There’s no question that mobile is where it’s at when it comes to ecommerce these days. But I see a lot of merchants make a misstep when thinking about their mobile experience. Here’s how I recommend you think about your Shopify’s store’s mobile experience.
Why Mobile is Important for Shopify Store Owners
Depending on the merchant and type of product being sold, 70%-80% of your customers may be experiencing your brand on a mobile device. And I’m not talking about iPads or tablets - I mean on their phone, probably vertically. For some merchants, it could be as low as 50% and others may be over 80%. But it’s common to see 75% of customers coming to your store on their phone.
Think about that for a second. That means the vast majority of your customers will not see your site as you designed it on a desktop. This is a critical point because most of us are “at work” when we or our teams are building or making changes to a Shopify store. That means we experience our store on a desktop most of the time.
Sure, somebody may do a quick check to see what the site looks like on mobile - and Shopify has mobile preview built in. But how many of us actually shop our store on our phone thoroughly and regularly? Almost none. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve found things not working on a merchant’s site by simply interacting with it on my phone. Often, it’s not an issue on desktop.
And it’s at this juncture many merchants will make a mistake. They overcorrect and start going down the “we need a mobile app” path.
Why You Should (Probably) Not Build a Mobile App for Your Shopify Store
Obviously, mobile apps have changed the world and there are some incredible apps out there that have become indispensable. But think about the apps you love the most. Think about how you use them and what you use them for. Try to answer these questions:
- Does it annoy you when a site that you use infrequently tries to get you to download their app?
- For the apps you LOVE, how many are for a single brand that you shop at infrequently (a few times a year at most)?
- Can you remember when the apps you currently love weren’t that great? How long does it take an app to get dialed-in to greatness? Years?
- When you’re shopping, do you like being able to compare different products from different merchants?
- Do you enjoy having to create new accounts for each app you use, keeping them updated and learning new changes to the app all the time?
- Are the apps you LOVE used by millions of people or only a few thousand people?
There are many more questions to ask, but you get the idea. It’s not easy to build an amazing app that people love - but it’s very easy to build a half-hearted app that adds another layer of complexity to your life.
There are times when a mobile app may make sense for a merchant. Think: certain enterprise merchants, merchants with very specific needs that will have complex daily/weekly interaction with customers, and merchants whose customers will almost exclusively interact with their brand while out and about - to name a few. Mobile app builders that integrate with your Shopify store like Tapcart can be a good option here.
Setting these fairly rare examples aside, most merchants still need to address the very real demand for a good mobile experience. So what should you do?
3 Things You Should Do Instead to Optimize for Mobile on Shopify
The first and best thing you can do is make sure your Shopify site uses a mobile optimized theme and build for mobile. I don’t mean build for desktop and check to make sure mobile works. I mean BUILD FOR MOBILE. Think about site architecture, navigation, product curation, customer flow and checkout experience from a mobile perspective first. This may mean you choose different images to feature or even different product and collection choices. Look at your store data in Shopify - what products are most popular with mobile buyers?
Essentially, I’m talking about a mindset shift for your team more than anything else. This approach doesn’t have to cost you more money, but it is essential to converting more mobile traffic.
Second, leverage the included products and features on the Shopify platform. Shopify has invested a lot of resources in its Shop app - yet as of this writing most merchants aren’t taking advantage of it. There are millions and millions of eyeballs on it. As a merchant, you should fully build out your Shop app profile and take advantage of the free features to push out your store and its messages, sales, etc. There’s even a pay-for-performance new customer acquisition option called Shop Campaigns (check eligibility requirements).
Third, get into your customers’ phones in other ways. Whether you’re using Shopify Email, Klaviyo or a different email/SMS provider, there are numerous ways you can keep customers engaged with your store on their phone. I would give the same advice as above when crafting emails, SMS messages, etc. Remember to keep the mobile experience top of mind.
Final Thoughts
Your customers are primarily experiencing your store via mobile - and so should you. If you take one thing away from this article let it be this: go thoroughly shop your site on your phone right now.
Sometimes, a second set of eyes on your site is needed. Please contact us to schedule a consultation - we can help discover issues holding you back and unlock growth opportunities.