Five Ways to Drive Engagement for Mobile Ecommerce Websites 

As of 2022, 70% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. That means, for those in ecommerce, developing a mobile experience that engages smartphone users and drives conversions is critical to the success of your business. In fact, research shows that 61% of all web users will not return to a website if it is not mobile-friendly.  

Ecommerce companies cannot afford to approach desktop and mobile sites as same-to-same. While you want to create a connected and consistent omnichannel experience, mobile sites must have their own unique e-commerce strategy to optimize customer engagement with personalized experiences. But what elements should be considered when it comes to driving engagement on a mobile site? We’ve compiled five ways ecommerce businesses can strategically address mobile user engagement. 

Driving engagement on ecommerce mobile sites 

1. Optimize web performance

Research indicates that more than 55% of online shoppers between the ages of 18-24 think slow website loading times are intolerable so optimizing your mobile web performance is critical to conversion and retention. Additionally, these slow load times impact your ranking in the search engines, often called SERP (search engine results page) and can have a big impact on your traffic. There are several ways ecommerce sites can improve performance, but one of the major drags on loading times comes down to image size. 

When designing for desktop, high-quality, high-res images are king. However, those same beautifully crisp images are likely slowing downloading times on the mobile end. When designing a mobile site, you must reduce image size, whenever possible. Because mobile real estate is so small, lowering the physical pixel and megabit size of your images will not impact appearance or customer engagement with your photos. Additionally, lower-sized images better meet social media requirements, improving shareability. 

You can learn more about strategies to optimize your core web vitals in our recent master class. 

2. Design elements for short attention spans

Mobile user attention spans have gradually decreased over the past 20 years. In 2000, the average mobile user’s attention space was 12 seconds before clicking off if not engaged. In 2022, that attention span has shrunk to just 8.25 seconds. Even attention spans around video content are starting to shrink - social media platforms indicate the average user gives just 2 seconds before swiping off of a video that they do not find engaging. That means it’s critical for ecommerce mobile sites to grab users’ attention with engaging, eye-catching content that delivers.   

One rule of thumb when integrating design elements to drive customer engagement – get to the content as quickly as possible. Real estate on a mobile site is limited, so don’t waste your above-the-fold space. Whether you are trying to engage loyal customers or attain new customers, videos, 3-5 question surveys, and product carousels have all been shown to address short attention spans. 

 A popular master class on mobile user engagement is available to you on demand. 

3. Create concise and simple text

Driving customer engagement on an ecommerce site or mobile app comes down to a clear, engaging message. Are you saying and showing the right things to convert a potential buyer? Research shows keeping text simple and concise with a laser-focused message improves engagement and promotes customer loyalty. 

Best practice indicates your site should have no more than five words above the fold. This allows for an attention-grabbing title that will help propel your potential customers through your site and onto product pages. Then, lower in your site, blocks of text should have no more than 50-75 characters. If you’re creating content for SEO as part of a content marketing strategy, those pages can be unlinked on the backside, so they don’t hinder the mobile experience. 

4. Streamline design to maximize mobile real estate

As mentioned above, mobile real estate is very limited. Tools and content you can use on a desktop site to create engaged customers, don’t all translate to an engaging user experience on an ecommerce mobile app or site.  

It’s easier to become disoriented on a mobile site because the viewport is so much smaller. That means best practice engagement strategies for mobile users require limited elements to maximize user engagement. Research tells us that when the number of elements increases from 400 to 600 on a mobile ecommerce site, conversion rates drop to 95%. Simply put – more isn’t always better. 

When developing your mobile site, it’s important to create a streamlined customer journey where the user always has a clear way to get to the top of the page, the shopping cart, and to checkout. Finding the blend of design features and functionality is important to maximize conversion rates.  

5. Make sure your Call-to-Action buttons are seen

Even the best ecommerce websites can fall victim to a common design error that hinders engagement and the user experience. Make sure your call to action (CTA) buttons are easily clickable on a mobile screen. 

CTA button size should vary depending on priority. Best practice guidelines include: 

• High Priority: Max 72 pixels
• Medium Priority: 60 pixels
• Low Priority: 42 pixels

Drive customer engagement with ease 

Despite historically suffering poor conversion rates because of customer frustration from having to check out on a small screen, smartphones have become the driving force behind ecommerce growth – ballooning from $128.4 billion in 2019 to $553.28 billion through 2024. 

Creating an eye-catching, streamlined mobile ecommerce website offers a better
customer experience to your visitors and increases conversion. We’ve been working
with companies like yours to drive customer engagement and make the whole process
easier along the way. 

Have a burning question about increasing your mobile engagement? Our team is ready to answer your questions in our chat or send us your question and one of our solutions advisors will reach out to you.