With digital reliance on the rise, many businesses are now taking time to evaluate their eCommerce platforms to improve their customers’ experience and to maximize their conversions. With online shopping already shifting to a mobile environment, more sites are playing catch-up to the need for Responsive Web Design (RWD). In this article we’re taking a closer look at this must-have piece of infrastructure for your site and simple reasons to not put off implementing it for your site.

What is RWD? 

It is a form of web design that ensures your site renders well across a wide variety of devices, including Desktop and Mobile. The objective is to make sure that  customers have the same  seamless experience on your site, from any device. When was the last time you tested your site from a device other than your current laptop? Can you navigate through your site seamlessly, in the same way you would your average  laptop? These are basic questions that will answer whether your current site is responsive or not. But to understand why RWD is so important to convert into sales, sites should take a look at: What % of their  traffic comes from a device different from your average laptop? and How much do these users convert? 

The latter are pieces of data that will point to the significant number of prospects that lose out from coming into your funnel, highlighting the pathways where they get lost. More often than not sites will find the important role a RWD plays in that loss, because of how their customer stays connected. For example, consider your funnel from a behaviour perspective, where a user comes into your website from their iPhone on the way to work, add an item to the cart while using their Macbook at work and lastly proceed with the payment on an iPad at home before bed. If your site is not responsive, the experience won’t be seamless across the three devices and your chance to convert goes out the window. 

Trends to look out for

Consider also that 90% of American smartphone users look to navigate from one screen to the next, so your site has little to no room for mistakes on how it renders. Furthermore, if your site fails to  optimize a mobile device experience it will miss out on any number of opportunities to trigger conversions from the 272 million smartphone users in the United States that check their devices anywhere from 60-80  times a day. 

Need more data? Take a look at how the One Stop Shop for Professional Hair, Makeup And Wardrobe Supplies, Manhattan Wardrobe Supply, observed a 23% conversion boost after launching a new responsive site. 

The ultimate win-win

More than staying on trend, we believe that setting up RWD correctly is a must because it makes eCommerce sites more effective and successful across the board. From becoming more inclusive, to improving SEO, to increasing visibility, to optimizing customer experiences, to creating marketing campaigns across new channels;  sites will undoubtably experience a boost in their conversions.