and Kindles), and most prominently, mobile phones. Consequently, the purpose of responsive design is to support these several alternative buying methods.
The idea behind responsive design is that websites should adapt to the device being used to access them. The website a shopper is seeing should automatically adjust for the user’s device, operating system, and orientation if the user abandons their computer and continues shopping on their iPhone.
Why Your Web Store Needs a Responsive Design
Responsive design is no more a nice-to-have but rather a need due to two key reasons explained below.
- It’s clear that “mobile will be in charge” in the near future.
Given the explosive growth in mobile device use, it is more crucial than ever for online merchants to create stores that are user-friendly across all mobile platforms. Furthermore, data shows that more than 48% of Google searches are conducted on mobile devices.
Additionally, 89% of consumers’ media consumption time is spent on mobile, according to statistics given by Nielsen. All of these indicators point to a bright future for mobile usage. Having a responsive store guarantees its optimal viewing and shopping experience across all devices.
- The use of RWD is encouraged by Google.
You may already be aware that Google has released a “mobile-friendly” update that uses mobile-friendliness as a ranking indication. A site that is optimised for mobile use will naturally rise in the Google rankings. Along with the change, Google also released a set of tools and recommendations for making websites mobile-friendly. So the major search engine advised creating mobile-friendly layouts.
Responsive Magento vs Mobile Magento
The fact that two-thirds of consumers claim they use their mobile device to make purchases should convince you of the critical need of having a mobile-friendly website.
However, responsive design is not the same as mobile-first development. According to its self-explanatory name, “mobile first” prioritises the user experience only on mobile devices.
There are two ways you may go about creating your website.
The first approach is known as “responsive design.” That is a universally-accessible website. Another option is to create a mobile-specific website. Both options are reasonable and suitable. Naturally, the needs and objectives of your organisation should guide your decision.
Having a dedicated mobile site rather than using a responsive layout may reduce your flexibility. In addition, you may expect to pay more to keep it up and running. Furthermore, Magento contends that RWD is the optimal path for all Magento businesses to take in order to give consumers the greatest experience possible.
Tools to Turn Your Magento Web Store Mobile Friendly
If you’re looking for some Magneto eCommerce development tips and advice, then check out these four tools below which will help you bring your web store to mobile successfully.
CouchCommerce
CouchCommerce is the best solution if you don’t want to deal with the headache of setting up a Magento mobile-optimised online shop from scratch. CouchCommerce is a popular Magento extension because it uses web app technology to seamlessly transform a Magento website’s desktop version into a mobile-optimised one. In addition, it employs the open-source “Sofa SDK” technology, allowing you to build the greatest touch-optimised online shop with several conveniences, such as third-party integrations, offline capability, continuous updates, and much more. While there is no free trial available, the monthly charge of 3000 € is relatively affordable.
Multi-Flat Rate Shipping
You can increase traffic to your Magento online store by offering discounts, seasonal promotions, and flexible delivery choices. In reality, these features are built right into the majority of Magento stores, contributing to a fantastic overall shopping experience. Nonetheless, Magento’s multi-flat rate shipping extension allows you to offer even more flexible delivery alternatives to your customers. Customers will appreciate the variety of your shipping options, which can range from flat rates to per-item fees.
Mobify
Mobify, a mobile e-commerce platform, may be integrated with your current Magento online store with no disruption to your present marketing tools. Once installed, this software leverages user management features to broaden your online store’s functionality to include responsive web apps designed for mobile devices. Included are integrations for Near Field Communication (NFC), touch-based security, in-app purchasing, and more on mobile devices. You can harness the potential of mobile touchpoints with the aid of Mobify, a platform that assists you in designing the best possible shopping experiences across portable devices.
Magento Live Chat
You may improve customer satisfaction with Magento by adding “Live Chat” assistance so that you can respond to any questions or concerns your customers may have in real-time. Moreover, “44% of online shoppers prefer to have their queries answered by a human when they are in the middle of a transaction,” according to research conducted by Forrester Research. Installing Magento’s live chat plugin enables consumers to communicate with an online store’s sales staff in a safe and confidential manner, and it’s a terrific addition to any Magento store.
Conclusion
With the ever-increasing popularity of mobile devices, it’s just a matter of time before smartphones become the dominant computing platform. As a result, you need to have a solid internet presence ready to assist you to meet the demands of an increasing number of mobile customers. With the aforementioned resources, you may create a successful mobile brand even if you run a Magento-powered store and wish to optimise it for mobile devices.
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