With the launch of so many mobile devices, some of the companies have changed their strategy and procedure for developing websites. Now, most companies go for responsive website design otherwise the websites which they have developed will not show well on mobile devices. Most of such websites which are doing these are either online marketing sites, social media sites, e-Commerce sites and several other sites. Most of the Fortune 500 companies have opted for this change in their websites. Still, there are a large number of companies which have not implemented this changes for responsive website design.
Many of the companies which had not incorporated a responsive design to their websites were explaining about their inaction by giving excuses like most of their customers were not using mobile for website access and preventing the overhaul of their websites for responsive designs.
In last few years so many people have switched to the Internet-capable smartphones. Latest reports say that nearly two third of the 94 percent people in the USA who use a cell phone, use a smartphone. In some countries percentage of smartphone usage is even higher. In China 66 percent people who use cell phones, use smartphones.
Most of the people who use smartphones also browse the websites. 82% smartphone users in the US browse the websites at least sometimes. Also, a large number of people who use mobile phones are becoming mobile-only users. In a recent report it was found that more than a third of people in the USA are accessing the Internet mainly through mobile devices rather than desktop computers.
The above data indicated why most companies have redesigned their sites to adapt to mobile devices in recent years.
What is Responsive Design?
Responsive web design adapts to the needs of the users and the mobile device they are using. The layout of the website changes based on the size and capability of the mobile device. Here we will be discussing what are the benefits of using a responsive E-Commerce website?
Pros for developing E-Commerce responsive website with Magento:-
– One website across many devices
This is the major advantage of a responsive design that a responsive online store can provide great user-experience from the single website across many mobile phones, tablets, and desktops.
If the website is responsive then the people have a positive user experience when opening websites on the desktop as well as mobile. If the site is only dedicated to a mobile device or for the desktop then the user can become frustrated.
– Management is easy
If you have a separate website for desktop and mobiles then you will require separate catalogs, marketing materials like emails, SEO, banners, product information etc. While in Magento these tasks are straightforward. In Magento you can easily do copy, data, images, e-commerce operating settings, and other website parameters. As the effort for content management reduces, it will also reduce the complexity of managing your website.
– Your marketing will reach your customer easily
As per latest report, 42% of all emails are opened on mobile devices while 67% of mobile owners check their phone for messages, alerts or calls. Your marketing is sensitive to device size, irrespective of the kind of the device.
– Most social media activity happening on mobile
Now a days most of the social media activity is happening over the mobile devices. As per latest report this figure is about 55%. This means that most of the people will share and view content in mobile devices. Hence if the website is not functioning on a mobile device then the users will get frustrated and leave the site. Such kind of bounce rates will lead to low conversion rates hence hamper the company’s sales and profits.
– Google gives preference to responsive websites
Responsive design sites have one URL hence it is easier for Google to crawl, index and organize content. A separate mobile site forces Google’s spiders to crawl and index multiple versions of same site. Hence Google prefers responsive web design because content that is on one website and one URL is easier for users to share, interact with an link.
Hence it is much easier for your target audience to find your business online if you have a single website address.
What Magento Says?
Magento has invested in responsive design which helps in reducing time to market the responsive work. Magento says responsive is the best mobile solution for many businesses because they have to invest in only one site that customers visit using any device. Also a single responsive site is less costly to develop and maintain.
Responsive is also beneficial for boosting conversion. Mobile commerce has grown from 19% of retail sales in 2014 to 26% in 2017 in US.
Responsive is Google’s recommended approach to mobile optimization and it allows the businesses to focus all of their energy on a single site. Great content supports SEO and attract more customers.
Cons of developing e-Commerce responsive website with Magento:-
- Cost of website development
Managing cost is a challenge. Although there are many responsive templates are available in Magento which reduces some of the development work but there will always going to be some cost in customizing the size and location of each function, content etc. Generally, the responsive design effort and cost is 50% more, design effort, QA and testing is nearly double. In testing the app should be tested for all mobile devices and sizes.
- Mobile site cannot show all products and description
For marketing and commercial reasons some retailers don’t want to show all of their content on mobiles as their catalogs are very large an their product information is so complex that it just won’t work well on the small screen of mobiles.
- Speed of accessing the website
As a single page include all the HTML, code and content for all known devices sizes hence sometimes it can be a cause of worry for many people. This is important point as how the customer will access the heavy site with slow internet connection. Although with Magento the performance is dealt with using optimized configuration and hosting. For e.g. One can improve the page load times using cacheing.
- Always have to think responsively
Many a times there need to do some changes in the website and every time the developers have to think responsively that these changes should work on all mobile devices and sizes. Also the content should always considered vertically as opposed to horizontally and whenever some content is updated, proper attention is needed as it fits well.
Summary
As there are different size of devices hence it is better to deploy a mobile offering. There are many benefits for this. Debate was on “do you go responsive approach or mobile-optimized”. Now we can say that having responsive approach is more strategic approach as you are investing for all device sizes and it will lead to more manageable online presence. If you have an existing website we recommend to re-design the website to make it responsive and it will be your best bet for long term success of your business. As Magento has inbuilt features to design responsive websites hence it is predicted that in future the trend of designing and developing Responsive E-Commerce websites with Magento will keep on increasing exponentially.
Author Bio :
James Gibson is working as a professional in Designs2HTML, a PSD to HTML company and loves to write on web development related articles. He has wrote many widely read and appreciated articles on HTML, CSS, WordPress, Magento etc.
