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| Image Courtesy: Frogsiders |
I recently attended a
webinar on “Responsive Web Design (RWD) for
eCcommerce” conducted by a Philadelphia based interactive agency in
association with Magento. This has truly inspired me to share my experience and
observations on multi-screen web with all of you. Overall the webinar was good but the virtual
event made me inquisitive to explore more.
Today, RWD is at very
nascent stage, and to be honest, there is no best practice for developing a responsive
ecommerce portal. It’s all about understanding the context of a business, device-based audience, and users’ experience
across multiple devices.
A RWD per se is not PERFECT. Pros and cons are always there for any new
solution that advancement of technology brings in. However, we need to audit
the risks and rewards.
RWD is a future proof of any investment whether
made by an agency or by a company or by a client. Today, we have a choice
–whether we are ready for it or we are not. But tomorrow, we got to go for it
sans any option.
A typical customer purchase
decision on digital media is a Zero Moments of Truth (ZMOT). Three major devices such as Tablet, Smart Phones,
and Desktop (Laptop) shape a user’s decision to make purchase online. According to Google, % of users searching on a mobile device makes purchase on another.
New York Times shares stats of a study that says 61% visiting a non-mobile friendly website are likely to go to a
competitor site. Oh, who cares of stats, for many stats is like a bikini
hiding only essentials, right? Don’t go by statistics, but go by what we see
around us, and how we use multiple device we have for our personal, and
professional use. We don’t even use single device when doing research online or
make purchase, do we? C’mmon, be realistic!
RWD is a strong platform for
mCommerce that we are talking until
now. Responsive web provides a strong infrastructure for mobile commerce, the
next generation of commerce. Without RWD, mCommerce
boom can never take place.
Undoubtedly, RWD benefits
mostly end users accessing content on multiple screens/devices. I have also observed that news portals like
Boston Globe and many corporate sites are the early adopters while the adoption
rate for RWD among merchants for eCommerce is relatively low. The reason is simple. There are unique challenges in designing and developing a responsive ecommerce
site. It is all about understanding the business ‘context’ that depends on the
skill-set of a resource. While content (text) driven sites such as news portals
clearly see benefits, merchants for
e-stores are still considering to
capitalize this. In short, RWD ecommerce is in ‘Consideration Phase’ while
news and content driven are the early adopters.
Nevertheless, a few store retailers/merchants have made their portals
responsive facing off all challenges, and despite resource constraints. And
many more are embracing this as an opportunity to give a great buying
experience to their customers. After all, who wants to keep audience
unhappy? Kudos to them, these merchants have set example for many of us.
In summary, RWD is a future
friendly, but SMBs need to wait a few months before they jump in the pond
without knowing how to swim. At this point of time, they need to provide
“swimming training” to their resources for developing ecommerce portals rather than
asking them to jump in a pond to be drowned. The management must invest in
training of internal resources to scale their skills, and thereby hedging the
future risk, for it’s the life jacket
for the survival of any SMBs being in web design & development.
True, we can’t predict the
future. Be in the present, be realistic!
