There are just over 7 billion smartphones in the world. The functionalities of these smart devices offer many uses: getting around using GPS, listening to music using the native player, getting information using applications, reading books in digital format and above all, making purchases online. .
With the rise of e-commerce, brands have had to adapt to offer an ever more exclusive user experience. On the Internet, this experience involves sites optimized for mobile browsing. We then speak of responsive design . We offer you an overview of this technique in our article.
Responsive design: what is it?
It is simply a design technique that automatically determines the display of a page of a site according to the size of the screen. Invented by Ethan Marcotte in 2010, responsive design is therefore not a technology strictly speaking, but an approach for website designers that offers the best browsing experience for Internet users, regardless of the device. used: computer, phone, tablet.
But responsive design is not enough on its own. To be certain of keeping the Internet user on his website, other equally important factors must be taken into account. This is the case of the loading time of a website, the user-friendliness of the pages of the site which is called “user experience” abbreviated UX and “interface design” abbreviated UI design, or even the experience of payment which must be as smooth as possible.
E-commerce vs m-commerce: the smartphone is nibbling shares
For several years now, mobile users have been increasing in number around the world. In January 2020, there were 5.19 billion, or 67% of the total population (1). In 30 years, the mobile market has evolved significantly, as evidenced by the video animation produced by the media Visual Capitalist
Did you know ?
If the mobile phone was invented in 1973, the marketing of the very first model dates back to 30 years ago, on March 6, 1983!
With an average of 3.6 hours (3) spent daily on our smartphones and 61 billion (4) euros spent from mobiles in 2021, brands have every interest in investing in the m-commerce acquisition channel.
Responsive design is now integrated into web and e-commerce standards
In addition, responsive design, also called “responsive website” has become a standard in the web world. Thus, Google improves the natural referencing (SEO) of sites optimized for mobile browsing.
Responsive design also removes obstacles at the time of payment, a crucial step in e-commerce. If a problem arises at this time, you are almost certain to never see your client again. Thus, according to a study by Baymard Institute, the cart abandonment rate is around 68.53% in e-commerce!
Social networks, the best ally of mobile commerce
Finally, note that social networks (Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, Facebook) are powerful allies for m-commerce. Indeed, more and more customers are displaying on social networks the purchases they have made online and do not hesitate to communicate the link of the brand, whether it is during a simple recommendation or when a sponsored recommendation, also known as influencer marketing.
Out of 10 minutes spent on a smartphone, 7 are devoted to so-called photo or video sharing applications, i.e. the main platforms mentioned above.
Should you build a site in responsive design?
Responsive design is therefore a technique that makes it possible to offer an optimal browsing experience for customers who visit a merchant website. The growing number of mobile users and the constant increase in purchases made from smartphones make m-commerce an important source of acquisition for brands.
Today, the question no longer arises too much to know if you need a responsive site. It has become an obligation to succeed in e-commerce. All the creation of e-commerce sites and migration carried out by Pikka obviously integrate a responsive e-commerce site but better, a mobile first site!
At a time when 80% of visits to a merchant site come from mobile phones, it is time for budgets and conversions to be made mainly on mobile phones! This is one of the objectives of the Pikka team in each web project.
