Mobile Optimization Beats Responsive Design as Best M-Commerce Strategy, According to New White Paper by Shopgate

PALO ALTO, California, September 3, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

M-commerce solutions provider Shopgate released a white paper today that offers 14 insights as to why mobile optimization is the better strategy for e-commerce than responsive web design. The white paper, written by CEO and founder of Shopgate Andrea Anderheggen, is available for download on the company's website.

Mobile commerce is booming: By 2015, it is predicted that 30% of all e-commerce sales will take place on a mobile device. Therefore, the question for most e-commerce merchants is not whether to have a mobile presence at all, but which solution to pick for best results. The goals of having a mobile shop are similar for all merchants - to provide a better user experience and to generate more sales. Most online retailers however want to reach this goal with as little effort and as little cost as possible.

Easy is not always the best way to go when aiming to reach higher conversion rates and ultimately increase online sales. In a white paper published today by m-commerce solutions provider Shopgate, CEO and founder Andrea Anderheggen analyses the pros and cons of responsive web design vs. mobile sites for the e-commerce industry.

His findings are clear: An online merchant who focuses on increasing the conversion rate of his e-commerce site has no choice but to choose mobile optimization over responsive web design in order to increase revenue and satisfy the needs and requirements of mobile customers.

While responsive web design seems to be the easier solution, considering that one set of code will be sufficient to adjust the website's content to different screen sizes, the experience with responsive web design lacks usability. Oftentimes, the important navigation bar is missing, which makes it difficult for customers to find what they are searching for in an online shop. Furthermore, buttons and links are too small to be clicked and images are too heavy to load fast enough.

Another very important disadvantage of responsive web design for e-commerce is that the essential needs and requirements of a mobile customer are disregarded. While desktop users require a lot of information, the mobile user prefers a clean interface and a fast, hassle-free shopping experience. Providing the mobile customer with the same content as on the website however leads to shopping cart abandonment - the impatient mobile customer will simply leave the site again.

The white paper by Shopgate titled "14 Insights Why the Shopgate Mobile Commerce Solution Beats Responsive Web Design" offers a thorough comprehension of responsive web design vs. mobile optimization for e-commerce and can be downloaded at https://www.shopgate.com/us/responsive_design.

About Shopgate: Shopgate is an award-winning mobile shopping solution provider. Shopgate develops customized native apps and mobile sites for online shops. More than 5,000 merchants in five countries already use Shopgate, increasing their mobile revenues by up to 900%. Every day, over 50,000 orders are made through a shopping app or mobile website provided by Shopgate. Shopgate was founded in Butzbach, Germany and Palo Alto, CA by Andrea Anderheggen, Ortwin Kartmann and Dieter Kartmann and is powered by more than 80 mobile enthusiastic talents all over the world. More information about Shopgate's products and services can be found at http://www.shopgate.com.

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