Whether the consumer searches for her next home furnishings purchase on her mobile phone, personal computer or your local showroom, one merchandising strategy is a sure thing: Make it simple to do business with your brand. Make a change in 2016 with a Responsive Design!
A responsive website is a single website that adapts to the device of each visitor, whether smartphone, tablet or desktop computer. It dynamically resizes content and imagery, allowing for easy reading and navigation. Consumers no longer have to struggle with resizing, panning and scrolling when they are trying to view content on their phones.
There is heightened focus on mobile search and shopping as more and more consumers turn to their phones to research products, find retailers and buy products. Google’s 2015 third quarter revenue rose 13 percent to $18.7 billion year-over-year. The increase included “substantial growth of mobile search revenue,” the company reported.
If it’s been a while since you updated your website technology, 2016 is the perfect time to make sure your online content is optimized for mobility. Some mobile web solutions resize website content to fit only one mobile device size. Others require that you maintain two different sites and search engine optimization campaigns — one for mobile devices and one for desktops. These approaches can still work, but now the bar is higher. New responsive website solutions, such as MicroD’s OmniVue platform, automatically adjust content on the fly to suit any device screen size and orientation. All content can be housed on one central website for efficient maintenance and synchronized branding.
The furniture shopping public is ready! In their 2013 Mobile Path to Purchase study, Google and Nielsen polled 950 participants about their mobile-related research within a purchase category. Of home and garden shoppers, 42 percent used mobile search to find products. In addition, mobile-friendly websites and advertising landing pages are positively prioritized by search engines. Lest you worry that your products will be lost among furniture search results from Amazon and other giants, consider that 69 percent of mobile consumers expect a business to be within five miles of their location. Eighty percent of smart phone owners search for local information, according to Google Data.
Responsive web design is another strategy you can employ to give your consumer a consistent shopping experience. Consider the possibilities. You can publicize home furnishings deals through social media apps, email and traditional media outlets. The shopper might want to view product reviews, locate a nearby store, “like” a product or make an online purchase. Because your content is searchable and navigable across devices, you are ready for any scenario. Now that’s responsive!
Contact the MicroD team to learn more: [email protected].
