A mobile responsive website is one that is designed to work just as well whether it is viewed on a PC or laptop, tablet, mobile phone or other device; either the layout or the content or both respond and adapt based on the size and orientation of screen on which they are presented to the viewer.
Why does it matter?
Smartphones overtook PCs as the most popular tool for accessing the internet back in 2015, but many B2B websites are not designed to adapt for mobile devices. If you don’t have a B2B mobile responsive site, and your customers are using their phones or tablets (and they probably are) they may have the following problems:
- Navigation may not work: Scroll bars or drop-down menus may not be visible when your site is viewed on a mobile device, making it impossible for customers to find the pages they need
- Content doesn’t fit the screen: Images or text may be truncated and it may look like information is missing
- Site is hard work to use: Customers may find they have to do too much scrolling and zooming, making them reluctant to use the site
Why you need a mobile friendly trade platform
- Online purchasing by trade and B2B customers is on the rise. The B2B ecommerce market is predicted to be twice as big as the consumer market by 2020.
- B2B Mcommerce (mobile commerce - buying via mobile device) is becoming a bigger big part of online B2B buying. In 2016, all mobile commerce accounted for 35% of ecommerce and by 2020, will account for 49% of ecommerce.
- Even if your customers don’t complete the final purchase online, the internet is still an essential part of the procurement process. Other research shows that 94% of B2B buyers go online to conduct research before buying, and the average B2B buyer has completed between 50 and 90% of the buying journey by the time they make first contact with your business.
- Baymard Institute states that while using traditional (desktop) ecommerce websites, two out of three shoppers abandon their shopping carts without buying the products they were looking for. On mobile, the situation is even more alarming as checkout rates are 70 percent lower compared to existing low desktop rates. These issues are not completely addressed yet but in the year 2017 this problem is expected to get resolved and a huge investment is estimated as a priority among businesses.
If you don’t offer your customers a mobile friendly trade platform, you could be losing business.
