The Holiday Season Is Coming: Is Your Site Ready?

Research indicates that the majority of holiday shopping will be conducted through a mobile device. Be sure that your site is ready for major mobile traffic.
The air is brisk and signs of snowfall are near… this can only mean one thing: it’s time to start shopping for the holidays. E-commerce options and smartphones have made checking items off our gift list easier than ever, so as a website owner you need to be sure that your e-commerce site is fully functional and optimized for the season’s mobile customers.  
It is estimated that this holiday period will bring in $79.4 billion in sales, an almost 14% increase from last year. E-commerce will rise to 9% of all retail sales, up from 7% in 2014 and mobile commerce is projected to grow by 32% in 2015.
According to eMarketer, an online research company, smartphones are now an integral part of the average consumer’s shopping experience. A study was conducted on American mothers, and the statistics show that shoppers are using their smartphones more than ever before.
The following percentages of shoppers are using their phones:

• 64% to compare prices
• 60% to compare features
• 59% to find coupons
• 56% to help choose a store
• 52% to find recommendations

This season, mothers will be better informed, armed and ready to find the best products and deals. Website owners also need to prepare to be on the selling end of this holiday bargain.
How do I know if my site is mobile ready?
Google has created a handy tool specifically for checking mobile optimization. Just visit their Mobile-Friendly Test page and enter your URL. Within seconds Google will show you the results from your site.
If your site isn’t quite up to par, Google will make helpful recommendations that you can take on board to prepare yourself for the upcoming season. You will also enjoy the benefits of a higher search engine ranking through Google and other major search engines. Google has rewarded mobile optimized sites since spring 2015.
To learn more about the importance of mobile optimization read this blog post from Midphase.
Make your holiday season a happy one with these tips:
To make the most of this holiday season and ensure that your e-commerce business earns its share of holiday sales, take advantage of this advice from the king of internet business, PayPal. They recently conducted a mobile research snapshot to help business owners identify their demographics within the e-commerce market. Below are the basic findings:

• 59% of shoppers who prefer smartphone purchasing are between the ages of 18-34.
• 47% of mobile shoppers prefer an app to a website for online shopping.
• The three most commonly searched topics from a mobile phone are:
  • Product information
  • Business details
  • Customer reviews

Offering your customers an app for ordering, searching and returning products are miles ahead of the e-commerce game. Mobile commerce is quickly becoming a major player in the world of business, especially for millennials. With nearly twice as many shoppers preferring apps for shopping – not only in the US but in 21 other countries around the world – we can expect this trend to continue.

Look into SSD VPS to support your holiday e-commerce app today at Midphase.com