In the land of eCommerce, it’s responsive web design (RWD) or bust. Since Ethan Marcotte first started writing about it over 5 years ago, RWD has been helping online retailers boost profits and increase conversion through optimizing the customer experience and buyer journey.
A responsive website allows your content to look great on, in theory, any device, browser, or operating system. Whether it’s a smart watch, iPhone, Nokia, or big screen TV, RWD resizes your website to the dimensions of the viewport of device that a customer is using to access it and displays the content accordingly.
After Google announced last year that their search results are going to favor mobile-optimized sites, brands and eTailers are being urged to implement and leverage RWD now more than ever before. Yet according to Akamai still only 18.7% of the top 10,000 websites are responsive.
Is your eCommerce site responsive?
If not, what’s holding you back? Let’s look at some examples that show the profound impact that RWD can have on your bottom line.
At The Jibe, we always advocate a mobile-first approach to web design and believe that any great digital experience should start with addressing the mobile consumers needs. We know that Google searches from mobile devices surpassed desktops in 2014 and mobile commerce revenue is promising to overtake its desktop counterpart in the next few years. There’s no better time to start leveraging RWD for your company.
O’Neill Clothing is a fantastic example of using RWD to increase revenue. Econsultancy reports that post responsive redesign launch, O’Neill was able to:
Boost Android smartphone revenue by 591.4% Increase transaction by 112.5% And increase non-mobile revenue by 41.1%
A photography equipment and accessory eTailer, Think Tank Photo, noticed that 13% of their overall traffic was coming from mobile. Three times more than the previous year. With that growing mobile user base and information for their analytics they chose to redesign their website with RWD.
Kissmetrics reports that after they implemented RWD they saw overall revenues grew by 188%.
Check out indie gaming shop Klei Entertainment's new responsive website (screenshots below) that we helped launch earlier this year. Whether a user comes to their website from a smartphone, tablet or desktop computer, they are always served a digital experience catered optimized for the device being used.
Another great example: we helped high-end shoe retailer, Umeboshi, relaunch their website last fall with a new design and mobile-optimized experience for their customers. Like other eCommerce brands, their mobile user base was rapidly growing and they wanted a solution that catered to the needs of their mobile customers.
With RWD Umeboshi were able to significantly boost their mobile conversions and decrease their mobile bounce rate.
In most, if not all, cases, the results from implementing a responsive website are overwhelmingly positive. As we live in the age of the mobile consumer, RWD is imperative for eCommerce brands. Catering your digital experiences to the different screen sizes and devices that your customers are using today can help improve user experience and increase overall revenue.
If you’re ready to go responsive or have already seen the positive impacts of going responsive please share in the comments.
Image courtesy ofRichie Contartesi