Long gone are the days where people rely exclusively on brick and mortar stores for products and services. In fact, in this busy day and age, most people go online as their first and primary shopping center.

If your small business sells products online, you need a stellar mobile commerce strategy that allows customers to buy from you with complete satisfaction and zero annoying hiccups. With some statistics reporting that 50 percent of online traffic comes from mobile devices, you need to know how to sell to customers on these platforms. Let’s get started.

There is no time like the present

In her Small Business Trends article “30 Mobile Commerce Tips to Improve Sales Today,” Annie Pilon uncovers some great tips for small business owners to improve their e-commerce bottom line, quickly summarized (not in entirety) below.

Prioritize photos: With mobile, there’s little screen real estate at hand, so use the space for clear, large, and beautiful product photos.

Make text readable: Again, clear and large reigns supreme for the user experience so don’t make people zoom into the copy to read it.

Maintain a simple design: If your design is distracting your audience from seeing and reading the most important stuff, you need to de-clutter your space.

Minimize load times: Your page needs to load quickly in its entirety because your customers will not wait for information to load!

Include continuous scrolling: Shoppers want to see all the information when they are browsing, so use continuous scrolling instead of making people click on numerous pages to access product information.

Feature a full range of products: Even though your mobile site is smaller than your website, don’t skimp on your product selection. Show them all!

Offer product filters: Customers want to quickly find their perfect product, so give them various filters (price, rating, sizes) to let them checkout as fast as possible.

Put the search box front and center: Customers often have one very specific item they are looking for, so give them a prominent search box to point them in the right direction.

Make the buttons LARGE: If your purchase buttons (i.e. adding to the cart) are too small so that customers accidentally click the wrong place, they will go elsewhere. Make buttons usable.

Utilize link spacing: There is nothing more frustrating than when people click items they didn’t want to click, so use your buttons and clickable links strategically with plenty of open space in between them.

Streamline the buying process: If there are too many steps in your checkout process, your customers will leave their big carts in the aisle. Only ask for the information you absolutely need.

Welcome returning customers: If you want new customers to come back to you, make it easy to do so. Let them save their shipping and payment information in one simple step to pave the way for future shopping trips.

Include popular payment options: Offer various ways to pay including credit cards and PayPal to seal the deal.

Showcase the price comparison: People are always looking for the best deal (does your site really offer this product for the lowest price?), so give them the proof right on your page. It makes the decision to shop with you a simple one.

Provide a store locator: If you have a physical store, let people find it through this search functionality driven by a zipcode.

Enable product reservations: In-store pick-up is very useful and enticing to customers, so allow them to reserve the product if possible.

Look into user-testing options: If you aren’t quite sure how the user experience is netting out, utilize a service that will give you insights from actual users on how well your mobile site is working.

Maybe hold off on the app: It’s not always necessary to have a mobile app and this decision is completely company-specific. If you need one for the customer shopping experience and you have the right tools to make it a great one, do it. If the value isn’t there in the long run, don’t waste your time or your money in creating one.

Think about how customers would interact with an app: Would your customer experience be improved through an app? Would your app offer other important things (i.e. interaction features, notifications) that your mobile site cannot? These answers will help you determine if an app is something you need.

Evaluate the market research: Ask your customers if they want an app from you. See if they would use it. Simple as that.

Sell your app: If you go the app route, market it just as you would a product. People won’t download it just because you made it. You need to convince them why they should use it first.

Promote your app to your niche audience: If you only have a small group of people that will benefit from your app, focus your marketing efforts only on this target audience.

Make your app worthy: A good app requires constant work. If it’s not useful and continually updated, people will delete it.

Don’t try to be everything: An app isn’t a website, so don’t try to make it act like one. Pick a couple of standout features that your app does really well and put your efforts here.

Utilize targeted push notifications: If a popular product is about to go on sale, or if you’re offering a new promotion for 20% off an entire purchase, your people want to know about it. Put these push notifications into your app.

Don’t overstay your welcome: Relevant and exciting notifications that benefit the customer are great, but do NOT notify people every hour about something you want to say. Be helpful, not overbearing.

Put customization as a priority: People love anything that caters to them, so allow functionality (such as saving items or creating lists) that will make their lives easier.

Consider location features: Some customers may appreciate location features such as a notification telling them that they are near your location and including a corresponding in-store coupon.

Never lose sight of your design and usability: All the rules that are relevant to the design and customer experience of your mobile site all apply to your mobile app. It should be inviting, easy to navigate, and seamless for online shopping.

Do you have a 31st tip?

Was there anything on this list that was especially helpful? Or, is there another tip that was missed? Let’s keep the list going here!

This article is made possible by Checksforless.com. For more than 35 years, Checksforless.com has provided over 500,000 businesses with high quality business checks, deposit slips, and other banking supplies with easy ordering and fast production times; all at the guaranteed lowest price in the nation. Our discount business checks are easily customizable and compatible with over 4,500 software programs including QuickBooks® and Peachtree/Sage®. Email or call us toll-free at 800-245-5775.

Reference: http://smallbiztrends.com/2015/11/mobile-commerce-tips.html