Responsive_designAccording to Keynote Systems, 46% of all smartphone owners have difficulties to operate websites optimally on mobile devices. Annoying zooming and scrolling often stops buying processes at an early stage. The solution is 'Responsive Web Design' (RWD), which automatically adapts to any screen size.

The international eCommerce specialist Venda advises to create online stores with RWD and shows the advantages this innovative technology has to offer.

1. Large audience and more customers
Whether smartphones, laptops, tablets, or even watches, the possibilities of mobile devices seem to be without limits. Today, there are already more than two hundred different screen resolutions - a great challenge for online retailers. With RWD, the target audience can be reached across channels and be expanded. Annoying zooming, re-seizing, or the search for certain buttons, are passé. The buying experience will be smoother and the number of impulse purchases and new customers will therefore automatically increase.

2. More agility and lower costs
Design and planning of a RWD page tends to be more complex than classical "pixel perfect" pages. Responsive websites rely on a good layout design in order to create an adaptive and attractive concept. This means that only key elements such as logos and products, which means the most important information, are integrated into fixed templates. More content consists of variables, which is then automatically adjusted to the device and browser being used. Despite technical sophistication, a RWD page is nevertheless easier to maintain and support, since updates and upgrades take place on a single template. Even content only needs to be entered once - an aspect that particularly stands out in terms of speed and marketability.

3. Outstanding online channels support offline business
A consistent and thoughtful use of responsive web design improves usability and leads to higher conversion rates and a broader customer base – sales figures go up, not only in the online business.

An appealing website, accessible for all devices, influences customers positively and sustainably, especially since the demand to see the range of products live and in 3D is growing. Customers receive another added value when retailers include a store finder in their mobile applications that shows the way to the shop.

We are all aware of the fact that the retail sector is more than ever challenged to respond to a rapidly changing buying behavior in an innovative way. In the future, it is often not sufficient to operate an off-line shop without an accompanying multichannel strategy. Hence, Responsive Design is the key to link various online channels together and provide additional value. Scrolling, zooming to be able to read unrecognizable product descriptions or complicated ordering processes are all aspects that customers are not accepting any longer. Responsive Design helps to provide appealing and innovative content and all that channel-independently.

By Daniela La Marca