If you are an avid reader of our blog I am sure you’ll know that there are many benefits of responsive website design, from improved SEO to future scalability, so we ensure that all of our new websites are responsive. For e-commerce in particular there is really no question, having a responsive site is key to driving sales.

As 55% of all time spent on retail sites is done using a mobile device, it seems incomprehensible to have a site that has limited usability on mobiles. If a potential customer wants to browse your shop on-the-go, they want the site to be really easy to use. If it is too slow to load, or the layout isn’t user friendly they will find a different site that works.

So, why not just build a separate mobile website? Well, there are a few of reasons why this isn’t always the best option.
Firstly, as technologies have improved, making a site responsive isn’t much more expensive than building a site just for mobile or desktop. And to keep up with the point’s below, it’ll be cheaper to build an all-in-one responsive site.

Also, what about tablet users? Responsive sites work well, and look beautiful, on all screen sizes, so you don’t need to worry about the devices your customers are using. If you create separate sites you will need to create a range to suit as many devices as possible, or you will risk some users losing out on the appearance or functionality of your site.

Finally, and in my opinion, most importantly; consistency. As the fear of actually entering bank details on a mobile device is still present, an emerging trend is consumers browsing on a mobile, saving the products they want, and ultimately purchasing on a laptop/desktop. This means that there must be consistency in the sites between the devices. Users want to find the same thing in exactly the same place on their desktop as their mobile. Building separate sites makes this harder to do, but it’s automatic on a responsive site.
I hope this makes you think about your current website design , and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in touch for an informal chat on 01189 100 012 or drop us an email to info@digity.co.uk .