Kristen Gramigna is Chief Marketing Officer for BluePay, a leading provider of mobile payment processor. She brings more than 15 years of experience in the bankcard industry in direct sales, sales management, and marketing to the company and also serves on its Board of Directors.

A growing number of customers are using their smartphones to make online purchases, and the key to capturing these sales is to make sure your mobile website is easy to navigate. With this, simplicity is essential – smartphones cannot handle the same amount of data and complexity as PCs. Read on to learn 5 ways to make your mobile commerce site user friendly.

1. Make sure it loads quickly. Customers expect to load websites on their cell phones just as quickly as on their PCs. Since cell phones don’t load data as quickly as computers, your mobile website should use less bandwidth and have less information, while still offering your full product selection. Also consider this factor if your website has paid advertising, which can slow down loading. Ensuring a quick load time retains users and is beneficial because many users have limited data plans.
2. Your site should fit phone screens. Users become frustrated when they have to zoom and scroll to see your full webpage. This is another reason to cut down on the amount of text and the size of photos on your mobile site.
3. Check out should be simple and secure. Customers often make mobile purchases in crowded areas such as coffee shops and public transportation, which can make entering credit card information risky. Use a third-party service to let your customers pay using just log-in information, or opt to have a professional design your mobile checkout so that repeat customers have to enter their information only once.
4. Use site-wide navigation. This is one of the key design features of successful e-commerce sites. Each page should have a navigation menu, allowing users to go from page to page without returning to the homepage frequently.
5. Take advantage of cell phone features. While mobile sites are in some ways limited compared to full websites, they also have some advantages of their own. You can make your phone number click-to-call and offer maps to your store (these will be compatible with the customer’s GPS). These features make it easier for customers to contact and find your brick-and-mortar store.

Customers quickly become frustrated with a page that loads too slowly or is difficult to read; on the other hand, a strong layout can keep customers coming back. Therefore, it’s important to use these 5 ways to make your mobile commerce site user-friendly.

Once you’ve designed your mobile site, the next step is to make sure it loads as intended on actual mobile devices. Find out how your website looks to mobile users by using your own smartphone or use GoMo, which lets you view your website as a mobile user would. Doing so also alerts you to how compatible with mobile devices your normal website layout is.

With more and more customers making purchases on the go, mobile purchasing is a key way to increase your online sales, and these 5 ways to make your mobile commerce site user-friendly will help maximize those sales.

Photo Credit: Business Insider